Animal Science

Types of Degrees Animal Science Majors Are Getting

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

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	7,296
Master’s Degree	484
Associate Degree	250
Doctor’s Degree	194
Basic Certificate	71
Undergraduate Certificate	62
Graduate Certificate	39

What Animal Science Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, animal science 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 Animal Science Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in animal science 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.
• Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
• 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.
• Food Production - Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.

Skills for Animal Science Majors

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

• 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.
• 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.
• Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

Abilities for Animal Science Majors

A major in animal science 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.
• 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.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).

What Can You Do With a Animal Science Major?

People with a animal science degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Agricultural Sciences Professors	7.9%	$84,640
Animal Scientists	4.9%	$58,380
Farm and Home Management Advisors	7.7%	$49,840
First-Line Supervisors of Animal Husbandry and Animal Care Workers	2.1%	$46,960

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Animal Science?

This is a less frequently chosen undergraduate major. Only 7,268 students graduated with a bachelor’s degree in animal science in 2021, making it rank #64 in popularity. This major is dominated by women with about 83% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	260
Black or African American	349
Hispanic or Latino	1,225
White	4,930
International Students	74
Other Races/Ethnicities	458

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Animal Science, too. About 1.0% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Animal Science

Some careers associated with animal science 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 animal science careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	0.9%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	11.5%
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)	10.1%
Some College Courses	1.6%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	4.7%
Bachelor’s Degree	22.7%
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.	2.1%
Master’s Degree	19.0%
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.	1.5%
Doctoral Degree	20.1%
Post-Doctoral Training	5.7%

Online Animal Science 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)	18	3
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	49	0
Bachelor’s Degree	8	2
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	73	3
Post-Master’s	1	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	49	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Animal Science

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

Major	Number of Grads
Veterinary/Animal Health Technologies/Technicians	8,257
Agricultural Economics & Business	8,085
Horticulture	3,932
Veterinary Medicine	3,555
Agricultural Production	3,522
Plant Sciences	3,307
General Agriculture	3,256
Food Science Technology	2,181
Agricultural Mechanization	1,402
Animal Services	1,217
Veterinary Biomedical and Clinical Sciences	954
Agricultural Public Services	866
Other Agriculture	700
Agriculture/Veterinary Preparatory Programs	486
Soil Sciences	439
International Agriculture	215
Food Processing	198
Veterinary Administrative Services	113

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 Billy Hathorn under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.