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Specialized Sales

Types of Degrees Specialized Sales Majors Are Earning

Students pursuing Specialized Sales can earn degrees at several award levels.

Award Level	Graduates
Certificate	65
Associate’s Degree	1,166
Bachelor’s Degree	2,002
Master’s Degree	346

What Specialized Sales Majors Need to Know

Coursework for Specialized Sales develop a specific mix of knowledge, skills, and abilities — derived from O*NET surveys of workers in occupations that Specialized Sales graduates commonly enter.

Knowledge Areas

According to O*NET, a major in Specialized Sales emphasizes the following knowledge areas:

• Customer and Personal Service — Importance 4.2 / 5; level 4.9 / 7.
• Sales and Marketing — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.6 / 7.
• English Language — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.3 / 7.
• Mathematics — Importance 3.5 / 5; level 4.0 / 7.
• Administration and Management — Importance 3.3 / 5; level 3.9 / 7.

^{Importance is rated 1–5; level is 1–7. Source: ONET Online — weighted across related occupations.*}

Skills

Skills emphasized by a Specialized Sales program reflects the day-to-day work of related occupations:

• Active Listening — Importance 3.8 / 5; level 3.8 / 7.
• Speaking — Importance 3.8 / 5; level 3.7 / 7.
• Critical Thinking — Importance 3.6 / 5; level 3.7 / 7.
• Reading Comprehension — Importance 3.6 / 5; level 3.9 / 7.
• Social Perceptiveness — Importance 3.4 / 5; level 3.3 / 7.

Abilities

Innate abilities most relevant to Specialized Sales careers — again drawn from O*NET surveys of related occupations:

• Oral Comprehension — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 4.0 / 7.
• Oral Expression — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 4.1 / 7.
• Speech Clarity — Importance 3.7 / 5; level 3.6 / 7.
• Written Comprehension — Importance 3.7 / 5; level 3.9 / 7.
• Speech Recognition — Importance 3.5 / 5; level 3.8 / 7.

Common Job Activities

Day-to-day, Specialized Sales graduates report doing:

Activity	Frequency / Importance
Getting Information	4.4 / 7
Making Decisions and Solving Problems	4.1 / 7
Working with Computers	4.1 / 7
Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships	4.0 / 7
Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates	4.0 / 7
Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge	3.9 / 7
Processing Information	3.9 / 7
Communicating with People Outside the Organization	3.8 / 7
Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work	3.8 / 7
Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events	3.8 / 7

Technology Skills Used on the Job

Most frequently-cited tools used by Specialized Sales professionals:

Tool / Software	Category	In-Demand
Microsoft Office software	Office suite software	✓
Microsoft PowerPoint	Presentation software	✓
Microsoft Word	Word processing software	✓
Microsoft Excel	Spreadsheet software	✓
Microsoft Outlook	Electronic mail software	✓
LinkedIn	Web page creation and editing software	—
Microsoft Access	Data base user interface and query software	—
Facebook	Web page creation and editing software	—
SAP software	Enterprise resource planning ERP software	✓
YouTube	Video creation and editing software	—
Microsoft Project	Project management software	—
Microsoft SharePoint	Document management software	—

^{Source: ONET Online technology skills, weighted across related occupations.*}

Sample Job Titles

Real job postings for Specialized Sales graduates include:

• Sales Specialist
• Marketing Consultant
• Technical Marketing Specialist
• Marketing Specialist
• Social Media Specialist
• Inside Sales Representative
• Field Marketing Representative
• Account Specialist
• Sales Professional
• Outside Sales Representative
• Sales Consultant
• Salesperson
• Sales Coordinator
• Exporter
• Marketing Representative

What Can You Do With a Specialized Sales Degree?

Graduates with a degree in Specialized Sales commonly enter the following occupations:

Occupation	Job Growth	Median Salary	25th–75th Pctile
Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products	6.0%	$29,657	$23,253–$36,061
Models	5.6%	$47,704	$40,523–$54,885
Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agents	9.2%	$49,944	$39,642–$60,245
Parts Salespersons	7.9%	$27,560	$22,000–$33,343
Sales and Related Workers, All Other	3.6%	$60,515	$48,820–$72,210
Travel Agents	-3.5%	$65,314	$53,853–$76,775
First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers	5.3%	$53,224	$45,316–$61,133
First-Line Supervisors of Non-Retail Sales Workers	4.0%	$28,072	$23,165–$32,979
Merchandise Displayers and Window Trimmers	0.0%	$62,334	$51,031–$73,636

^{Job-growth = projected employment change for the parent occupation. Source: ONET / BLS Employment Projections.*}

Education Typically Required

Across the occupations open to Specialized Sales graduates, the typical level of education actually held by current workers is distributed as:

Education Level	Share of Workers
Bachelor’s degree	36.6%
High school diploma or equivalent	28.6%
Master’s degree	11.4%
Some college courses	8.4%
Associate’s degree (or other 2-year)	7.4%
Less than a high school diploma	2.9%
Postsecondary certificate	2.8%
Post-baccalaureate certificate	1.6%
First professional degree	0.2%
Post-master’s certificate	0.1%

^{Source: ONET Online education / training / experience requirements.*}

Who Is Earning a Degree in Specialized Sales?

Gender Distribution

This field skews predominantly female, with women earning 84.1% of Specialized Sales degrees.

Gender	Graduates	Share
Women	3,033	84.1%
Men	573	15.9%

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the national level, the racial-ethnic distribution of Specialized Sales graduates is as follows:

Race / Ethnicity	Graduates	Share
White	1,830	50.7%
Asian	225	6.2%
Hispanic or Latino	649	18.0%
Black or African American	353	9.8%
American Indian / Alaska Native	12	0.3%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander	16	0.4%
Two or More Races	126	3.5%
Race Unknown	70	1.9%
International Students	325	9.0%

^{See minority definition below.}

How Much Do Specialized Sales Graduates Earn?

College Scorecard reports median earnings of Specialized Sales graduates 1, 4, and 5 years after completion. Earnings tend to climb steadily as graduates gain experience and move into mid-career roles.

Years Out	Median Earnings
1 year	$37,031
4 years	$44,812
5 years	$50,781

By year 5 out, median earnings rise to $50,781 — roughly 37% above the 1-year mark.

^{Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, field-of-study earnings tracker.}

Online Specialized Sales Programs

Fully online options is reported by IPEDS for Specialized Sales. The table below shows how many graduates earned at least some of their coursework online (Distance-Ed Available) versus completing the entire program online (Distance-Ed Only).

Award Level	Distance-Ed Available	Distance-Ed Only
Associate’s	7	8
Bachelor’s	10	11
Master’s	4	1

^{Distance-Ed Only = degrees completed entirely online; Distance-Ed Available = degrees including at least some online coursework. Source: IPEDS Completions by Distance Education status.}

Is a Degree in Specialized Sales Worth It?

On the earnings side, the federal earnings tracker, Specialized Sales graduates earn a median of $44,812 four years after completion — roughly 18% above the national median for workers with only a high school diploma (~$38,000).

^{ROI estimate compares the program’s 4-yr median earnings against the 2023 BLS CPS median earnings for high-school-only workers. Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard + BLS Current Population Survey.}

Related Programs

You may also be interested in these closely related fields of study:

Program	Annual Degrees Awarded
Business Administration, Management and Operations	402,942
Accounting and Related Services	81,835
Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods	62,236
Business/Commerce, General	57,976
Finance and Financial Management Services	57,564
Marketing	53,750
Human Resources Management and Services	25,424
Business Operations Support and Assistant Services	16,153
Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations	14,306
Hospitality Administration/Management	13,333
Management Information Systems and Services	12,092
Real Estate	7,906

References

The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students and international students. This number is then divided by the total number of students to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics (IPEDS)
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard

More about our data sources and methodologies.