Pharmacology

Types of Degrees Pharmacology Majors Are Getting

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

Education Level	Number of Grads
Master’s Degree	502
Doctor’s Degree	424
Bachelor’s Degree	232
Graduate Certificate	21

What Pharmacology Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to pharmacology and asked them what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. The responses were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important.

Knowledge Areas for Pharmacology Majors

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

• 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.
• Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• 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.
• Chemistry - Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.

Skills for Pharmacology Majors

When studying pharmacology, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
• 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.
• 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.

Abilities for Pharmacology Majors

A major in pharmacology will prepare for your careers in which the following abilities are important:

• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• 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.
• Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.

What Can You Do With a Pharmacology Major?

People with a pharmacology degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Biological Science Professors	15.1%	$82,550
Clinical Research Coordinators	9.9%	$123,860
Health Specialties Professors	25.9%	$97,370
Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists	13.4%	$84,810
Molecular and Cellular Biologists	8.0%	$79,590
Natural Sciences Managers	9.9%	$123,860
Water Resource Specialists	9.9%	$123,860

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Pharmacology?

This is a less frequently chosen undergraduate major. Only 216 students graduated with a bachelor’s degree in pharmacology & toxicology in 2021, making it rank #248 in popularity. This major is dominated by women with about 63% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	47
Black or African American	21
Hispanic or Latino	41
White	88
International Students	20
Other Races/Ethnicities	15

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Pharmacology, too. About 8.6% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Pharmacology

Some careers associated with pharmacology require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. 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 pharmacology have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	0.5%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	1.2%
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)	1.6%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	2.3%
Bachelor’s Degree	28.3%
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.	1.7%
Master’s Degree	20.8%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.	0.0%
Doctoral Degree	21.9%
Post-Doctoral Training	21.8%

Online Pharmacology 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)	0	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	1	0
Bachelor’s Degree	8	4
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	116	1
Post-Master’s	2	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	133	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	1	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Pharmacology

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

Major	Number of Grads
General Biology	103,883
Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology	14,354
Neurobiology & Neurosciences	12,903
Physiology & Pathology Sciences	10,453
Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology	9,123
Cell Biology & Anatomical Sciences	6,274
Microbiological Sciences & Immunology	4,815
Biological & Biomedical Sciences (Other)	4,637
Biotechnology	3,836
Biomathematics & Bioinformatics	3,505
Zoology	3,246
Genetics	1,703
Botany/Plant Biology	743
Molecular Medicine	130

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 Fvasconcellos under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.