Health Studies

Types of Degrees Health Studies Majors Are Getting

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

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	15,884
Associate Degree	9,546
Basic Certificate	2,840
Undergraduate Certificate	1,057
Master’s Degree	861
Doctor’s Degree	238
Graduate Certificate	66

What Health Studies Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to health studies were asked what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. They weighted these areas on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.

Knowledge Areas for Health Studies Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in health studies should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• 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.
• Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
• 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.

Skills for Health Studies Majors

When studying health studies, 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.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others’ reactions and understanding why they react as they do.

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Health Studies?

The major attracts more women than men. About 79% of the recent graduates in this field are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	1,757
Black or African American	2,453
Hispanic or Latino	3,103
White	7,293
International Students	194
Other Races/Ethnicities	1,084

Geographic Diversity

Health Studies appeals to people across the globe. About 1.2% of those with this major are international students.

Online Health Studies 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)	51	5
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	297	40
Bachelor’s Degree	21	9
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	47	17
Post-Master’s	2	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	12	4
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	6	2
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	2	1

Majors Related to Health Studies

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

Major	Number of Grads
General Health & Wellness	5,395

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.