Classical & Ancient Studies

Types of Degrees Classical & Ancient Studies Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many classical and ancient studies graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	230
Basic Certificate	28
Master’s Degree	11
Doctor’s Degree	6

What Classical & Ancient Studies Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to classics 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 Classics Majors

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

• History and Archeology - Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
• 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.
• Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures and their history and origins.

Skills for Classics Majors

When studying classics, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

• 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.
• 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.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.

Abilities for Classics Majors

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

• 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.
• 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.
• Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).

What Can You Do With a Classical & Ancient Studies Major?

People with a classics degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Historians	6.1%	$61,140

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Classical & Ancient Studies?

This is a less frequently chosen undergraduate major. Only 230 students graduated with a bachelor’s degree in classical and ancient studies in 2021, making it rank #245 in popularity. The major attracts more women than men. About 62% of the recent graduates in this field are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	13
Black or African American	1
Hispanic or Latino	22
White	159
International Students	10
Other Races/Ethnicities	25

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Classics, too. About 4.3% of those with this major are international students. The most popular countries for students from outside the country are:

• China
• Italy
• Canada
• India
• Slovakia

How Much Do Classical & Ancient Studies Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

The median salary for someone in a career related to classics is $66,380. This median refers to all degree levels, so the salary for a person with just a bachelor’s degree may be a little less and the one for a person with an advanced degree may be a little more.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Classical & Ancient Studies

Some careers associated with classics 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 classics have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	9.0%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	9.4%
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)	15.2%
Some College Courses	18.0%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	0.5%
Bachelor’s Degree	20.4%
Master’s Degree	23.9%
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.	3.7%

Online Classical & Ancient Studies Programs

In 2020-2021, 74 schools offered a classics program of some type. 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)	0	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	0	0
Bachelor’s Degree	2	0
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	11	0
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	9	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Classical & Ancient Studies Worth It?

The median salary for a classics grad is $66,380 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 66% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $529,600 after 20 years!

Majors Related to Classical & Ancient Studies

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

Major	Number of Grads
Other Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies	34,975
Biological & Physical Science	30,075
Interdisciplinary Studies	9,074
International Studies	7,368
Nutrition Science	5,330
Behavioral Science	4,169
Sustainability Science	3,005
Cognitive Science	2,776
Natural Sciences	2,214
Human Biology	1,939
Human Computer Interaction	1,857
Computational Science	1,360
Data Analytics	1,338
Mathematics & Computer Science	1,302
Gerontology	1,234
Peace Studies & Conflict Resolution	1,175
Science, Technology & Society	1,095
Systems Theory	884
Museum Studies	816
Dispute Resolution	648
Data Science	541
Multicultural & Diversity Studies	482
Historic Preservation	416
Cultural Studies & Analysis	405
Marine Science	334
Biopsychology	183
Medieval Studies	104
Philosophy, Politics, and Economics	97
History and Political Science	66
Holocaust Studies	66
Maritime Studies	50
Accounting & Computer Science	48
Earth Systems Science	44
Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature	42
Geography and Environmental Studies	40
Environmental Geosciences	20
Anthrozoology	13
Digital Humanities and Textual Studies	12
Mathematical Economics	10
Linguistics and Computer Science	6
Linguistics and Anthropology	4
Economics and Computer Science	2
History and Language/Literature	0
Thanatology	0

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 Benh LIEU SONG under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.