Types of Degrees Majors Are Getting

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

Education Level	Number of Grads
Basic Certificate	3,607
Bachelor’s Degree	1,848
Master’s Degree	1,140
Associate Degree	553
Undergraduate Certificate	153
Graduate Certificate	147

What Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to real estate 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 Real Estate Majors

Real Estate majors often go into careers in which the following 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.
• 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.
• Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.

Skills for Real Estate Majors

When studying real estate, 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:

• 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.
• 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.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

Abilities for Real Estate Majors

As you progress with your real estate 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.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• 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.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

What Can You Do With a Major?

People with a real estate degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Appraisers, Real Estate	14.4%	$54,980
Assessors	14.4%	$54,980
Property, Real Estate, and Community Association Managers	10.3%	$58,340
Real Estate Brokers	4.9%	$58,210
Real Estate Sales Agents	5.8%	$48,690

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in ?

This major attracts more men than women. About 71% of the graduates in this field are male.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of real estate majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	84
Black or African American	103
Hispanic or Latino	244
White	1,267
International Students	39
Other Races/Ethnicities	111

Geographic Diversity

Real Estate appeals to people across the globe. About 2.1% of those with this major are international students.

How Much Do Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

Real Estate majors often go into careers where salaries can range from $61,720 to $71,730 (25th to 75th percentile). 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

Some careers associated with real estate 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 real estate have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	2.5%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	21.7%
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)	8.3%
Some College Courses	15.6%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	13.9%
Bachelor’s Degree	31.2%
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.	2.6%
Master’s Degree	1.8%
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.	1.7%

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)	36	2
Certificate (2-4 Years)	1	0
Associate’s Degree	96	11
Bachelor’s Degree	24	3
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	45	3
Post-Master’s	2	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	3	1
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Worth It?

The median salary for a real estate grad is $61,870 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 55% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $439,400 after 20 years!

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 Godrej Mamurdi Pune under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.