HR

Types of Degrees HR Majors Are Getting

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

Education Level	Number of Grads
Master’s Degree	8,301
Graduate Certificate	1,871
Doctor’s Degree	266

What HR Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to hr 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 Majors

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

• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Skills for HR Majors

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

• 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.
• 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 HR Majors

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

• 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 HR Major?

People with a hr degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Business Professors	18.0%	$83,960
Compensation and Benefits Managers	5.1%	$121,010
Compensation, Benefits, and Job Analysis Specialists	8.4%	$63,000
Human Resources Managers	9.0%	$113,300
Human Resources Specialists	7.1%	$60,880
Training and Development Managers	10.4%	$111,340
Training and Development Specialists	11.5%	$60,870

Who Is Getting a Master’s Degree in HR?

Human Resource Management runs middle of the road when it comes to popularity, ranking #22 out of all the graduate majors we track. In 2021, about 9,750 graduates completed their master’s degree in this field. This major is dominated by women with about 75% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	455
Black or African American	1,634
Hispanic or Latino	1,494
White	3,481
International Students	455
Other Races/Ethnicities	782

Geographic Diversity

HR appeals to people across the globe. About 5.5% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to HR

Some careers associated with hr 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.

Find out what the typical degree level is for hr careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	5.5%
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)	1.1%
Some College Courses	2.6%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	3.9%
Bachelor’s Degree	49.5%
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.	6.1%
Master’s Degree	17.5%
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.	1.4%
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.	0.5%
Doctoral Degree	12.0%

Online HR 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)	63	24
Certificate (2-4 Years)	4	2
Associate’s Degree	131	49
Bachelor’s Degree	213	89
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	368	144
Post-Master’s	38	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	33	6
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	2	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to HR

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

Major	Number of Grads
Business Administration & Management	395,227
Accounting	84,760
Finance & Financial Management	58,013
General Business/Commerce	57,204
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods	56,747
Marketing	52,820
Business Support & Assistant Services	16,604
Hospitality Management	14,076
Entrepreneurial Studies	12,707
Management Information Systems	11,695
Real Estate	7,783
International Business	7,505
General Sales & Marketing	5,965
Other Business, Management & Marketing	4,903
Business/Managerial Economics	4,885
Specialized Sales, Merchandising & Marketing	4,322
Construction Management	4,158
Insurance	2,334
Taxation	1,257
Business/Corporate Communications	837
Telecommunications Management	58

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.