Types of Degrees Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many general business administration and management graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	140,003
Master’s Degree	106,562
Associate Degree	58,703
Basic Certificate	28,221
Undergraduate Certificate	4,778
Graduate Certificate	3,056
Doctor’s Degree	2,089

What Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, business administration 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 Business Administration Majors

Business Administration majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:

• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• 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.
• Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.

Skills for Business Administration Majors

A major in business administration prepares you for careers in which the following skill-sets are crucial:

• 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.
• 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.
• Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Abilities for Business Administration Majors

A major in business administration will prepare for your careers in which the following abilities are important:

• 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.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• 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.

What Can You Do With a Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with business administration:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Administrative Services Managers	10.1%	$96,180
Compliance Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Construction Managers	11.1%	$93,370
Cost Estimators	10.5%	$64,040
General and Operations Managers	9.1%	$100,930
Investment Fund Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Loss Prevention Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Management Analysts	14.3%	$83,610
Regulatory Affairs Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Sales Managers	7.5%	$124,220
Security Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Social and Community Service Managers	18.0%	$65,320
Storage and Distribution Managers	6.8%	$94,730
Supply Chain Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Transportation Managers	6.8%	$94,730
Wind Energy Operations Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Wind Energy Project Managers	8.0%	$107,480

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in ?

According to recent stats this major attracts about equal numbers of men and women. Roughly 47% of the graduates are women, and 53% are men.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of business administration majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	10,983
Black or African American	15,156
Hispanic or Latino	23,544
White	68,447
International Students	7,077
Other Races/Ethnicities	14,796

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Business Administration. About 5.1% of those with this major are international students.

How Much Do Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

Average salaries range from $94,390 to $115,590 (25th to 75th percentile) for careers related to business administration. 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 careers associated with business administration require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

Find out what the typical degree level is for business administration careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	0.2%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	9.1%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	4.1%
Some College Courses	7.2%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	8.6%
Bachelor’s Degree	45.4%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	4.0%
Master’s Degree	14.1%
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.	2.3%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.	0.3%
Doctoral Degree	5.1%

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)	350	105
Certificate (2-4 Years)	6	1
Associate’s Degree	1,161	375
Bachelor’s Degree	249	93
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	1,049	397
Post-Master’s	50	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	170	36
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	11	1
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	2	0

Is a Degree in Worth It?

The median salary for a business administration grad is $103,330 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 159% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $1,268,600 after 20 years!

Majors Related to

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to business administration.

Major	Number of Grads
Organizational Leadership	15,220
Interior Design Management	13,728
Supply Chain Management	10,601
Operations Management	6,424
Project Management	4,189
Office Administration	3,577
Non-Profit/Public/Organizational Management	2,736
Retail Management	959
Purchasing, Procurement/Acquisitions and Contracts Management	939
Transportation/Mobility Management	641
E-Commerce	469
Science/Technology Management	359
Research and Development Management	284
Customer Service Management	178
Risk Management	37

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

More about our data sources and methodologies.