Advertising

Types of Degrees Advertising Majors Are Getting

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

Education Level	Number of Grads
Master’s Degree	301
Doctor’s Degree	10
Graduate Certificate	4

What Advertising Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to advertising 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 Advertising Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in advertising 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Skills for Advertising Majors

A major in advertising prepares you for careers in which the following skill-sets are crucial:

• 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.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

Abilities for Advertising Majors

A major in advertising will prepare for your careers in which the following abilities are important:

• 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.
• 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.

What Can You Do With a Advertising Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with advertising:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Advertising and Promotions Managers	5.4%	$117,130
Communications Professors	10.0%	$68,910
Green Marketers	5.4%	$117,130

Who Is Getting a Master’s Degree in Advertising?

The major attracts more women than men. About 80% of the recent graduates in this field are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	12
Black or African American	32
Hispanic or Latino	33
White	138
International Students	61
Other Races/Ethnicities	25

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Advertising, too. About 20.3% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Advertising

Some careers associated with advertising 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 advertising careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	3.5%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	5.6%
Some College Courses	4.4%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	4.6%
Bachelor’s Degree	34.1%
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.	1.4%
Master’s Degree	34.6%
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.	0.4%
Doctoral Degree	7.7%
Post-Doctoral Training	4.8%

Online Advertising 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)	8	2
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	16	2
Bachelor’s Degree	6	1
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	18	0
Post-Master’s	1	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	1	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Advertising

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

Major	Number of Grads
Public Relations	4,566
Public Relations, Advertising, & Applied Communication	4,239
Communication Management and Strategic Communications	2,031
General Organizational Communication	1,835
Other Public Relations, Advertising, & Applied Communication	1,470
Sports Communication	1,161
Health Communication	416
International & Intercultural Communication	245
Political Communication	221
Technical & Scientific Communication	167

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.