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Classics Major

Classics

230 Bachelor's Degrees Annually
11 Master's Degrees Annually
#245 in Popularity

Types of Degrees Classics Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many classical & ancient studies graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree 223
Basic Certificate 26
Master’s Degree 21
Doctor’s Degree 20

What Classics Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to classics were asked what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. They weighted these areas on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.

Knowledge Areas for Classics Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in classics should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

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  • 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:

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  • 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

Some of the most crucial abilities to master while a classics student include the following:

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  • 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 Classics 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 Classics?

223 Bachelor's Degrees Annually
65% Percent Women
24% Percent Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
This is a less frequently chosen undergraduate major. Only 230 students graduated with a bachelor’s degree in classical & ancient studies in 2021, making it rank #245 in popularity. The major attracts more women than men. About 65% 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:

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Race/Ethnicity Number of Grads
Asian 15
Black or African American 2
Hispanic or Latino 21
White 154
International Students 14
Other Races/Ethnicities 17

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Classics. About 6.3% of those with this major are international students.

Some degrees associated with classics may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. 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 classics careers below.

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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 Classics 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) 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 10 0
Post-Master’s 0 0
Doctor’s Degree (Research) 10 0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice) 0 0
Doctor’s Degree (Other) 0 0

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

Major Number of Grads
Other Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies 29,596
Biological & Physical Science 28,469
Interdisciplinary Studies 9,341
Data Analytics 7,294
International Studies 6,458
Nutrition Science 5,514
Behavioral Science 4,777
Data Science 4,416
Sustainability Science 4,382
Cognitive Science 2,959
Human Computer Interaction 2,324
Natural Sciences 2,275
Computational Science 2,167
Human Biology 2,016
Mathematics & Computer Science 1,489
Systems Theory 1,080
Peace Studies & Conflict Resolution 1,074
Gerontology 951
Museum Studies 892
Geography and Environmental Studies 809
Science, Technology & Society 805
Dispute Resolution 652
Multicultural & Diversity Studies 584
Marine Science 436
Historic Preservation 423
Cultural Studies & Analysis 375
Biopsychology 208
Philosophy, Politics, and Economics 153
Mathematical Economics 139
Climate Science 110
Medieval Studies 105
Environmental Geosciences 102
Economics and Computer Science 89
Maritime Studies 68
History and Political Science 68
Holocaust Studies 67
Accounting & Computer Science 55
Digital Humanities and Textual Studies 54
Anthrozoology 47
Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature 40
Earth Systems Science 25
Economics and Foreign Language/Literature 12
Thanatology 8
Linguistics and Computer Science 4
History and Language/Literature 1
Linguistics and Anthropology 1
Geoarcheaology 1
Geobiology 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.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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