Business & Office Technology

Types of Degrees Business & Office Technology Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many business and office technology graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Basic Certificate	2,053
Undergraduate Certificate	423
Associate Degree	235
Bachelor’s Degree	19

What Business & Office Technology Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to office automation 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 Office Automation Majors

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

• 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.
• 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.
• Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
• Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.

Skills for Office Automation Majors

office automation majors are found most commonly in careers in which the following skills are important:

• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• 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.
• Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
• Time Management - Managing one’s own time and the time of others.

Abilities for Office Automation Majors

A major in office automation will prepare for your careers in which the following abilities are important:

• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
• Finger Dexterity - The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Business & Office Technology?

This major attracts more men than women. About 58% of the graduates in this field are male.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of office automation majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	0
Black or African American	3
Hispanic or Latino	7
White	6
International Students	0
Other Races/Ethnicities	3

How Much Do Business & Office Technology Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

Office Automation majors often go into careers with median salaries of $33,740. This median refers to 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 Business & Office Technology

Some degrees associated with office automation may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. 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 office automation careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	58.7%
Some College Courses	30.2%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	11.1%

Online Business & Office Technology Programs

In the 2020-2021 academic year, 203 schools offered some type of business and office technology program. 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)	78	11
Certificate (2-4 Years)	1	0
Associate’s Degree	70	4
Bachelor’s Degree	0	0
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	0	0
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Business & Office Technology Worth It?

The median salary for a office automation grad is $33,740 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

Majors Related to Business & Office Technology

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to office automation.

Major	Number of Grads
General Administrative Assistant and Secretarial Science	6,847
Customer Service Support/Call Center/Teleservice Operation	4,699
General Office Occupations and Clerical Services	2,122
Executive Assistant/Executive Secretary	1,772
Other Business Operations Support and Secretarial Services	375
Traffic, Customs, and Transportation Clerk/Technician	270
Parts, Warehousing, and Inventory Management Operations	181
Receptionist	123

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.