Types of Degrees Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many health sciences & services graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	19,050
Associate Degree	10,520
Basic Certificate	3,881
Undergraduate Certificate	1,462
Master’s Degree	1,374
Doctor’s Degree	258
Graduate Certificate	217

What Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, health science majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for Health Science Majors

Health Science majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:

• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
• Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.

Skills for Health Science Majors

When studying health science, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
• Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others’ reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

Abilities for Health Science Majors

As a health science major, you will find yourself needing the following abilities:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

What Can You Do With a Major?

People with a health science degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Community Health Workers	17.9%	$39,540
Health Educators	14.6%	$54,220

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in ?

This is one of the most frequently chosen healthcare majors. It is the 4th most popular in the country with 18,821 students graduating with a bachelor’s in health science in 2021. The major attracts more women than men. About 78% of the recent graduates in this field are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of health science majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	1,974
Black or African American	3,077
Hispanic or Latino	3,689
White	8,730
International Students	278
Other Races/Ethnicities	1,302

Geographic Diversity

Health Science appeals to people across the globe. About 1.5% of those with this major are international students. The most popular countries for students from outside the country are:

• Saudi Arabia
• China
• Canada
• South Korea
• Nigeria

How Much Do Majors Make?

Bachelor’s Degree Starting Salary

Salaries According to BLS

Average salaries range from $43,480 to $59,660 (25th to 75th percentile) for careers related to health science. This range includes all degree levels, so the salary for a person with just a bachelor’s degree may be a little less and the one for a person with an advanced degree may be a little more.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to

Some careers associated with health science require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

Find out what the typical degree level is for health science careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	5.4%
Some College Courses	1.5%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	40.2%
Bachelor’s Degree	42.9%
Master’s Degree	10.1%
Doctoral Degree	0.4%

Online Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	55	7
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	319	50
Bachelor’s Degree	43	17
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	76	34
Post-Master’s	6	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	16	4
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	5	2
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	2	1

Is a Degree in Worth It?

The median salary for a health science grad is $43,480 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 9% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $71,600 after 20 years!

Majors Related to

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to health science.

Major	Number of Grads
Nursing	319,502
Health & Medical Administrative Services	88,600
Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants	85,339
Allied Health Professions	83,905
Allied Health & Medical Assisting Services	83,587
Public Health	41,651
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions	30,594
Mental & Social Health Services	30,331
Medicine	29,089
Dental Support Services	26,024
Communication Sciences	23,558
Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences	19,400
Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science	18,884
Somatic Bodywork & Therapeutic Services	10,622
Health/Medical Prep Programs	9,605
Other Health Professions	7,676
Dentistry	6,771
Dietetics & Clinical Nutrition Services	6,113
Bioethics/Medical Ethics	4,980
Alternative Medicine & Systems	3,434
Chiropractic	2,881
Medical Illustration & Informatics	2,163
Health Aids/Attendants/Orderlies	1,818
Advanced Dentistry & Oral Sciences	1,796
Optometry	1,746
Medical Science	1,051
Ophthalmic & Optometric Support Services	817
Movement & Mind-Body Therapies	452
Alternative Medical Support Services	140
Energy & Biologically Based Therapies	89

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By Sandra M. Palumbo under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.