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General Sales & Marketing

Instructional content for this group of programs is defined in codes 52.1801 - 52.1899.

Types of Degrees General Sales & Marketing Majors Are Earning

Students pursuing General Sales & Marketing may pursue degrees at several award levels.

Award Level	Graduates
Certificate	188
Associate’s Degree	854
Bachelor’s Degree	2,408
Master’s Degree	2,628
Doctor’s Degree	2

What General Sales & Marketing Majors Need to Know

Studies in General Sales & Marketing develop a specific mix of knowledge, skills, and abilities — derived from O*NET surveys of workers in occupations that General Sales & Marketing graduates commonly enter.

Knowledge Areas

Coursework in General Sales & Marketing emphasizes the following knowledge areas:

• Customer and Personal Service — Importance 4.4 / 5; level 5.2 / 7.
• Sales and Marketing — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.4 / 7.
• English Language — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.0 / 7.
• Administration and Management — Importance 3.5 / 5; level 3.9 / 7.
• Mathematics — Importance 3.3 / 5; level 3.8 / 7.

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

Skills

Skills built by a General Sales & Marketing program reflects the day-to-day work of related occupations:

• Speaking — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 3.9 / 7.
• Active Listening — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 3.9 / 7.
• Persuasion — Importance 3.6 / 5; level 3.8 / 7.
• Social Perceptiveness — Importance 3.5 / 5; level 3.5 / 7.
• Negotiation — Importance 3.5 / 5; level 3.7 / 7.

Abilities

Abilities most relevant to General Sales & Marketing careers — again drawn from O*NET surveys of related occupations:

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

Common Job Activities

Day-to-day, General Sales & Marketing graduates report doing:

Activity	Frequency / Importance
Getting Information	4.2 / 7
Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships	4.0 / 7
Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates	4.0 / 7
Communicating with People Outside the Organization	4.0 / 7
Making Decisions and Solving Problems	4.0 / 7
Working with Computers	3.9 / 7
Selling or Influencing Others	3.8 / 7
Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events	3.7 / 7
Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work	3.7 / 7
Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge	3.7 / 7

Technology Skills Used on the Job

Most frequently-cited tools used by General Sales & Marketing professionals:

Tool / Software	Category	In-Demand
Microsoft Office software	Office suite software	✓
Microsoft Outlook	Electronic mail software	✓
Microsoft Word	Word processing software	✓
Microsoft PowerPoint	Presentation software	✓
Microsoft Excel	Spreadsheet software	✓
Microsoft Access	Data base user interface and query software	—
Microsoft Project	Project management software	—
SAP software	Enterprise resource planning ERP software	✓
Salesforce software	Customer relationship management CRM software	✓
Oracle Database	Data base user interface and query software	—
Microsoft SharePoint	Document management software	✓
Adobe Acrobat	Document management software	—

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

Sample Job Titles

Real job postings for General Sales & Marketing graduates include:

• Sales Specialist
• Sales Coordinator
• Sales Consultant
• Outside Sales Representative
• Inside Sales Representative
• Field Service Representative
• Field Marketing Representative
• Exporter
• Account Specialist
• Salesman
• Sales Representative (Sales Rep)
• Salesperson
• Independent Sales Representative
• Shift Supervisor
• Sales Supervisor

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

Graduates with a degree in General Sales & Marketing 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
First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers	5.3%	$53,224	$45,316–$61,133
Advertising Sales Agents	11.9%	$63,488	$51,403–$75,573
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
Demonstrators and Product Promoters	2.6%	$40,454	$32,392–$48,516
Solar Sales Representatives and Assessors	7.5%	$31,788	$27,320–$36,257
First-Line Supervisors of Non-Retail Sales Workers	4.0%	$28,072	$23,165–$32,979
Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel	1.4%	$61,441	$49,542–$73,340
Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products	-3.7%	$39,468	$32,450–$46,486

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

Education Typically Required

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

Education Level	Share of Workers
High school diploma or equivalent	36.2%
Bachelor’s degree	26.5%
Associate’s degree (or other 2-year)	12.8%
Some college courses	10.0%
Less than a high school diploma	6.1%
Postsecondary certificate	5.0%
Post-baccalaureate certificate	1.2%
Master’s degree	1.0%
Doctoral degree	1.0%
Post-master’s certificate	0.1%

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

Who Is Earning a Degree in General Sales & Marketing?

Gender Distribution

This field has a relatively balanced gender distribution: 55% women and 45% men among General Sales & Marketing graduates.

Gender	Graduates	Share
Women	3,391	55.0%
Men	2,780	45.0%

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

Race / Ethnicity	Graduates	Share
White	3,297	53.4%
Asian	423	6.9%
Hispanic or Latino	936	15.2%
Black or African American	369	6.0%
American Indian / Alaska Native	31	0.5%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander	17	0.3%
Two or More Races	247	4.0%
Race Unknown	170	2.8%
International Students	681	11.0%

^{See minority definition below.}

How Much Do General Sales & Marketing Graduates Earn?

Federal data tracks median earnings of General Sales & Marketing 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	$52,294
4 years	$56,564
5 years	$66,475

By year 5 out, median earnings rise to $66,475 — roughly 27% above the 1-year mark.

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

Online General Sales & Marketing Programs

Online study is reported by IPEDS for General Sales & Marketing. 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	24	8
Bachelor’s	16	4
Master’s	3	0

^{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 General Sales & Marketing Worth It?

Looking purely at the federal earnings tracker, General Sales & Marketing graduates earn a median of $56,564 four years after completion — roughly 49% 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 Management Marketing Sales	840,037
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

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.