Human Services

Types of Degrees Human Services Majors Are Getting

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

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	5,919
Associate Degree	3,742
Master’s Degree	873
Basic Certificate	664
Undergraduate Certificate	249
Doctor’s Degree	97
Graduate Certificate	52

What Human Services Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to human services 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 Human Services Majors

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

• 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.
• 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.
• Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
• Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures and their history and origins.

Skills for Human Services Majors

A major in human services prepares you for careers in which the following skill-sets are crucial:

• Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others’ reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
• Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.
• 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.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Abilities for Human Services Majors

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

• 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.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.

What Can You Do With a Human Services Major?

People with a human services degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Community and Social Service Specialists	13.2%	$42,620
Social and Community Service Managers	18.0%	$65,320
Social and Human Service Assistants	16.4%	$33,750

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

This is a less frequently chosen undergraduate major. Only 6,292 students graduated with a bachelor’s degree in human services in 2021, making it rank #68 in popularity. This major is dominated by women with about 87% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	137
Black or African American	1,197
Hispanic or Latino	1,224
White	2,694
International Students	34
Other Races/Ethnicities	633

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Human Services, too. About 0.6% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Human Services

Some degrees associated with human services 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.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to human services have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	15.9%
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)	0.8%
Some College Courses	4.3%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	10.7%
Bachelor’s Degree	36.8%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	0.5%
Master’s Degree	20.6%
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.	10.5%

Online Human Services 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)	72	8
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	257	43
Bachelor’s Degree	13	5
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	56	26
Post-Master’s	2	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	5	3
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Human Services

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

Major	Number of Grads
Public Administration	15,867
Public Policy	6,740
Community Organization & Advocacy	2,557
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
• Image Credit: By University of the Fraser Valley under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.