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Animal Services Major

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Animal Services

302 Bachelor's Degrees Annually
#235 in Popularity
$35,260 Median Salary

Types of Degrees Animal Services Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many animal services graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree 302
Associate Degree 239
Undergraduate Certificate 228
Basic Certificate 213
Graduate Certificate 8

What Animal Services Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, animal services 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 Services Majors

Animal Services majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:

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  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.

Skills for Animal Services Majors

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

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  • Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
  • Instructing - Teaching others how to do something.
  • 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.
  • Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Abilities for Animal Services Majors

Animal Services majors often go into careers where the following abilities are vital:

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  • 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.
  • Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

What Can You Do With a Animal Services Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with animal services:

Job Title Job Growth Rate Median Salary
Agricultural Sciences Professors 7.9% $84,640
Animal Trainers 11.1% $29,290
Nonfarm Animal Caretakers 24.2% $23,760

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

302 Bachelor's Degrees Annually
94% Percent Women
10% Percent Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
This is a less frequently chosen undergraduate major. Only 302 students graduated with a bachelor’s degree in animal services in 2021, making it rank #235 in popularity. This major is dominated by women with about 94% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

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Race/Ethnicity Number of Grads
Asian 2
Black or African American 3
Hispanic or Latino 15
White 242
International Students 4
Other Races/Ethnicities 36

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Animal Services, too. About 1.3% of those with this major are international students. The most popular countries for students from outside the country are:

  • Canada
  • United Kingdom
  • Colombia
  • Germany
  • Venezuela

How Much Do Animal Services Majors Make?

Bachelor’s Degree Starting Salary

The median starting salary of students who graduated in 2017-2019 with a bachelor’s degree in animal services was $25,166 per year. These stats come from the U.S. Department of Education. During this timeframe, most salaries fell between $22,933 (25th percentile) and $27,497 (75th percentile).

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It’s important to note that just because the people reporting these salaries have a degree in animal services, it does not mean that they are working in a job related to their degree.

Salaries According to BLS

Animal Services majors often go into careers where salaries can range from $25,890 to $90,890 (25th to 75th percentile). This range includes all degree levels, so you may expect those with a more advanced degree to make more while those with less advanced degrees will typically make less.

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.

Median Salary for an Animal Services Major  ( 25890 to 90890 )
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250K
Median Salary for a High School Graduate  ( 30000 to 57900 )
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250K
Median Salary for a Bachelor's Degree Holder  ( 45600 to 99000 )
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250K
Median Salary for an Advanced Degree Holder  ( 55600 to 125400 )
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250K

Some degrees associated with animal services may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. 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 services careers below.

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Education Level Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma 12.4%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED) 41.2%
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) 3.0%
Some College Courses 6.4%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree) 8.1%
Bachelor’s Degree 6.1%
Master’s Degree 3.4%
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 13.3%
Post-Doctoral Training 6.5%

Online Animal Services Programs

In the 2020-2021 academic year, 79 schools offered some type of animal services program. 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) 24 0
Certificate (2-4 Years) 1 0
Associate’s Degree 40 2
Bachelor’s Degree 1 0
Post-Baccalaureate 0 0
Master’s Degree 0 0
Post-Master’s 0 0
Doctor’s Degree (Research) 0 0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice) 0 0
Doctor’s Degree (Other) 0 0

Is a Degree in Animal Services Worth It?

The median salary for a animal services grad is $35,260 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

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

Major Number of Grads
Veterinary/Animal Health Technologies/Technicians 8,646
Animal Science 8,294
Agricultural Economics & Business 8,098
General Agriculture 3,370
Horticulture 3,234
Plant Sciences 3,175
Agricultural Production 3,066
Food Science Technology 2,532
Agricultural Mechanization 1,280
Agricultural Public Services 845
Other Agriculture 602
Agriculture/Veterinary Preparatory Programs 527
Soil Sciences 406
Food Processing 237
International Agriculture 122
Veterinary Administrative Services 118

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.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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