Entrepreneurial Studies

Types of Degrees Entrepreneurial Studies Majors Are Getting

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

Education Level	Number of Grads
Basic Certificate	4,576
Bachelor’s Degree	3,728
Master’s Degree	1,082
Graduate Certificate	731
Associate Degree	715
Undergraduate Certificate	477
Doctor’s Degree	10

What Entrepreneurial Studies Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, entrepreneurship 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 Entrepreneurship Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in entrepreneurship should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

• 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.
• 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.
• Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
• Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

Skills for Entrepreneurship Majors

entrepreneurship 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.
• 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 Entrepreneurship Majors

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

• 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.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

What Can You Do With a Entrepreneurial Studies Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with entrepreneurship:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Business Professors	18.0%	$83,960
Compliance Managers	8.0%	$107,480
General and Operations Managers	9.1%	$100,930
Investment Fund Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Loss Prevention Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Regulatory Affairs Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Security Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Supply Chain Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Wind Energy Operations Managers	8.0%	$107,480

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Entrepreneurial Studies?

This is a less frequently chosen undergraduate major. Only 3,728 students graduated with a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurial studies in 2021, making it rank #95 in popularity. This major attracts more men than women. About 61% of the graduates in this field are male.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	155
Black or African American	295
Hispanic or Latino	553
White	2,204
International Students	292
Other Races/Ethnicities	229

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Entrepreneurship. About 7.8% of those with this major are international students. The most popular countries for students from outside the country are:

• China
• India
• Indonesia
• Saudi Arabia
• Canada

How Much Do Entrepreneurial Studies Majors Make?

Bachelor’s Degree Starting Salary

Data from the U.S. Department of Education shows that entrepreneurial studies students who graduated in 2017-2019 with a bachelor’s degree made a median starting salary of $39,417 per year. During this timeframe, most salaries fell between $33,237 (25th percentile) and $44,436 (75th percentile).

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

Salaries According to BLS

Average salaries range from $103,330 to $123,880 (25th to 75th percentile) for careers related to entrepreneurship. 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.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Entrepreneurial Studies

Some degrees associated with entrepreneurship 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 entrepreneurship careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	4.4%
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)	3.9%
Some College Courses	5.2%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	5.7%
Bachelor’s Degree	42.3%
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.	6.8%
Master’s Degree	18.7%
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.	3.2%
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.	0.9%
Doctoral Degree	9.4%

Online Entrepreneurial Studies Programs

In the 2020-2021 academic year, 854 schools offered some type of entrepreneurial studies 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)	168	28
Certificate (2-4 Years)	5	0
Associate’s Degree	184	30
Bachelor’s Degree	83	37
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	92	24
Post-Master’s	14	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	6	1
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	1	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Entrepreneurial Studies Worth It?

The median salary for a entrepreneurship grad is $115,590 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 190% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $1,513,800 after 20 years!

Majors Related to Entrepreneurial Studies

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

Major	Number of Grads
Business Administration & Management	416,590
Accounting	99,265
Finance & Financial Management	57,778
General Business/Commerce	56,042
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
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 Uicbmarketing under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.