Small Business Administration

Types of Degrees Small Business Administration Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many small business administration/management graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Basic Certificate	1,450
Associate Degree	373
Bachelor’s Degree	358
Undergraduate Certificate	159
Master’s Degree	5

What Small Business Administration Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, small business administration/management 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 Small Business Administration/Management Majors

This major prepares you for careers in which these knowledge areas are important:

• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• 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.
• Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
• 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.
• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

Skills for Small Business Administration/Management Majors

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

• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• 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.
• Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Abilities for Small Business Administration/Management Majors

As a small business administration/management major, you will find yourself needing the following abilities:

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

What Can You Do With a Small Business Administration Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with small business administration/management:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Compliance Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Investment Fund Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Loss Prevention Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Regulatory Affairs Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Security Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Supply Chain Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Wind Energy Operations Managers	8.0%	$107,480

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Small Business Administration?

According to recent stats this major attracts about equal numbers of men and women. Roughly 54% of the graduates are women, and 46% are men.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	2
Black or African American	40
Hispanic or Latino	24
White	203
International Students	83
Other Races/Ethnicities	6

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Small Business Administration/Management. About 23.2% of those with this major are international students.

How Much Do Small Business Administration Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

Small Business Administration/Management majors often go into careers with median salaries of $115,590. 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 Small Business Administration

Some degrees associated with small business administration/management 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.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to small business administration/management have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	3.2%
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)	4.3%
Some College Courses	2.3%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	6.4%
Bachelor’s Degree	58.1%
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.	2.3%
Master’s Degree	21.1%
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.	1.5%
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.	0.9%

Online Small Business Administration Programs

In the 2020-2021 academic year, 239 schools offered some type of small business administration/management 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)	60	8
Certificate (2-4 Years)	2	0
Associate’s Degree	89	10
Bachelor’s Degree	1	1
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	4	1
Post-Master’s	1	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Small Business Administration Worth It?

The median salary for a small business administration/management grad is $115,590 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 190% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $1,513,800 after 20 years!

Majors Related to Small Business Administration

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

Major	Number of Grads
Entrepreneurship	8,484
Other Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations	427
Social Entrepreneurship	48
Franchising and Franchise Operations	15

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 Uicbmarketing under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.