Histologic Technician

Types of Degrees Histologic Technician Majors Are Getting

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

Education Level	Number of Grads
Associate Degree	130
Basic Certificate	68
Undergraduate Certificate	43
Bachelor’s Degree	12

What Histologic Technician Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to histologic technician 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 Histologic Technician Majors

This major prepares you for careers in which these knowledge areas are important:

• Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
• Chemistry - Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• 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.

Skills for Histologic Technician Majors

A major in histologic technician 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.
• 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.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Science - Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.

Abilities for Histologic Technician Majors

As a histologic technician major, you will find yourself needing the following abilities:

• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
• Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

What Can You Do With a Histologic Technician Major?

People with a histologic technician degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technicians	14.0%	NA

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Histologic Technician?

The major attracts more women than men. About 83% of the recent graduates in this field are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	1
Black or African American	3
Hispanic or Latino	2
White	5
International Students	0
Other Races/Ethnicities	1

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Histologic Technician

Some careers associated with histologic technician require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

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

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	4.2%
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)	0.4%
Some College Courses	0.9%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	30.4%
Bachelor’s Degree	45.1%
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.	10.3%
Master’s Degree	6.7%
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.	0.3%

Online Histologic Technician 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)	5	1
Certificate (2-4 Years)	1	0
Associate’s Degree	20	2
Bachelor’s Degree	0	0
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	0	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 Histologic Technician

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

Major	Number of Grads
Phlebotomy Technician/Phlebotomist	8,480
Laboratory Sciences & Medical Technology	4,067
Laboratory Technician	3,225
Sterile Processing Technology/Technician	1,333
Other Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science and Allied Professions	858
Blood Bank Technology Specialist	265
Histologic Technology/Histotechnologist	132
Cytotechnology/Cytotechnologist	123
Renal/Dialysis Technologist/Technician	122
Ophthalmic Laboratory Technology/Technician	71
Hematology Technology	45
Cytogenetics/Genetics/Clinical Genetics Technology/Technologist	43

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 Staff Sgt. Jerilyn Quintanilla under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.