Investments & Securities

Types of Degrees Investments & Securities Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many investments and securities graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Graduate Certificate	133
Bachelor’s Degree	108
Basic Certificate	58
Master’s Degree	47

What Investments & Securities Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, investments and securities 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 Investments and Securities Majors

Investments and Securities majors often go into careers in which the following 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.
• Economics and Accounting - Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
• 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.
• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

Skills for Investments and Securities Majors

When studying investments and securities, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• 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.
• Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.

Abilities for Investments and Securities Majors

A major in investments and securities 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.
• Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).

What Can You Do With a Investments & Securities Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with investments and securities:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Financial Analysts	10.8%	$85,660
Sales Agents, Financial Services	6.2%	$64,120
Sales Agents, Securities and Commodities	6.2%	$64,120
Securities and Commodities Traders	6.2%	$64,120

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Investments & Securities?

This major tends to be male dominated. About 81% of recent graduates are men.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of investments and securities majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	1
Black or African American	4
Hispanic or Latino	6
White	87
International Students	5
Other Races/Ethnicities	5

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Investments and Securities. About 4.6% of those with this major are international students.

How Much Do Investments & Securities Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

Investments and Securities majors often go into careers where salaries can range from $98,770 to $103,330 (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 Investments & Securities

Some careers associated with investments and securities require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. 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 investments and securities have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	14.1%
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)	2.0%
Some College Courses	2.3%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	3.6%
Bachelor’s Degree	38.9%
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.	3.2%
Master’s Degree	13.6%
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.	0.1%
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.	0.1%
Doctoral Degree	20.9%

Online Investments & Securities Programs

In 2020-2021, 30 schools offered a investments and securities 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)	0	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	0	0
Bachelor’s Degree	7	2
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	10	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 Investments & Securities Worth It?

The median salary for a investments and securities grad is $100,990 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 153% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $1,221,800 after 20 years!

Majors Related to Investments & Securities

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to investments and securities.

Major	Number of Grads
Finance	51,779
Financial Planning & Services	4,087
Banking and Financial Support Services	1,022
Other Finance and Financial Management Services	362
International Finance	123
Public Finance	48
Credit Management	10
Financial Risk Management	1

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 Dave Dugdale under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.