Polysomnography

Types of Degrees Polysomnography Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many polysomnography graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Basic Certificate	117
Associate Degree	107
Undergraduate Certificate	77
Bachelor’s Degree	1

What Polysomnography Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, polysomnography 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 Polysomnography Majors

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

• 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.
• Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.

Skills for Polysomnography Majors

When studying polysomnography, 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:

• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• 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.
• 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 Polysomnography Majors

Some of the most crucial abilities to master while a polysomnography student include the following:

• 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.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

What Can You Do With a Polysomnography Major?

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

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Neurodiagnostic Technologists	19.6%	$42,920

Who Is Getting an Associate’s Degree in Polysomnography?

This major is dominated by women with about 77% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	10
Black or African American	21
Hispanic or Latino	14
White	58
International Students	1
Other Races/Ethnicities	3

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Polysomnography, too. About 0.9% of those with this major are international students.

How Much Do Polysomnography Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

The median salary for someone in a career related to polysomnography is $47,450. 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 Polysomnography

Some careers associated with polysomnography 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.

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

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	8.9%
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)	11.9%
Some College Courses	3.0%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	53.4%
Bachelor’s Degree	20.8%

Online Polysomnography Programs

In 2020-2021, 34 schools offered a polysomnography program of some type. 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)	11	2
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	17	1
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 Polysomnography Worth It?

The median salary for a polysomnography grad is $47,450 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 19% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $151,000 after 20 years!

Trades Related to Polysomnography

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

Major	Number of Grads
Emergency Medical Technology/Technician (EMT Paramedic)	26,631
Radiologic Technology	9,684
Surgical Technology	7,583
Respiratory Care Therapy	6,722
Diagnostic Medical Sonography/Sonographer and Ultrasound Technician	5,378
Medical Radiologic Technology/Science - Radiation Therapy	4,740
Athletic Training	2,305
Other Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions	1,836
Cardiovascular Technology/Technologist	1,377
Nuclear Medical Technology/Technologist	602
Electrocardiograph Technology/Technician	568
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Technology	516
Physician Assistant	501
Electroneurodiagnostic/Electroencephalographic Technology/Technologist	379
Mammography Technician/Technology	69
Radiation Protection/Health Physics Technician	51
Cardiopulmonary Technology	40
Hearing Instrument Specialist	32
Gene/Genetic Therapy	27
Orthopedic Technology	15
Perfusion Technology/Perfusionist	0

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.