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Business & Personal Marketing

Types of Degrees Business & Personal Marketing Majors Are Earning

Students pursuing Business & Personal Marketing can earn degrees at several award levels.

Award Level	Graduates
Associate’s Degree	19
Master’s Degree	1

What Business & Personal Marketing Majors Need to Know

Coursework for Business & Personal Marketing emphasize a specific mix of knowledge, skills, and abilities — derived from O*NET surveys of workers in occupations that Business & Personal Marketing graduates commonly enter.

Knowledge Areas

According to O*NET, a major in Business & Personal Marketing emphasizes the following knowledge areas:

• Customer and Personal Service — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 5.0 / 7.
• English Language — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.4 / 7.
• Sales and Marketing — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 4.8 / 7.
• Mathematics — Importance 3.8 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.
• Computers and Electronics — Importance 3.5 / 5; level 4.3 / 7.

^{Importance is rated 1–5; level is 1–7. Source: ONET Online — weighted across related occupations.*}

Skills

The skill set emphasized by a Business & Personal Marketing program reflects the day-to-day work of related occupations:

• Critical Thinking — Importance 3.8 / 5; level 3.8 / 7.
• Active Listening — Importance 3.8 / 5; level 3.9 / 7.
• Reading Comprehension — Importance 3.7 / 5; level 4.1 / 7.
• Speaking — Importance 3.6 / 5; level 3.8 / 7.
• Judgment and Decision Making — Importance 3.6 / 5; level 3.7 / 7.

Abilities

Abilities most relevant to Business & Personal Marketing careers — again drawn from O*NET surveys of related occupations:

• Oral Comprehension — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.1 / 7.
• Oral Expression — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 4.2 / 7.
• Deductive Reasoning — Importance 3.8 / 5; level 4.3 / 7.
• Written Comprehension — Importance 3.8 / 5; level 4.2 / 7.
• Written Expression — Importance 3.7 / 5; level 4.0 / 7.

Common Job Activities

Day-to-day, Business & Personal Marketing graduates report doing:

Activity	Frequency / Importance
Working with Computers	4.5 / 7
Getting Information	4.5 / 7
Processing Information	4.3 / 7
Making Decisions and Solving Problems	4.3 / 7
Analyzing Data or Information	4.3 / 7
Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships	4.2 / 7
Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge	4.1 / 7
Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others	4.1 / 7
Communicating with People Outside the Organization	4.0 / 7
Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work	4.0 / 7

Technology Skills Used on the Job

Most frequently-cited tools used by Business & Personal Marketing professionals:

Tool / Software	Category	In-Demand
Microsoft Office software	Office suite software	✓
Microsoft Word	Word processing software	—
Web browser software	Internet browser software	—
Microsoft Access	Data base user interface and query software	—
Microsoft PowerPoint	Presentation software	✓
LinkedIn	Web page creation and editing software	—
Microsoft Excel	Spreadsheet software	✓
Microsoft Outlook	Electronic mail software	✓
Word processing software	Word processing software	—
Oracle Hyperion	Enterprise resource planning ERP software	—
IBM Cognos Impromptu	Business intelligence and data analysis software	—
Salesforce software	Customer relationship management CRM software	✓

^{Source: ONET Online technology skills, weighted across related occupations.*}

Sample Job Titles

Real job postings for Business & Personal Marketing graduates include:

• Account Manager
• Investment Representative
• Fiscal Specialist
• Securities Lending Trader
• Account Specialist
• Business Banker
• Customer Agent
• Client Administrator
• Sales Professional
• Financial Consultant
• Financial Report Service Sales Agent
• Flow Trader
• Client Service Associate
• Sales Associate
• Investments Specialist

Education Typically Required

Across the occupations open to Business & Personal Marketing graduates, the typical level of education actually held by current workers is distributed as:

Education Level	Share of Workers
Bachelor’s degree	55.0%
High school diploma or equivalent	15.8%
Master’s degree	15.0%
Some college courses	5.1%
Post-baccalaureate certificate	4.9%
Associate’s degree (or other 2-year)	2.8%
Postsecondary certificate	1.5%

^{Source: ONET Online education / training / experience requirements.*}

Who Is Earning a Degree in Business & Personal Marketing?

Gender Distribution

This field has a relatively balanced gender distribution: 46.2% women and 53.8% men among Business & Personal Marketing graduates.

Gender	Graduates	Share
Women	12	46.2%
Men	14	53.8%

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the national level, the racial-ethnic distribution of Business & Personal Marketing graduates is as follows:

Race / Ethnicity	Graduates	Share
White	12	46.2%
Hispanic or Latino	2	7.7%
Black or African American	8	30.8%
Two or More Races	2	7.7%
International Students	2	7.7%

^{See minority definition below.}

How Much Do Business & Personal Marketing Graduates Earn?

Federal data tracks median earnings of Business & Personal Marketing graduates 1, 4, and 5 years after completion. Wages typically rise steadily as graduates gain experience and move into mid-career roles.

Years Out	Median Earnings
1 year	$37,031
4 years	$44,812
5 years	$50,781

By year 5 out, median earnings rise to $50,781 — roughly 37% above the 1-year mark.

^{Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, field-of-study earnings tracker.}

Online Business & Personal Marketing Programs

Fully online options is reported by IPEDS for Business & Personal Marketing. The table below shows how many graduates earned at least some of their coursework online (Distance-Ed Available) versus completing the entire program online (Distance-Ed Only).

Award Level	Distance-Ed Available	Distance-Ed Only
Associate’s	1	0

^{Distance-Ed Only = degrees completed entirely online; Distance-Ed Available = degrees including at least some online coursework. Source: IPEDS Completions by Distance Education status.}

Is a Degree in Business & Personal Marketing Worth It?

Strictly by the federal earnings tracker, Business & Personal Marketing graduates earn a median of $44,812 four years after completion — roughly 18% above the national median for workers with only a high school diploma (~$38,000).

^{ROI estimate compares the program’s 4-yr median earnings against the 2023 BLS CPS median earnings for high-school-only workers. Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard + BLS Current Population Survey.}

Related Programs

You may also be interested in these closely related fields of study:

Program	CIP Code
Specialized Sales, Merchandising and Marketing Operations	52.19
Apparel and Accessories Marketing Operations	52.1904
Auctioneering	52.1901
Fashion Merchandising	52.1902
Fashion Modeling	52.1903
Hospitality and Recreation Marketing Operations	52.1910
Reserved	52.1980
Special Products Marketing Operations	52.1909
Specialized Merchandising, Sales, and Marketing Operations, Other	52.1999
Tourism and Travel Services Marketing Operations	52.1905
Tourism Promotion Operations	52.1906
Vehicle and Vehicle Parts and Accessories Marketing Operations	52.1907

References

The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students and international students. This number is then divided by the total number of students to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics (IPEDS)
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard

More about our data sources and methodologies.