Human Biology

Types of Degrees Human Biology Majors Are Getting

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

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	1,867
Associate Degree	97
Master’s Degree	36
Doctor’s Degree	16

What Human Biology Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, human biology 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 Human Biology Majors

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

• Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• 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.
• Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

Skills for Human Biology Majors

When studying human biology, 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:

• Science - Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.

Abilities for Human Biology Majors

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

• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• 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).
• 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.

What Can You Do With a Human Biology Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with human biology:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Anthropologists	3.9%	$62,410
Biological Science Professors	15.1%	$82,550
Molecular and Cellular Biologists	8.0%	$79,590
Social Sciences Professors	9.8%	$71,600

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Human Biology?

This is a less frequently chosen undergraduate major. Only 1,907 students graduated with a bachelor’s degree in human biology in 2021, making it rank #132 in popularity. This major is dominated by women with about 79% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	514
Black or African American	211
Hispanic or Latino	342
White	580
International Students	52
Other Races/Ethnicities	168

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Human Biology, too. About 2.8% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Human Biology

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

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	1.2%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	0.5%
Bachelor’s Degree	9.4%
Master’s Degree	24.8%
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.	1.2%
Doctoral Degree	36.8%
Post-Doctoral Training	27.8%

Online Human Biology 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	2	0
Bachelor’s Degree	1	0
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	3	1
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	4	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Human Biology

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

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
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
Classical & Ancient Studies	290
Biopsychology	208
Philosophy, Politics, and Economics	153
Mathematical Economics	139
Climate Science	110
Medieval Studies	105
Environmental Geosciences	102
Economics and Computer Science	89
History and Political Science	68
Maritime Studies	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
Geoarcheaology	1
Linguistics and Anthropology	1
History and Language/Literature	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.

• 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

More about our data sources and methodologies.