Types of Degrees Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many clinical nurse specialist graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Master’s Degree	307
Graduate Certificate	19
Bachelor’s Degree	9
Doctor’s Degree	5

What Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to clinical nurse specialist and asked them what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. The responses were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important.

Knowledge Areas for Clinical Nurse Specialist Majors

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

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Skills for Clinical Nurse Specialist Majors

clinical nurse specialist majors are found most commonly in careers in which the following skills are important:

• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• 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.
• 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.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.

Abilities for Clinical Nurse Specialist Majors

As you progress with your clinical nurse specialist degree, there are several abilities you should pick up that will help you in whatever related career you choose. These abilities include:

• 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.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

What Can You Do With a Major?

People with a clinical nurse specialist degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Clinical Nurse Specialists	14.8%	$71,730
Nursing Instructors and Professors	24.0%	$73,490
Registered Nurses	14.8%	$71,730

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in ?

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of clinical nurse specialist majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	0
Black or African American	1
Hispanic or Latino	0
White	7
International Students	0
Other Races/Ethnicities	1

How Much Do Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

Clinical Nurse Specialist majors often go into careers where salaries can range from $75,510 to $81,350 (25th to 75th percentile). This range includes all degree levels, so you may expect those with a more advanced degree to make more while those with less advanced degrees will typically make less.

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 degrees associated with clinical nurse specialist may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. 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 clinical nurse specialist careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Some College Courses	4.2%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	26.3%
Bachelor’s Degree	11.0%
Master’s Degree	41.4%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	2.8%
Doctoral Degree	13.5%
Post-Doctoral Training	2.3%

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)	0	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	0	0
Bachelor’s Degree	5	3
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	26	3
Post-Master’s	20	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	3	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	3	1
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	1	1

Is a Degree in Worth It?

The median salary for a clinical nurse specialist grad is $75,510 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 89% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $712,200 after 20 years!

Majors Related to

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to clinical nurse specialist.

Major	Number of Grads
Registered Nursing	262,974
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing	16,647
Nursing Practice	8,862
Nursing Administration	8,663
Other Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	4,717
Nursing Science	4,701
Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing	2,895
Adult Health Nurse/Nursing	2,075
Public Health/Community Nurse/Nursing	2,011
Nurse Anesthetist	1,768
Critical Care Nursing	747
Geriatric Nurse/Nursing	622
Nurse Midwife/Nursing Midwifery	567
School Nursing	539
Clinical Nurse Leader	502
Perioperative/Operating Room and Surgical Nurse/Nursing	269
Women’s Health Nurse/Nursing	262
Maternal/Child Health and Neonatal Nurse/Nursing	192
Emergency Room/Trauma Nursing	87
Occupational and Environmental Health Nursing	26
Forensic Nursing	23
Palliative Care Nursing	13

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 Aleksahgabrielle under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.