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Nursing Assistants & Aides Major

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Nursing Assistants & Aides

177 Bachelor's Degrees Annually
#7 in Popularity
$29,580 Median Salary

Types of Degrees Nursing Assistants & Aides Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many nursing assistant/aide and patient care assistant/aide graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level Number of Grads
Basic Certificate 34,488
Undergraduate Certificate 1,078
Associate Degree 59
Bachelor’s Degree 30

What Nursing Assistants & Aides Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to nursing assistant were asked what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. They weighted these areas on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.

Knowledge Areas for Nursing Assistant Majors

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

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  • 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.
  • 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.
  • English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
  • Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
  • Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.

Skills for Nursing Assistant Majors

nursing assistant majors are found most commonly in careers in which the following skills are important:

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  • Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.
  • Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
  • 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.
  • Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
  • Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.

Abilities for Nursing Assistant Majors

A major in nursing assistant will prepare for your careers in which the following abilities are important:

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  • 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.
  • Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
  • Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
  • Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).

What Can You Do With a Nursing Assistants & Aides Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with nursing assistant:

Job Title Job Growth Rate Median Salary
Nursing Assistants 11.5% $28,540

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing Assistants & Aides?

30 Bachelor's Degrees Annually
97% Percent Women
100% Percent Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
The major attracts more women than men. About 97% of the recent graduates in this field are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

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Race/Ethnicity Number of Grads
Asian 0
Black or African American 0
Hispanic or Latino 30
White 0
International Students 0
Other Races/Ethnicities 0

How Much Do Nursing Assistants & Aides Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

Nursing Assistant majors often go into careers with median salaries of $29,580. This median refers to all degree levels, so the salary for a person with just a bachelor’s degree may be a little less and the one for a person with an advanced degree may be a little more.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Median Salary for a Nursing Assistants & Aides Major  29,580
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250K
Median Salary for a High School Graduate  ( 30000 to 57900 )
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250K
Median Salary for a Bachelor's Degree Holder  ( 45600 to 99000 )
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250K
Median Salary for an Advanced Degree Holder  ( 55600 to 125400 )
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250K

Some careers associated with nursing assistant 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.

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

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Education Level Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma 7.4%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED) 59.9%
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) 24.5%
Some College Courses 7.6%
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%

Online Nursing Assistants & Aides 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) 87 1
Certificate (2-4 Years) 1 0
Associate’s Degree 9 0
Bachelor’s Degree 0 0
Post-Baccalaureate 0 0
Master’s Degree 0 0
Post-Master’s 0 0
Doctor’s Degree (Research) 0 0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice) 0 0
Doctor’s Degree (Other) 0 0

Is a Degree in Nursing Assistants & Aides Worth It?

The median salary for a nursing assistant grad is $29,580 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

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Explore Major by State

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

Major Number of Grads
Licensed Practical/Vocational Nurse Training 45,031
Other Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants 4,653

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.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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