Business & Commerce

Types of Degrees Business & Commerce Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many general business/commerce graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	24,850
Associate Degree	17,867
Master’s Degree	8,488
Basic Certificate	2,748
Undergraduate Certificate	1,440
Graduate Certificate	402
Doctor’s Degree	247

What Business & Commerce Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to general business 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 General Business 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.
• Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.

Skills for General Business Majors

general business majors are found most commonly in careers in which the following skills are important:

• 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.
• 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.
• Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Abilities for General Business Majors

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

• 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.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• 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 Business & Commerce Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with general business:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Administrative Services Managers	10.1%	$96,180
Business Professors	18.0%	$83,960
Compliance Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Construction Managers	11.1%	$93,370
Cost Estimators	10.5%	$64,040
General and Operations Managers	9.1%	$100,930
Investment Fund Managers	8.0%	$107,480
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
Social and Community Service Managers	18.0%	$65,320
Storage and Distribution Managers	6.8%	$94,730
Supply Chain Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Transportation Managers	6.8%	$94,730
Wind Energy Operations Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Wind Energy Project Managers	8.0%	$107,480

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Business & Commerce?

General Business/Commerce runs middle of the road when it comes to popularity, ranking #21 out of all the undergraduate majors we track. In 2021, about 24,850 graduates completed their bachelor’s degree in this field. Roughly 47% of the graduates are women, and 53% are men.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	1,211
Black or African American	3,561
Hispanic or Latino	2,843
White	13,808
International Students	1,566
Other Races/Ethnicities	1,861

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in General Business, too. About 6.3% of those with this major are international students. The most popular countries for students from outside the country are:

• China
• India
• South Korea
• Saudi Arabia
• Vietnam

How Much Do Business & Commerce Majors Make?

Bachelor’s Degree Starting Salary

According to 2019-2020 data from the U.S. Department of Education, students who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in general business have a median salary of $42,524 during the early years of their career. During this timeframe, most salaries fell between $38,544 (25th percentile) and $47,245 (75th percentile).

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

Salaries According to BLS

General Business majors often go into careers where salaries can range from $94,390 to $115,590 (25th to 75th percentile). This range includes all degree levels, so the salary for a person with just a bachelor’s degree may be a little less and the one for a person with an advanced degree may be a little more.

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.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Business & Commerce

Some careers associated with general business 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.

Find out what the typical degree level is for general business careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	0.2%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	9.1%
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)	4.1%
Some College Courses	7.2%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	8.6%
Bachelor’s Degree	45.4%
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.	4.0%
Master’s Degree	14.1%
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.	2.3%
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.	0.3%
Doctoral Degree	5.1%

Online Business & Commerce Programs

In the 2020-2021 academic year, 920 schools offered some type of general business/commerce 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)	113	27
Certificate (2-4 Years)	3	0
Associate’s Degree	506	152
Bachelor’s Degree	44	13
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	128	27
Post-Master’s	9	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	27	1
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	1	1
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Business & Commerce Worth It?

The median salary for a general business grad is $103,330 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 159% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $1,268,600 after 20 years!

Majors Related to Business & Commerce

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

Major	Number of Grads
Business Administration & Management	416,590
Accounting	99,265
Finance & Financial Management	57,778
Marketing	52,916
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods	43,382
Human Resource Management	28,787
Business Support & Assistant Services	19,119
Hospitality Management	17,689
Management Information Systems	13,680
Entrepreneurial Studies	11,319
International Business	9,101
Real Estate	6,547
General Sales & Marketing	5,923
Business/Managerial Economics	5,667
Specialized Sales, Merchandising & Marketing	5,191
Other Business, Management & Marketing	4,822
Construction Management	3,846
Insurance	1,809
Taxation	1,547
Business/Corporate Communications	1,029
Telecommunications Management	55

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 U.S. Consulate General Munich under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.