Dance

Types of Degrees Dance Majors Are Getting

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

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	2,650
Master’s Degree	244
Associate Degree	166
Basic Certificate	99
Undergraduate Certificate	52
Graduate Certificate	13
Doctor’s Degree	9

What Dance Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, dance 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 Dance Majors

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

• Fine Arts - Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
• 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.
• Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
• 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 Dance Majors

When studying dance, 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:

• 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.
• Instructing - Teaching others how to do something.
• Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

Abilities for Dance Majors

As you progress with your dance degree, there are several abilities you should pick up that will help you in whatever related career you choose. These abilities include:

• 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.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Originality - The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

What Can You Do With a Dance Major?

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

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Art, Drama, and Music Professors	12.0%	$69,960
Choreographers	2.9%	$47,800
Dancers	4.4%	NA

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Dance?

This is a less frequently chosen undergraduate major. Only 2,676 students graduated with a bachelor’s degree in dance in 2021, making it rank #115 in popularity. This major is dominated by women with about 90% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	99
Black or African American	284
Hispanic or Latino	365
White	1,599
International Students	61
Other Races/Ethnicities	242

Geographic Diversity

Dance appeals to people across the globe. About 2.3% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Dance

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

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	7.9%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	13.6%
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)	2.7%
Some College Courses	7.2%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	0.8%
Bachelor’s Degree	14.9%
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.	0.4%
Master’s Degree	31.2%
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.	2.1%
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	18.0%

Online Dance 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)	12	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	2	0
Associate’s Degree	84	0
Bachelor’s Degree	9	1
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	60	1
Post-Master’s	1	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	4	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Dance

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

Major	Number of Grads
Fine & Studio Arts	36,332
Design & Applied Arts	36,019
Music	26,167
Film, Video & Photographic Arts	18,531
Drama & Theater Arts	16,853
General Visual & Performing Arts	6,785
Arts & Media Management	4,722
Other Visual Art	1,026
Crafts, Folk Art & Artisanry	102
Community/Environmental/Socially-Engaged Art	6

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 Jazzart Dance Theatre under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.