ASL

Types of Degrees ASL Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many american sign language (asl) graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Basic Certificate	384
Associate Degree	330
Bachelor’s Degree	137
Undergraduate Certificate	46
Master’s Degree	28
Graduate Certificate	3

What ASL Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, asl 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 ASL Majors

Asl majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:

• Foreign Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
• 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.
• Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
• 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 ASL Majors

The following list of skills has been highlighted as some of the most essential for careers related to asl:

• 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.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.

Abilities for ASL Majors

A major in asl will prepare for your careers in which the following abilities are important:

• Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
• 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.
• 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.

What Can You Do With a ASL Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with asl:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Interpreters and Translators	17.7%	$49,930

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in ASL?

The major attracts more women than men. About 90% of the recent graduates in this field are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	4
Black or African American	18
Hispanic or Latino	17
White	86
International Students	1
Other Races/Ethnicities	11

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in ASL, too. About 0.7% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to ASL

Some careers associated with asl 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.

Find out what the typical degree level is for asl careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	1.1%
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)	1.1%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	11.4%
Bachelor’s Degree	52.1%
Master’s Degree	25.5%
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.	8.9%

Online ASL 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)	21	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	53	1
Bachelor’s Degree	2	1
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	2	0
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to ASL

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

Major	Number of Grads
Sign Language Interpretation & Translation	1,401
Linguistics of ASL & Other Sign Languages	8
Other American Sign Language	4

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 PsiДҐedelisto under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.