Human Development

Types of Degrees Human Development Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many human development & family studies graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Master’s Degree	1,373
Graduate Certificate	176
Doctor’s Degree	165

What Human Development Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, human development majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for Human Development Majors

Human Development majors often go into careers in which the following 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.

Skills for Human Development Majors

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

• 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.
• Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
• Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
• Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.

Abilities for Human Development Majors

As you progress with your human development degree, there are several abilities you should pick up that will help you in whatever related career you choose. These abilities include:

• 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.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• 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.

What Can You Do With a Human Development Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with human development:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Community and Social Service Specialists	13.2%	$42,620
Farm and Home Management Advisors	7.7%	$49,840
Home Economics Professors	8.6%	$71,380
Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education	10.5%	$29,780
Social and Human Service Assistants	16.4%	$33,750

Who Is Getting a Master’s Degree in Human Development?

This major is dominated by women with about 93% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	49
Black or African American	204
Hispanic or Latino	181
White	815
International Students	43
Other Races/Ethnicities	81

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Human Development. About 3.1% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Human Development

Some careers associated with human development require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. 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 human development careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	5.6%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	25.4%
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)	4.1%
Some College Courses	6.8%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	11.0%
Bachelor’s Degree	14.1%
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.	3.1%
Master’s Degree	18.5%
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.	2.9%
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.	0.1%
Doctoral Degree	9.1%
Post-Doctoral Training	0.1%

Online Human Development 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)	456	52
Certificate (2-4 Years)	12	0
Associate’s Degree	610	85
Bachelor’s Degree	54	19
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	132	32
Post-Master’s	6	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	43	2
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Human Development

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

Major	Number of Grads
Food, Nutrition & Related Services	4,014
Textile & Apparel Studies	2,961
General Family & Consumer Sciences	2,454
Family & Consumer Economics	1,208
Human Sciences Business Services	560
Housing	314
Family, Consumer & Human Sciences (Other)	142
Work and Family Studies	10

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 Jsonin under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.