Community Organization

Types of Degrees Community Organization Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many community organization & advocacy graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	1,553
Master’s Degree	478
Associate Degree	259
Graduate Certificate	127
Basic Certificate	86
Doctor’s Degree	32
Undergraduate Certificate	22

What Community Organization Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, community organization 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 Community Organization Majors

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

• 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.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
• Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.

Skills for Community Organization Majors

The following list of skills has been highlighted as some of the most essential for careers related to community organization:

• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• 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.
• Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.
• Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others’ reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

Abilities for Community Organization Majors

A major in community organization will prepare for your careers in which the following abilities are important:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

What Can You Do With a Community Organization Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with community organization:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Community and Social Service Specialists	13.2%	$42,620
Eligibility Interviewers, Government Programs	5.9%	$46,020
Social and Community Service Managers	18.0%	$65,320

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Community Organization?

This is a less frequently chosen undergraduate major. Only 1,884 students graduated with a bachelor’s degree in community organization & advocacy in 2021, making it rank #133 in popularity. 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 community organization majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	34
Black or African American	337
Hispanic or Latino	219
White	764
International Students	8
Other Races/Ethnicities	191

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Community Organization, too. About 0.5% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Community Organization

Some careers associated with community organization 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 community organization careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	3.4%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	18.4%
Some College Courses	7.6%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	9.2%
Bachelor’s Degree	38.8%
Master’s Degree	17.8%
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.	3.9%

Online Community Organization 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)	9	1
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	25	2
Bachelor’s Degree	28	11
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	36	9
Post-Master’s	4	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	6	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	1	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Community Organization

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

Major	Number of Grads
Public Administration	15,867
Human Services	11,596
Public Policy	6,740
Other Public Administration	553

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.