Real Estate

Types of Degrees Real Estate Majors Are Getting

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

Education Level	Number of Grads
Basic Certificate	2,945
Bachelor’s Degree	1,785
Master’s Degree	1,106
Associate Degree	429
Graduate Certificate	174
Undergraduate Certificate	108

What Real Estate Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to real estate 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 Real Estate Majors

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

• 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.
• 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.
• Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
• Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.

Skills for Real Estate Majors

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

• 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.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

Abilities for Real Estate Majors

As a real estate 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.
• 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.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

What Can You Do With a Real Estate Major?

People with a real estate degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Appraisers, Real Estate	14.4%	$54,980
Assessors	14.4%	$54,980
Property, Real Estate, and Community Association Managers	10.3%	$58,340
Real Estate Brokers	4.9%	$58,210
Real Estate Sales Agents	5.8%	$48,690

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Real Estate?

This is a less frequently chosen undergraduate major. Only 1,785 students graduated with a bachelor’s degree in real estate in 2021, making it rank #137 in popularity. This major attracts more men than women. About 74% of the graduates in this field are male.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	72
Black or African American	88
Hispanic or Latino	202
White	1,264
International Students	49
Other Races/Ethnicities	110

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Real Estate. About 2.7% of those with this major are international students. The most popular countries for students from outside the country are:

• China
• India
• South Korea
• Canada
• Thailand

How Much Do Real Estate Majors Make?

Bachelor’s Degree Starting Salary

Data from the U.S. Department of Education shows that real estate students who graduated in 2017-2019 with a bachelor’s degree made a median starting salary of $51,372 per year. During this timeframe, most salaries fell between $43,823 (25th percentile) and $58,970 (75th percentile).

Note that some of these people may have jobs that are not directly related to a real estate degree.

Salaries According to BLS

Average salaries range from $61,720 to $71,730 (25th to 75th percentile) for careers related to real estate. 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 Real Estate

Some degrees associated with real estate 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 real estate careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	2.5%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	21.7%
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)	8.3%
Some College Courses	15.6%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	13.9%
Bachelor’s Degree	31.2%
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.	2.6%
Master’s Degree	1.8%
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.	1.7%

Online Real Estate Programs

In the 2020-2021 academic year, 224 schools offered some type of real estate 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)	37	3
Certificate (2-4 Years)	1	0
Associate’s Degree	95	8
Bachelor’s Degree	20	1
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	42	1
Post-Master’s	2	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	1	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Real Estate Worth It?

The median salary for a real estate grad is $61,870 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 55% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $439,400 after 20 years!

Majors Related to Real Estate

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

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
Entrepreneurial Studies	11,319
International Business	9,101
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 Godrej Mamurdi Pune under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.