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Health Sciences & Services

Types of Degrees Health Sciences & Services Majors Are Earning

Students pursuing Health Sciences & Services have the option of earning degrees at several award levels.

Award Level	Graduates
Certificate	1,436
Associate’s Degree	11,540
Bachelor’s Degree	19,956
Master’s Degree	4,878
Doctor’s Degree	351

What Health Sciences & Services Majors Need to Know

Programs in Health Sciences & Services emphasize a specific mix of knowledge, skills, and abilities — derived from O*NET surveys of workers in occupations that Health Sciences & Services graduates commonly enter.

Knowledge Areas

According to O*NET, a major in Health Sciences & Services emphasizes the following knowledge areas:

• Customer and Personal Service — Importance 4.5 / 5; level 5.7 / 7.
• Education and Training — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.9 / 7.
• English Language — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.1 / 7.
• Administrative — Importance 3.6 / 5; level 5.1 / 7.
• Psychology — Importance 3.6 / 5; level 4.6 / 7.

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

Skills

The skill set built by a Health Sciences & Services program reflects the day-to-day work of related occupations:

• Active Listening — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4 / 7.
• Speaking — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.1 / 7.
• Writing — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 3.9 / 7.
• Social Perceptiveness — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.1 / 7.
• Reading Comprehension — Importance 3.8 / 5; level 4 / 7.

Abilities

Innate abilities most relevant to Health Sciences & Services careers — again drawn from O*NET surveys of related occupations:

• Oral Expression — Importance 4.2 / 5; level 4.1 / 7.
• Oral Comprehension — Importance 4.2 / 5; level 4.0 / 7.
• Written Comprehension — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 3.9 / 7.
• Written Expression — Importance 3.8 / 5; level 3.9 / 7.
• Speech Clarity — Importance 3.8 / 5; level 3.9 / 7.

Common Job Activities

Day-to-day, Health Sciences & Services graduates report doing:

Activity	Frequency / Importance
Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships	4.7 / 7
Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates	4.7 / 7
Communicating with People Outside the Organization	4.7 / 7
Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work	4.6 / 7
Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge	4.6 / 7
Performing for or Working Directly with the Public	4.5 / 7
Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others	4.4 / 7
Documenting/Recording Information	4.3 / 7
Scheduling Work and Activities	4.3 / 7
Working with Computers	4.3 / 7

Technology Skills Used on the Job

Most frequently-cited tools used by Health Sciences & Services professionals:

Tool / Software	Category	In-Demand
Microsoft Publisher	Desktop publishing software	—
Microsoft Access	Data base user interface and query software	—
Microsoft Outlook	Electronic mail software	✓
Web browser software	Internet browser software	—
Microsoft Office software	Office suite software	✓
Microsoft Word	Word processing software	✓
Microsoft Excel	Spreadsheet software	✓
Microsoft PowerPoint	Presentation software	✓
SmugMug Flickr	Graphics or photo imaging software	—
Google Workspace software	Office suite software	—
Electronic health record EHR software	Medical software	—
Client databases	Data base user interface and query software	—

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

Sample Job Titles

Real job postings for Health Sciences & Services graduates include:

• Community Health Worker (CHW)
• Lay Health Advocate
• Community Nutrition Advisor
• Community Health Assistant
• Peer Navigator
• Community Liaison
• Community Health Navigator
• Field Based Community Health Worker
• Contact Tracer
• Peer Health Promoter
• Community Navigator
• Community Health Outreach Worker
• Public Health Outreach Worker
• Community Nutrition Educator
• Behavioral Health Worker (BHW)

Education Typically Required

Across the occupations open to Health Sciences & Services graduates, the typical level of education actually held by current workers is distributed as:

Education Level	Share of Workers
Bachelor’s degree	43.9%
Associate’s degree (or other 2-year)	37.7%
Master’s degree	10.8%
High school diploma or equivalent	5.6%
Some college courses	1.6%
Doctoral degree	0.3%

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

Who Is Earning a Degree in Health Sciences & Services?

Gender Distribution

This field skews predominantly female, with women earning 80.3% of Health Sciences & Services degrees.

Gender	Graduates	Share
Women	30,692	80.3%
Men	7,509	19.7%

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the national level, the racial-ethnic distribution of Health Sciences & Services graduates is as follows:

Race / Ethnicity	Graduates	Share
White	15,565	40.7%
Asian	3,904	10.2%
Hispanic or Latino	9,487	24.8%
Black or African American	5,818	15.2%
American Indian / Alaska Native	257	0.7%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander	130	0.3%
Two or More Races	1,535	4.0%
Race Unknown	1,028	2.7%
International Students	477	1.2%

^{See minority definition below.}

How Much Do Health Sciences & Services Graduates Earn?

The U.S. Department of Education tracks median earnings of Health Sciences & Services graduates 1, 4, and 5 years after completion. These numbers tend to grow steadily as graduates gain experience and move into mid-career roles.

Years Out	Median Earnings
1 year	$40,203
4 years	$49,234
5 years	$57,884

By year 5 out, median earnings rise to $57,884 — roughly 44% above the 1-year mark.

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

Online Health Sciences & Services Programs

Fully online options is tracked by IPEDS for Health Sciences & Services. 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	57	26
Bachelor’s	74	48
Master’s	42	7
Doctoral (Research)	7	3

^{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 Health Sciences & Services Worth It?

On the earnings side, the federal earnings tracker, Health Sciences & Services graduates earn a median of $49,234 four years after completion — roughly 30% 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
Health Care Professions	51
Advanced/Graduate Dentistry and Oral Sciences	51.05
Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services	51.08
Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions	51.09
Alternative and Complementary Medical Support Services	51.34
Alternative and Complementary Medicine and Medical Systems	51.33
Chiropractic	51.01
Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science/Research and Allied Professions	51.10
Communication Disorders Sciences and Services	51.02
Dental Support Services and Allied Professions	51.06
Dentistry	51.04
Dietetics and Clinical Nutrition Services	51.31

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.