Types of Degrees Majors Are Getting

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

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	1,502
Master’s Degree	1,417
Doctor’s Degree	901
Associate Degree	811
Graduate Certificate	70

What Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to nursing science 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 Science Majors

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

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• 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.

Skills for Nursing Science Majors

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

• 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.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others’ reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.

Abilities for Nursing Science Majors

As you progress with your nursing science 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.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

What Can You Do With a Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with nursing science:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Nursing Instructors and Professors	24.0%	$73,490
Registered Nurses	14.8%	$71,730

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in ?

This major is dominated by women with about 85% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	124
Black or African American	113
Hispanic or Latino	256
White	926
International Students	4
Other Races/Ethnicities	79

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Nursing Science. About 0.3% of those with this major are international students.

How Much Do Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

Nursing Science majors often go into careers where salaries can range from $75,510 to $81,350 (25th to 75th percentile). This range includes 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.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to

Some degrees associated with nursing science may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

Find out what the typical degree level is for nursing science careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Some College Courses	5.8%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	36.1%
Bachelor’s Degree	15.1%
Master’s Degree	23.7%
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.	1.0%
Doctoral Degree	17.1%
Post-Doctoral Training	3.2%

Online 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)	0	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	13	0
Bachelor’s Degree	6	2
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	62	19
Post-Master’s	8	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	103	20
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	19	3
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	1	0

Is a Degree in Worth It?

The median salary for a nursing science grad is $75,510 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 89% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $712,200 after 20 years!

Majors Related to

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

Major	Number of Grads
Registered Nursing	262,974
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing	16,647
Nursing Practice	8,862
Nursing Administration	8,663
Other Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	4,717
Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing	2,895
Adult Health Nurse/Nursing	2,075
Public Health/Community Nurse/Nursing	2,011
Nurse Anesthetist	1,768
Critical Care Nursing	747
Geriatric Nurse/Nursing	622
Nurse Midwife/Nursing Midwifery	567
School Nursing	539
Clinical Nurse Leader	502
Clinical Nurse Specialist	340
Perioperative/Operating Room and Surgical Nurse/Nursing	269
Women’s Health Nurse/Nursing	262
Maternal/Child Health and Neonatal Nurse/Nursing	192
Emergency Room/Trauma Nursing	87
Occupational and Environmental Health Nursing	26
Forensic Nursing	23
Palliative Care Nursing	13

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 Aleksahgabrielle under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.