General Sales & Marketing

Types of Degrees General Sales & Marketing Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many general sales and marketing graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	2,815
Basic Certificate	1,499
Associate Degree	851
Master’s Degree	485
Undergraduate Certificate	221
Graduate Certificate	51
Doctor’s Degree	1

What General Sales & Marketing Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to sales and marketing 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 Sales & Marketing Majors

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

• 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.
• Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
• 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.
• Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

Skills for Sales & Marketing Majors

The following list of skills has been highlighted as some of the most essential for careers related to sales and marketing:

• 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.
• Persuasion - Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
• 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.

Abilities for Sales & Marketing Majors

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

• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

What Can You Do With a General Sales & Marketing Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with sales and marketing:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Demonstrators and Product Promoters	6.5%	$28,960
Energy Brokers	9.7%	$54,550
First-Line Supervisors of Non-Retail Sales Workers	4.9%	$73,390
First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers	3.8%	$39,630
Parts Salespersons	5.0%	$30,430
Sales and Related Workers	10.6%	$33,220
Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products	5.2%	$58,510
Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products	5.2%	$79,680
Solar Sales Representatives and Assessors	5.2%	$79,680

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in General Sales & Marketing?

This is one of the most frequently chosen business majors. It is the 17th most popular in the country with 2,815 students graduating with a bachelor’s in sales and marketing in 2021. 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 sales and marketing majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	279
Black or African American	209
Hispanic or Latino	390
White	1,690
International Students	131
Other Races/Ethnicities	116

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Sales & Marketing, too. About 4.7% of those with this major are international students. The most popular countries for students from outside the country are:

• China
• Taiwan
• India
• Saudi Arabia
• South Korea

How Much Do General Sales & Marketing Majors Make?

Bachelor’s Degree Starting Salary

Data from the U.S. Department of Education shows that general sales and marketing students who graduated in 2017-2019 with a bachelor’s degree made a median starting salary of $48,013 per year. During this timeframe, most salaries fell between $40,256 (25th percentile) and $54,952 (75th percentile).

It is possible that some of these people may have taken positions that were not related to sales and marketing.

Salaries According to BLS

Average salaries range from $40,480 to $69,480 (25th to 75th percentile) for careers related to sales and marketing. This range includes all degree levels, so the salary for a person with just a bachelor’s degree may be a little less and the one for a person with an advanced degree may be a little more.

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 General Sales & Marketing

Some degrees associated with sales and marketing 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 sales and marketing have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	5.1%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	28.8%
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)	5.8%
Some College Courses	11.2%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	10.3%
Bachelor’s Degree	38.0%
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.	1.3%
Master’s Degree	0.7%
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%
Doctoral Degree	0.0%

Online General Sales & Marketing Programs

In the 2020-2021 academic year, 329 schools offered some type of general sales and marketing 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)	104	12
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	174	22
Bachelor’s Degree	10	3
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	14	3
Post-Master’s	1	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	1	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in General Sales & Marketing Worth It?

The median salary for a sales and marketing grad is $45,080 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 13% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $103,600 after 20 years!

Majors Related to General Sales & Marketing

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to sales and marketing.

Major	Number of Grads
Business Administration & Management	416,590
Accounting	99,265
Finance & Financial Management	57,778
General Business/Commerce	56,042
Marketing	52,916
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods	43,382
Human Resource Management	28,787
Business Support & Assistant Services	19,119
Hospitality Management	17,689
Management Information Systems	13,680
Entrepreneurial Studies	11,319
International Business	9,101
Real Estate	6,547
Business/Managerial Economics	5,667
Specialized Sales, Merchandising & Marketing	5,191
Other Business, Management & Marketing	4,822
Construction Management	3,846
Insurance	1,809
Taxation	1,547
Business/Corporate Communications	1,029
Telecommunications Management	55

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 Nick Nijhuis under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.