Education

Types of Degrees Education Majors Are Getting

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

Education Level	Number of Grads
Master’s Degree	14,076
Doctor’s Degree	2,501
Graduate Certificate	1,248

What Education Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to education were asked what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. They weighted these areas on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.

Knowledge Areas for Education Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in education 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.
• 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.
• Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
• Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures and their history and origins.
• 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.

Skills for Education Majors

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

• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• 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.
• Learning Strategies - Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
• Instructing - Teaching others how to do something.

Abilities for Education Majors

As a education major, you will find yourself needing the following abilities:

• 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.
• 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.

What Can You Do With a Education Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with education:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Education Professors	10.3%	$64,780

Who Is Getting a Master’s Degree in Education?

This is one of the most frequently chosen graduate majors. It is the 12th most popular in the country with 17,800 students graduating with a master’s in education in 2021. This major is dominated by women with about 78% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	655
Black or African American	1,312
Hispanic or Latino	2,283
White	7,949
International Students	600
Other Races/Ethnicities	1,277

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Education, too. About 4.3% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Education

Some degrees associated with education may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. 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 education careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Bachelor’s Degree	0.6%
Master’s Degree	9.4%
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.	0.1%
Doctoral Degree	89.8%
Post-Doctoral Training	0.1%

Online Education 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)	21	2
Certificate (2-4 Years)	4	0
Associate’s Degree	162	20
Bachelor’s Degree	107	23
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	413	113
Post-Master’s	67	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	104	13
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	9	2
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	2	0

Majors Related to Education

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

Major	Number of Grads
Teacher Education Grade Specific	106,652
Educational Administration	43,921
Teacher Education Subject Specific	40,101
Special Education	34,843
Curriculum & Instruction	20,472
Student Counseling	14,512
Instructional Media Design	8,912
Teaching English or French	5,030
Other Education	4,693
Educational Assessment	4,249
Teaching Assistants	2,942
Multilingual Education	1,654
Education Philosophy	959
International Education	317

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 KOKUYO under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.