Types of Degrees Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many human resources development graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Master’s Degree	1,078
Bachelor’s Degree	681
Graduate Certificate	195
Basic Certificate	77
Doctor’s Degree	30
Undergraduate Certificate	15
Associate Degree	7

What Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to hr development 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 HR Development Majors

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

• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 HR Development Majors

When studying hr development, 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:

• Instructing - Teaching others how to do something.
• Learning Strategies - Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
• 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.

Abilities for HR Development Majors

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

• 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.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

What Can You Do With a Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with hr development:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Training and Development Specialists	11.5%	$60,870

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in ?

This major is dominated by women with about 76% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of hr development majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	39
Black or African American	58
Hispanic or Latino	156
White	371
International Students	12
Other Races/Ethnicities	45

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in HR Development. About 1.8% of those with this major are international students.

How Much Do Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

The median salary for someone in a career related to hr development is $65,120. 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

Some careers associated with hr development 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.

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

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
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)	2.8%
Some College Courses	2.8%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	5.7%
Bachelor’s Degree	59.5%
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.	11.3%
Master’s Degree	17.0%
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.	2.8%

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)	2	1
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	2	1
Bachelor’s Degree	29	13
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	40	16
Post-Master’s	3	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	7	1
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	1	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Worth It?

The median salary for a hr development grad is $65,120 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 63% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $504,400 after 20 years!

Majors Related to

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to hr development.

Major	Number of Grads
General Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration	18,023
Organizational Behavior Studies	3,650
Labor & Industrial Relations	1,778
Other Human Resources Management and Services	1,254
Labor Studies	193
Executive/Career Coaching	93

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 Arunkumar Umapathy under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.