General/Allied Health Sciences

Types of Degrees General/Allied Health Sciences Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many general health services/allied health/health sciences graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	15,069
Associate Degree	9,428
Basic Certificate	2,995
Undergraduate Certificate	1,141
Master’s Degree	956
Doctor’s Degree	178
Graduate Certificate	73

What General/Allied Health Sciences Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, health studies 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 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

The following list of skills has been highlighted as some of the most essential for careers related to health studies:

• 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 General/Allied Health Sciences?

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 studies majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	1,684
Black or African American	2,274
Hispanic or Latino	2,910
White	6,847
International Students	286
Other Races/Ethnicities	1,068

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Health Studies. About 1.9% of those with this major are international students.

Online General/Allied Health Sciences Programs

In 2020-2021, 663 schools offered a health studies program of some type. 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)	44	4
Certificate (2-4 Years)	2	0
Associate’s Degree	272	32
Bachelor’s Degree	19	8
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	39	12
Post-Master’s	1	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	12	2
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	3	1
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	2	1

Majors Related to General/Allied Health Sciences

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

Major	Number of Grads
General Health & Wellness	6,105

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.