Popular Majors at American Universities: A Comprehensive Overview
Choosing a college major is a significant decision that can shape your future career path. With a multitude of options available, it's helpful to understand which majors are the most popular and what opportunities they can offer. This article explores the most common college majors in the United States, providing insights into their prevalence, associated salaries, and potential entry-level positions.
Top 10 Most Popular Majors
According to data from the National Center of Education Statistics (NCES), business, health, and social sciences are the three most popular college majors in the United States. Of the 2 million bachelor’s degrees conferred in the US during the 2021-2022 school year, these three majors made up almost 40 percent. Moreover, these three areas of study have topped the list of most popular majors since 2012.
Here’s a summary of the top ten most popular majors based on NCES data, along with the percentage of degrees conferred in each major and median US salary data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics:
| Rank | Major | Total Degrees | Percentage of Degrees | Median Salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Business | 375,418 | 18.6% | $71,000 |
| 2 | Health | 263,765 | 13.0% | $70,000 |
| 3 | Social Sciences and History | 151,109 | 7.4% | $70,000 |
| 4 | Biological and Biomedical Sciences | 131,462 | 6.5% | $71,000 |
| 5 | Psychology | 129,609 | 6.4% | $55,000 |
| 6 | Engineering | 123,017 | 6.1% | $100,000 |
| 7 | Computer and Information Sciences | 108,503 | 5.4% | $95,000 |
| 8 | Visual and Performing Arts | 90,241 | 4.5% | $50,000 |
| 9 | Education | 89,410 | 4.4% | $52,000 |
| 10 | Communication and Journalism | 86,043 | 4.3% | $60,000 |
| Total All Majors | 2,015,035 | 100.0% | $92,260 |
It's important to note that this list reflects the popularity of majors across all US institutions. Popularity levels may vary at individual schools depending on factors such as the strength of specific programs or the breadth of offerings. For example, business majors are likely to be the most popular at a business school, while psychology may top the list at a university with a distinguished psychology department.
A Closer Look at Each Major
Let's delve into each of these popular majors, exploring specialized areas within each category and related entry-level jobs.
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1. Business
- Percentage of degrees conferred: 18.6 percent
- Median salary: $71,000
Business is the most common major, with nearly one-fifth of all bachelor’s degree recipients choosing this path. Business majors encompass various areas of study, including business administration, management, and marketing. These majors are generally in high demand among employers, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE).
Some entry-level jobs you may get with a business degree include administrative assistant, marketing coordinator, human resources assistant, sales representative, and business development associate. With a business major, you'll get a thorough grounding in the theories and principles of accounting, finance, marketing, economics, statistics, and human resources functions. You will be a whiz on how to budget, organize, plan, hire, direct, control, and manage various kinds of organizations -from entrepreneurial-type start-ups to multi-million-dollar corporations. The business major will also get you thinking about issues such as diversity, ethics, politics, and other dynamics that play a role in every work environment.
2. Health
- Percentage of degrees conferred: 13.0 percent
- Median salary: $70,000
Health majors are the second most popular for undergrads and can include nursing, public health, and health science. Many high-paying jobs in health care require credentials beyond a bachelor’s degree, such as a master’s or professional degree. However, it’s possible to start your career in health with a bachelor’s degree. Compassionate individuals with a great mind for the intricate-and sometimes heartbreaking-world of medicine will be well-suited for a nursing career. In the course of evaluating, diagnosing, and treating health problems there is also the chance to work with ever-evolving and ultra-sophisticated technology. Nursing majors take the traditional science and liberal arts courses as a first-year student and begin clinical rotations at hospitals and other health care facilities during the second semester of their sophomore year. Certification exams are required after graduation from an accredited nursing program before you can be officially registered. And the job prospects for nurses are not only plentiful but also varied, available in fields such as geriatrics, neurology, oncology, obstetrics, and pediatrics.
Job opportunities for nurse practitioners should increase 46 percent from 2023 to 2033, which makes a master's degree in advanced nursing practice a top choice. Bureau of Labor Statistics has projected nursing to experience 6% growth from 2022 to 2032, which is higher than average. Nurses are in high demand. Even with this growth, the Health Workforce Analysis has found that there could be a shortage of 63,720 full-time RNs by 2030.
Some entry-level jobs include registered nurse, health care administrator, nutritionist, public health researcher, clinical lab technician, and exercise physiologist.
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3. Social Sciences and History
- Percentage of degrees conferred: 7.4 percent
- Median salary: $70,000
With a major in the social sciences, you’ll study societal systems: how they’re built, how they operate, and how people interact with them. These majors tend to be interdisciplinary-meaning they relate several areas of study-so students who pursue a social science major may develop strong transferable skills. Some examples of social science majors are anthropology, economics, environmental studies, political science, and sociology.
Because it often deals with current events and sophisticated statistical analysis, political science is timely, fascinating, and perpetually changing. In a nutshell, it's the study of politics of government, and some of the common concentrations are American government, public policy, foreign affairs, political philosophy, and comparative government. Political science majors develop excellent critical thinking and communication skills, and more broadly, an understanding of history and culture. There will be lots of reading, writing, and math. Possible career paths are diverse-from lawyer to politician to journalist. Economics is the study of choices-those of individuals, businesses, governments, and societies and how they choose to spend their time and money and otherwise allocate their resources. And you guessed it: Economics involves heavy doses of critical thinking and math. This study of the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services is an indispensable tool for making sense of the intricacies of the modern world. It is also an excellent preparation for a future in business, as well as for graduate studies in law, public policy, and international studies.
Some entry-level jobs for social science and history majors include legal assistant, economic analyst, market researcher, and public policy analyst.
4. Biological and Biomedical Sciences
- Percentage of degrees conferred: 6.5 percent
- Median salary: $71,000
Biological and biomedical science majors study living organisms. Some disciplines include biology, physiology, microbiology, and molecular biology. Biology is among the most common majors for students interested in pursuing a medical career, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. Many undergraduate biology students go on to pursue a doctoral or professional degree, later becoming medical scientists, physicians, pharmacists, or dentists. From microscopic organisms to cloning procedures, biology encompasses pretty much the whole world. Biology majors can study human, plants, animals, and the environments in which they live, and studies are conducted at the cellular level, the ecosystem level, or anywhere in between. You might find yourself looking to uncover secrets and for ways to solve problems, such as finding a cure for a disease.
Entry-level jobs associated with a biological or biomedical science degree include research assistant, nutritionist, medical writer, pharmaceutical sales representative, or laboratory technician.
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5. Psychology
- Percentage of degrees conferred: 6.4 percent
- Median salary: $55,000
Psychology, the study of human behavior and mental processes, is technically a social science, but the popularity of the specialized major warrants its standalone categorization. (If this list included psychology among the social science majors, then psychology majors alone would make up 46 percent of the category. Additionally, the social sciences category would rank second overall on this list.) If you find yourself delving into why certain people react to certain aspects of their environments in a certain way, then studying psychology will help you learn about the biology of our brains. Psychology majors focus on such features of the human mind as learning, cognition, intelligence, motivation, emotion, perception, personality, mental disorders, and the ways in which our individual preferences are inherited from our parents or shaped by our environment. Within the field, psychologists seek to educate, communicate, and resolve many of the problems surrounding human behavior.
As a social science, psychology programs tend to nurture several desirable transferable skills, which could broaden career possibilities. Still, many psychology students go on to earn a master’s degree or more in order to pursue a career as a psychologist or psychiatrist. Some entry-level jobs you may pursue with a psychology degree include case manager, counselor, human resources coordinator, market researcher, and research assistant. In the job market, this degree can set you up to be a therapist or counselor, obviously, but also a teacher, child development specialist, lawyer, or consultant, depending on the experiences and post-grad studies with which you complement your degree.
6. Engineering
- Percentage of degrees conferred: 6.1 percent
- Median salary: $100,000
Engineering majors design and build things. The specific things you build and the scale at which you build them depend on your discipline. Some popular engineering disciplines include electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, civil engineering, chemical engineering, and computer engineering. Chemical engineers harness chemical reactions to produce things people want. It's a very broad field that overlaps considerably with other branches of engineering, chemistry, and biochemistry. Chemical engineering majors learn how to reorganize the structure of molecules and how to design chemical processes through which chemicals, petroleum, foods, and pharmaceuticals can undergo. You'll learn how to build and operate industrial plants where raw materials are chemically altered. You'll learn how to keep the environment safe from potential pollution and hazardous waste, too. Paper mills, manufacturers of fertilizers, pharmaceutical companies, plastics makers, and tons of other kinds of firms will be looking for your expertise.
Entry-level engineering jobs are often titled "entry-level engineer" in their decided discipline, for example, entry-level mechanical engineer or entry-level electrical engineer. You may also enter the workforce as an assistant, associate, or analyst.
7. Computer and Information Sciences
- Percentage of degrees conferred: 5.4 percent
- Median salary: $95,000
Computer and information science majors include computer science, computer information systems, and information technology. The popularity of computer and information sciences saw 3.4 percent growth between the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 academic years, the highest of all the majors on this list. This major’s popularity has seen similarly exceptional growth over the past several years. Not only will you learn more about computers-hardware and software-but you'll also learn about the applications of such knowledge, such as how technology fits into a business scenario. As a computer science major , you'll be exposed to areas such as robotics, natural language recognition programs, artificial intelligence, programming languages, numerical analysis, and gaming technology. Problem solving is a major component of computer science, no matter which segment of the industry you want to pursue.
This increase in popularity could be related to employer demand. According to NACE, computer science ties with finance as the most in-demand major among employers, and they stand to be among the highest-paid graduates. Some entry-level computer science jobs include computer support specialist, web developer, software developer, and information security analyst. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, data scientists, information security analysts, and medical and health services managers are among the fastest-growing occupations in the country. The agency expects the number of jobs in these fields to grow by 29 percent to 36 percent.
8. Visual and Performing Arts
- Percentage of degrees conferred: 4.5 percent
- Median salary: $50,000
Visual and performing arts majors can include graphic design, fine arts, theater, photography, and music. A bachelor’s degree isn’t always necessary to start a career in the arts. According to the BLS, about 20 percent of people who pursue a visual and performing arts major end up working in art, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations.
Still, a Bachelor of Fine Arts can enable you to practice your craft as you prepare for entry-level design positions such as graphic designer, photographer, user experience (UX) designer, studio assistant, or visual content producer.
9. Education
- Percentage of degrees conferred: 4.4 percent
- Median salary: $52,000
An education major prepares students to work in a school setting. Degree programs may focus on general education, or they may center on a specific type of student, such as early childhood education, elementary education, or special education. Most people who study education end up finding a job as a teacher, which often requires a teaching certification in addition to a bachelor’s degree. You may go on to pursue your master’s in education in order to qualify for administrative positions.
Some entry-level positions associated with an education degree include elementary, middle, or high school teacher, substitute teacher, school librarian, curriculum design specialist, and teaching assistant.
10. Communication and Journalism
- Percentage of degrees conferred: 4.3 percent
- Median salary: $60,000
Communication majors focus on the various ways to share information. Common areas of study include general communications, journalism, and mass media. Communications majors tend to be great storytellers with quick wits and fiery personalities. You'll spend a significant amount of time scrutinizing different kinds of presentations-such as speeches and scripts-and the strategies behind the messages that speakers and writers use to make their points. You'll learn about verbal and nonverbal messages, audience reaction, and the varied effects of different communication environments.
Some entry-level jobs associated with a communication degree are social media coordinator, public relations specialist, marketing assistant, editorial assistant, reporter, and media planner.
Major Shifts and Trends
While the above data provides a snapshot of the most popular majors, it's important to consider how these trends have changed over time. Analysis of undergraduate student loan applications from 2016 to 2023 reveals some notable shifts:
- Education: Education has slipped in the rankings, possibly due to the teacher pay gap, where wages have not kept pace with other college graduates.
- Communications: The number of communication majors has nearly halved, potentially due to a tough job market and lower median wages compared to other fields.
- Humanities and Liberal Arts: Despite an overall decrease in student loan applications, humanities majors and liberal arts have seen a resurgence in interest, possibly due to the critical thinking skills they provide.
In-Demand Majors
In addition to a major’s popularity, it’s worth considering its demand among employers. According to NACE, business, computer science, and engineering are highly sought after by employers. Specifically, finance, computer science, accounting, business administration/management, and information sciences and systems are among the most in-demand majors.
The Importance of College
Regardless of enrollment trends or fluctuating public sentiment, the facts show that college is still important. Postsecondary institutions within the United States conferred 3.0 million undergraduate degrees in 2021-22. These included 1.0 million associate’s degrees and 2.0 million bachelor’s degrees. Business and health and related programs were also the top two fields for which degrees were conferred to students in each racial/ethnic group in 2021-22.
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