Animal Science

Types of Degrees Animal Science Majors Are Getting

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

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	6,830
Master’s Degree	434
Associate Degree	181
Doctor’s Degree	158
Basic Certificate	48
Undergraduate Certificate	17
Graduate Certificate	12

What Animal Science Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to animal science 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 Animal Science Majors

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

• 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.
• Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
• 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.
• 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

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

• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
• 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.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

Abilities for Animal Science Majors

Some of the most crucial abilities to master while a animal science student include the following:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• 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).
• 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.

What Can You Do With a Animal Science Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with animal science:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Agricultural Sciences Professors	7.9%	$84,640
Animal Scientists	4.9%	$58,380
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 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	249
Black or African American	316
Hispanic or Latino	1,186
White	4,588
International Students	71
Other Races/Ethnicities	420

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 degrees associated with animal science 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 animal science careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	0.3%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	12.2%
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)	14.2%
Some College Courses	2.5%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	3.9%
Bachelor’s Degree	18.5%
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.	1.1%
Master’s Degree	10.8%
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.	0.2%
Doctoral Degree	28.3%
Post-Doctoral Training	8.7%

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)	5	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	34	0
Bachelor’s Degree	4	2
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	56	2
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	39	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
Animal Sciences, Other	204
Poultry Science	177
Dairy Science	154
Animal Health	130
Livestock Management	33
Animal Nutrition	10
Agricultural Animal Breeding	8

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.