Business Administration

Types of Degrees Business Administration Majors Are Getting

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

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	161,468
Master’s Degree	120,872
Associate Degree	60,022
Basic Certificate	36,279
Graduate Certificate	7,027
Undergraduate Certificate	5,953
Doctor’s Degree	3,606

What Business Administration Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to business administration 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 Business Administration 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.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• 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.
• Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

Skills for Business Administration Majors

When studying business administration, 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:

• 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.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• 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 Business Administration Majors

As a business administration major, you will find yourself needing the following abilities:

• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• 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.

What Can You Do With a Business Administration Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with business administration:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Administrative Services Managers	10.1%	$96,180
Agents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and Athletes	4.7%	$66,040
Business Professors	18.0%	$83,960
Compliance Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Construction Managers	11.1%	$93,370
First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers	3.4%	$55,810
Logistics Analysts	6.9%	$74,600
Logistics Engineers	6.9%	$74,600
Loss Prevention Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Management Analysts	14.3%	$83,610
Regulatory Affairs Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Sales Managers	7.5%	$124,220
Security Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Storage and Distribution Managers	6.8%	$94,730
Wind Energy Operations Managers	8.0%	$107,480

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration?

This is one of the most frequently chosen undergraduate majors. It is the 1st most popular in the country with 174,421 students graduating with a bachelor’s in business administration in 2021. According to recent stats this major attracts about equal numbers of men and women. Roughly 47% of the graduates are women, and 53% are men.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	11,989
Black or African American	17,498
Hispanic or Latino	27,989
White	79,863
International Students	7,296
Other Races/Ethnicities	16,833

Geographic Diversity

Business Administration appeals to people across the globe. About 4.5% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Business Administration

Some degrees associated with business administration 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.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to business administration have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	0.6%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	12.0%
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)	5.8%
Some College Courses	9.2%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	8.9%
Bachelor’s Degree	44.6%
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.	3.7%
Master’s Degree	10.9%
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.	1.1%
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.	0.2%
Doctoral Degree	3.1%
Post-Doctoral Training	0.4%

Online Business Administration 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)	655	213
Certificate (2-4 Years)	16	1
Associate’s Degree	1,735	587
Bachelor’s Degree	784	360
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	1,924	818
Post-Master’s	125	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	271	78
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	22	7
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	5	1

Majors Related to Business Administration

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

Major	Number of Grads
Accounting	84,760
Finance & Financial Management	58,013
General Business/Commerce	57,204
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods	56,747
Marketing	52,820
Human Resource Management	25,350
Business Support & Assistant Services	16,604
Hospitality Management	14,076
Entrepreneurial Studies	12,707
Management Information Systems	11,695
Real Estate	7,783
International Business	7,505
General Sales & Marketing	5,965
Other Business, Management & Marketing	4,903
Business/Managerial Economics	4,885
Specialized Sales, Merchandising & Marketing	4,322
Construction Management	4,158
Insurance	2,334
Taxation	1,257
Business/Corporate Communications	837
Telecommunications Management	58

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

More about our data sources and methodologies.