Marketing

Types of Degrees Marketing Majors Are Getting

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

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	44,531
Master’s Degree	3,067
Basic Certificate	2,268
Associate Degree	1,786
Graduate Certificate	651
Undergraduate Certificate	502
Doctor’s Degree	15

What Marketing Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, marketing 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 Marketing Majors

Marketing 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
• Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.

Skills for Marketing Majors

A major in marketing prepares you for careers in which the following skill-sets are crucial:

• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• 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.
• 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.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

Abilities for Marketing Majors

Marketing 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.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

What Can You Do With a Marketing Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with marketing:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Advertising and Promotions Managers	5.4%	$117,130
Business Professors	18.0%	$83,960
Green Marketers	5.4%	$117,130
Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists	23.2%	$63,120
Marketing Managers	10.1%	$134,290
Sales Managers	7.5%	$124,220
Survey Researchers	2.1%	$57,700

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing?

This is one of the most frequently chosen undergraduate majors. It is the 11th most popular in the country with 45,119 students graduating with a bachelor’s in marketing in 2021. The major attracts more women than men. About 56% of the recent graduates in this field are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	2,357
Black or African American	2,782
Hispanic or Latino	6,185
White	28,797
International Students	1,665
Other Races/Ethnicities	2,745

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Marketing. About 3.7% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Marketing

Some careers associated with marketing 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 marketing have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	1.0%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	2.4%
Some College Courses	2.4%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	3.7%
Bachelor’s Degree	38.5%
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.	2.3%
Master’s Degree	17.2%
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.	0.7%
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.	2.4%
Doctoral Degree	16.2%
Post-Doctoral Training	0.6%

Online Marketing 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)	109	30
Certificate (2-4 Years)	2	1
Associate’s Degree	257	89
Bachelor’s Degree	104	39
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	190	60
Post-Master’s	21	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	15	2
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	1	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Marketing

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

Major	Number of Grads
Business Administration & Management	395,227
Accounting	84,760
Finance & Financial Management	58,013
General Business/Commerce	57,204
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods	56,747
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
• Image Credit: By Nick Youngson under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.