General Education

Types of Degrees General Education Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many general education graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Master’s Degree	17,801
Doctor’s Degree	2,177
Graduate Certificate	1,211

What General 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

This major prepares you for careers in which these knowledge areas are important:

• 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

The following list of skills has been highlighted as some of the most essential for careers related to education:

• 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 General Education Major?

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

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

Who Is Getting a Master’s Degree in General 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	821
Black or African American	1,537
Hispanic or Latino	2,863
White	10,431
International Students	579
Other Races/Ethnicities	1,570

Geographic Diversity

Education appeals to people across the globe. About 3.3% of those with this major are international students. The most popular countries for students from outside the country are:

• China
• South Korea
• Saudi Arabia
• Canada
• Taiwan

How Much Do General Education Majors Make?

Master’s Degree Starting Salary

The median early-career salary of general education students with a master’s degree is $48,746 a year according to 2019-2020 data from the U.S. Department of Education. During this timeframe, most salaries fell between $44,204 (25th percentile) and $55,242 (75th percentile).

Note that some of these people may have jobs that are not directly related to a education degree.

Salaries According to BLS

The median salary for someone in a career related to education is $73,680. This median refers to all degree levels, so you may expect those with a more advanced degree to make more while those with less advanced degrees will typically make less.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to General Education

Some degrees associated with education may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

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 General Education Programs

In the 2020-2021 academic year, 835 schools offered some type of general education program. 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)	22	3
Certificate (2-4 Years)	1	0
Associate’s Degree	166	21
Bachelor’s Degree	99	19
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	414	83
Post-Master’s	65	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	99	11
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	9	1
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	3	1

Is a Degree in General Education Worth It?

The median salary for a education grad is $73,680 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 85% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $675,600 after 20 years!

Majors Related to General Education

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

Major	Number of Grads
Educational Administration	45,458
Teacher Education Grade Specific	34,451
Special Education	25,158
Teacher Education Subject Specific	20,616
Curriculum & Instruction	19,784
Student Counseling	13,840
Instructional Media Design	8,387
Teaching English or French	4,743
Other Education	2,513
Multilingual Education	1,672
Educational Assessment	1,215
Education Philosophy	421
International Education	257
Teaching Assistants	20

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.