---

Animal Health

Types of Degrees Animal Health Majors Are Earning

Students pursuing Animal Health can earn degrees at several award levels.

Award Level	Graduates
Associate’s Degree	16
Bachelor’s Degree	73
Master’s Degree	48

What Animal Health Majors Need to Know

Studies in Animal Health build a specific mix of knowledge, skills, and abilities — derived from O*NET surveys of workers in occupations that Animal Health graduates commonly enter.

Knowledge Areas

This major prepares you for careers needing Animal Health emphasizes the following knowledge areas:

• Biology — Importance 4.2 / 5; level 5.2 / 7.
• Administration and Management — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 4.1 / 7.
• English Language — Importance 3.8 / 5; level 4.6 / 7.
• Education and Training — Importance 3.7 / 5; level 5.2 / 7.
• Mathematics — Importance 3.5 / 5; level 4.6 / 7.

^{Importance is rated 1–5; level is 1–7. Source: ONET Online — weighted across related occupations.*}

Skills

Skills built by a Animal Health program reflects the day-to-day work of related occupations:

• Reading Comprehension — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.7 / 7.
• Critical Thinking — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.1 / 7.
• Active Listening — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 4.3 / 7.
• Speaking — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 4.6 / 7.
• Active Learning — Importance 3.8 / 5; level 4.1 / 7.

Abilities

Innate abilities most relevant to Animal Health careers — again drawn from O*NET surveys of related occupations:

• Oral Expression — Importance 4.2 / 5; level 5.0 / 7.
• Oral Comprehension — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.7 / 7.
• Speech Clarity — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.4 / 7.
• Written Comprehension — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.6 / 7.
• Deductive Reasoning — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.2 / 7.

Common Job Activities

Day-to-day, Animal Health graduates report doing:

Activity	Frequency / Importance
Making Decisions and Solving Problems	4.4 / 7
Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates	4.3 / 7
Getting Information	4.3 / 7
Training and Teaching Others	4.2 / 7
Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work	4.2 / 7
Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships	4.1 / 7
Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge	4.1 / 7
Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events	4.1 / 7
Communicating with People Outside the Organization	4.0 / 7
Thinking Creatively	4.0 / 7

Technology Skills Used on the Job

Most frequently-cited tools used by Animal Health professionals:

Tool / Software	Category	In-Demand
Microsoft Word	Word processing software	—
Microsoft Office software	Office suite software	✓
Microsoft Excel	Spreadsheet software	✓
Microsoft PowerPoint	Presentation software	—
Email software	Electronic mail software	—
Word processing software	Word processing software	—
Web browser software	Internet browser software	—
Microsoft Outlook	Electronic mail software	—
Database software	Data base user interface and query software	—
Image scanning software	Optical character reader OCR or scanning software	—
Data management software	Data base user interface and query software	—
Web page design software	Web page creation and editing software	—

^{Source: ONET Online technology skills, weighted across related occupations.*}

Sample Job Titles

Real job postings for Animal Health graduates include:

• Horticulture Manager
• Farm Crops Teacher
• Aquaculture Professor
• Horticulture Instructor
• Animal Science Instructor
• Animal Husbandry Professor
• Agronomy Instructor
• Fisheries Instructor
• Animal Anatomy Teacher
• Soil Biology Teacher
• Animal Nutrition Teacher
• College Professor
• Dairy Husbandry Teacher
• Fisheries Professor
• Agricultural Education Professor

Education Typically Required

Across the occupations open to Animal Health graduates, the typical level of education actually held by current workers is distributed as:

Education Level	Share of Workers
Doctoral degree	52.8%
Post-doctoral training	24.0%
Master’s degree	15.7%
Bachelor’s degree	3.9%
Associate’s degree (or other 2-year)	2.0%
Postsecondary certificate	0.9%
Post-master’s certificate	0.7%

^{Source: ONET Online education / training / experience requirements.*}

Who Is Earning a Degree in Animal Health?

Gender Distribution

This field skews predominantly female, with women earning 87.6% of Animal Health degrees.

Gender	Graduates	Share
Women	120	87.6%
Men	17	12.4%

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the national level, the racial-ethnic distribution of Animal Health graduates is as follows:

Race / Ethnicity	Graduates	Share
White	110	80.3%
Asian	3	2.2%
Hispanic or Latino	9	6.6%
Black or African American	2	1.5%
Two or More Races	4	2.9%
Race Unknown	7	5.1%
International Students	2	1.5%

^{See minority definition below.}

How Much Do Animal Health Graduates Earn?

College Scorecard reports median earnings of Animal Health graduates 1, 4, and 5 years after completion. These numbers tend to grow steadily as graduates gain experience and move into mid-career roles.

Years Out	Median Earnings
1 year	$34,873
4 years	$43,315
5 years	$54,045

By year 5 out, median earnings rise to $54,045 — roughly 55% above the 1-year mark.

^{Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, field-of-study earnings tracker.}

Online Animal Health Programs

Online study is tracked by IPEDS for Animal Health. The table below shows how many graduates earned at least some of their coursework online (Distance-Ed Available) versus completing the entire program online (Distance-Ed Only).

Award Level	Distance-Ed Available	Distance-Ed Only
Bachelor’s	1	0
Master’s	1	1

^{Distance-Ed Only = degrees completed entirely online; Distance-Ed Available = degrees including at least some online coursework. Source: IPEDS Completions by Distance Education status.}

Is a Degree in Animal Health Worth It?

On the earnings side, the federal earnings tracker, Animal Health graduates earn a median of $43,315 four years after completion — roughly 14% above the national median for workers with only a high school diploma (~$38,000).

^{ROI estimate compares the program’s 4-yr median earnings against the 2023 BLS CPS median earnings for high-school-only workers. Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard + BLS Current Population Survey.}

Related Programs

You may also be interested in these closely related fields of study:

Program	CIP Code
Animal Sciences	01.09
Agricultural Animal Breeding	01.0902
Animal Nutrition	01.0904
Animal Sciences, General	01.0901
Animal Sciences, Other	01.0999
Dairy Science	01.0905
Livestock Management	01.0906
Poultry Science	01.0907
Range Science and Management	01.1106
Agribusiness/Agricultural Business Operations	01.0102
Agricultural Business and Management, General	01.0101
Agricultural Business and Management, Other	01.0199

References

The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students and international students. This number is then divided by the total number of students to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics (IPEDS)
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard

More about our data sources and methodologies.