Cardiopulmonary Technologist

 

Types of Degrees Cardiopulmonary Technologist Majors Are Getting

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

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	26
Associate Degree	18
Undergraduate Certificate	7

What Cardiopulmonary Technologist Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to cardiopulmonary technology/technologist 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 Cardiopulmonary Technology/Technologist Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in cardiopulmonary technology/technologist 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.
• 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.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• 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.

Skills for Cardiopulmonary Technology/Technologist Majors

The following list of skills has been highlighted as some of the most essential for careers related to cardiopulmonary technology/technologist:

• 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.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Operation Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
• Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Abilities for Cardiopulmonary Technology/Technologist Majors

A major in cardiopulmonary technology/technologist will prepare for your careers in which the following abilities are important:

• 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.
• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

What Can You Do With a Cardiopulmonary Technologist Major?

People with a cardiopulmonary technology/technologist degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Cardiovascular Technologists and Technicians	10.0%	$56,850

Who Is Getting an Associate’s Degree in Cardiopulmonary Technologist?

This major is dominated by women with about 94% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of cardiopulmonary technology/technologist majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	0
Black or African American	0
Hispanic or Latino	7
White	11
International Students	0
Other Races/Ethnicities	0

How Much Do Cardiopulmonary Technologist Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

Cardiopulmonary Technology/Technologist majors often go into careers with median salaries of $58,730. This median refers to all degree levels, so you may expect those with a more advanced degree to make more while those with less advanced degrees will typically make less.

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 Cardiopulmonary Technologist

Some careers associated with cardiopulmonary technology/technologist 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.

Find out what the typical degree level is for cardiopulmonary technology/technologist careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	10.0%
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)	13.0%
Some College Courses	7.9%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	63.7%
Bachelor’s Degree	2.8%
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.	3.9%

Online Cardiopulmonary Technologist 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)	2	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	3	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 Cardiopulmonary Technologist Worth It?

The median salary for a cardiopulmonary technology/technologist grad is $58,730 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 47% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $376,600 after 20 years!

Trades Related to Cardiopulmonary Technologist

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to cardiopulmonary technology/technologist.

Major	Number of Grads
Emergency Medical Technology/Technician (EMT Paramedic)	27,240
Physician Assistant	12,000
Radiologic Technology	10,633
Surgical Technology	7,412
Respiratory Care Therapy	6,569
Diagnostic Medical Sonography/Sonographer and Ultrasound Technician	6,160
Medical Radiologic Technology/Science - Radiation Therapy	4,080
Athletic Training	3,408
Other Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions	2,012
Cardiovascular Technology/Technologist	1,367
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Technology	773
Electrocardiograph Technology/Technician	652
Nuclear Medical Technology/Technologist	575
Electroneurodiagnostic/Electroencephalographic Technology/Technologist	391
Polysomnography	233
Perfusion Technology/Perfusionist	147
Mammography Technician/Technology	109
Radiation Protection/Health Physics Technician	48
Hearing Instrument Specialist	18
Orthopedic Technology	17
Gene/Genetic Therapy	10

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

More about our data sources and methodologies.