Health Communication

Types of Degrees Health Communication Majors Are Getting

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

Education Level	Number of Grads
Master’s Degree	149
Bachelor’s Degree	122
Basic Certificate	79
Graduate Certificate	39
Undergraduate Certificate	17
Doctor’s Degree	10

What Health Communication Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to health communication and asked them what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. The responses were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important.

Knowledge Areas for Health Communication Majors

Health Communication 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.
• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• 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.
• 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.

Skills for Health Communication Majors

health communication majors are found most commonly in careers in which the following skills are important:

• 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.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
• 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.

Abilities for Health Communication Majors

As you progress with your health communication degree, there are several abilities you should pick up that will help you in whatever related career you choose. These abilities include:

• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• 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.
• 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.

What Can You Do With a Health Communication Major?

People with a health communication degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Communications Professors	10.0%	$68,910
Community Health Workers	17.9%	$39,540
Health Educators	14.6%	$54,220
Public Relations Specialists	8.9%	$60,000

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Health Communication?

The major attracts more women than men. About 78% of the recent graduates in this field are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	7
Black or African American	7
Hispanic or Latino	20
White	75
International Students	1
Other Races/Ethnicities	12

Geographic Diversity

Health Communication appeals to people across the globe. About 0.8% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Health Communication

Some careers associated with health communication 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 health communication have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	2.6%
Some College Courses	0.7%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	19.2%
Bachelor’s Degree	46.2%
Master’s Degree	24.6%
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.	0.2%
Doctoral Degree	4.4%
Post-Doctoral Training	2.6%

Online Health Communication 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)	2	1
Certificate (2-4 Years)	1	0
Associate’s Degree	0	0
Bachelor’s Degree	20	5
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	23	5
Post-Master’s	4	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	3	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Health Communication

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

Major	Number of Grads
Public Relations	4,566
Advertising	4,315
Public Relations, Advertising, & Applied Communication	4,239
Communication Management and Strategic Communications	2,031
General Organizational Communication	1,835
Other Public Relations, Advertising, & Applied Communication	1,470
Sports Communication	1,161
International & Intercultural Communication	245
Political Communication	221
Technical & Scientific Communication	167

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 Bill Koplitz under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.