Community Organization & Advocacy

Types of Degrees Community Organization & Advocacy Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many community organization and advocacy graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Master’s Degree	633
Graduate Certificate	85
Doctor’s Degree	23

What Community Organization & Advocacy Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, community organization 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 Community Organization Majors

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

• 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.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• 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.
• Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
• 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.

Skills for Community Organization Majors

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

• 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.
• Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others’ reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
• Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

Abilities for Community Organization Majors

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

• 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 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.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

What Can You Do With a Community Organization & Advocacy Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with community organization:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Community and Social Service Specialists	13.2%	$42,620
Social and Community Service Managers	18.0%	$65,320

Who Is Getting a Master’s Degree in Community Organization & Advocacy?

This major is dominated by women with about 74% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	9
Black or African American	136
Hispanic or Latino	52
White	309
International Students	36
Other Races/Ethnicities	91

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Community Organization. About 5.7% of those with this major are international students. The most popular countries for students from outside the country are:

• Saudi Arabia
• China
• South Korea
• India
• Canada

How Much Do Community Organization & Advocacy Majors Make?

Master’s Degree Starting Salary

Data from the U.S. Department of Education shows that community organization and advocacy students who graduated in 2017-2019 with a master’s degree made a median starting salary of $43,709 per year. During this timeframe, most salaries fell between $39,479 (25th percentile) and $58,377 (75th percentile).

It is possible that some of these people may have taken positions that were not related to community organization.

Salaries According to BLS

Community Organization majors often go into careers where salaries can range from $46,050 to $71,670 (25th to 75th percentile). This range includes all degree levels, so the salary for a person with just a bachelor’s degree may be a little less and the one for a person with an advanced degree may be a little more.

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 Community Organization & Advocacy

Some degrees associated with community organization 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.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to community organization have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	3.4%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	18.4%
Some College Courses	7.6%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	9.2%
Bachelor’s Degree	38.8%
Master’s Degree	17.8%
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.	3.9%

Online Community Organization & Advocacy Programs

In 2020-2021, 144 schools offered a community organization program of some type. 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)	11	2
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	31	2
Bachelor’s Degree	25	8
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	35	10
Post-Master’s	6	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	6	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Community Organization & Advocacy Worth It?

The median salary for a community organization grad is $46,480 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 16% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $131,600 after 20 years!

Majors Related to Community Organization & Advocacy

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

Major	Number of Grads
Social Work	33,631
Public Administration	13,571
Public Policy	3,737
Human Services	1,277
Other Public Administration	295

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

More about our data sources and methodologies.