General/Allied Health Sciences

Types of Degrees General/Allied Health Sciences Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many general health services/allied health/health sciences graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	15,587
Associate Degree	9,700
Basic Certificate	2,963
Undergraduate Certificate	1,326

What General/Allied Health Sciences Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to health studies 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 Health Studies Majors

This major prepares you for careers in which these knowledge areas are important:

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Skills for Health Studies Majors

health studies majors are found most commonly in careers in which the following skills are important:

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

Who Is Getting an Associate’s Degree in General/Allied Health Sciences?

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 health studies majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	1,100
Black or African American	1,260
Hispanic or Latino	2,978
White	3,373
International Students	142
Other Races/Ethnicities	847

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Health Studies. About 1.5% of those with this major are international students.

Online General/Allied Health Sciences 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)	48	5
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	281	38
Bachelor’s Degree	19	8
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	42	16
Post-Master’s	1	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	12	3
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	3	1
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	2	1

Trades Related to General/Allied Health Sciences

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

Major	Number of Grads
General Health & Wellness	5,951

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 Sandra M. Palumbo under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.