Health Communication

Types of Degrees Health Communication Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many health communication graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	188
Master’s Degree	126
Graduate Certificate	45
Basic Certificate	23
Undergraduate Certificate	15
Doctor’s Degree	13

What Health Communication Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to health communication were asked what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. They weighted these areas on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.

Knowledge Areas for Health Communication Majors

Health Communication 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
• 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.

Skills for Health Communication Majors

health communication majors are found most commonly in careers in which the following skills are important:

• 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.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
• 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.

Abilities for Health Communication Majors

Health Communication majors often go into careers where the following abilities are vital:

• 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.
• 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.

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Health Communication?

This major is dominated by women with about 84% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of health communication majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	11
Black or African American	17
Hispanic or Latino	28
White	113
International Students	2
Other Races/Ethnicities	17

Geographic Diversity

Health Communication appeals to people across the globe. About 1.1% of those with this major are international students.

How Much Do Health Communication Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

Average salaries range from $43,480 to $68,440 (25th to 75th percentile) for careers related to health communication. 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 Health Communication

Some careers associated with health communication 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 health communication have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	2.6%
Some College Courses	0.7%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	19.2%
Bachelor’s Degree	46.2%
Master’s Degree	24.6%
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.	0.2%
Doctoral Degree	4.4%
Post-Doctoral Training	2.6%

Online Health Communication Programs

In 2020-2021, 77 schools offered a health communication 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)	2	1
Certificate (2-4 Years)	1	0
Associate’s Degree	0	0
Bachelor’s Degree	17	5
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	19	4
Post-Master’s	5	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	4	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Health Communication Worth It?

The median salary for a health communication grad is $59,660 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 50% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $395,200 after 20 years!

Majors Related to Health Communication

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to health communication.

Major	Number of Grads
Public Relations	5,216
Advertising	4,918
Public Relations, Advertising, & Applied Communication	4,203
General Organizational Communication	2,013
Other Public Relations, Advertising, & Applied Communication	1,553
Communication Management and Strategic Communications	1,397
Sports Communication	729
International & Intercultural Communication	256
Technical & Scientific Communication	217
Political Communication	187

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 Bill Koplitz under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.