General Health & Wellness

Types of Degrees General Health & Wellness Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many general health and wellness graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	3,797
Basic Certificate	855
Associate Degree	790
Undergraduate Certificate	124

What General Health & Wellness Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to health and wellness and asked them what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. The responses were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important.

Knowledge Areas for Health and Wellness Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in health and wellness 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 Health and Wellness Majors

When studying health and wellness, 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:

• 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.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
• Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

Abilities for Health and Wellness Majors

Health and Wellness majors often go into careers where the following abilities are vital:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

Who Is Getting an Associate’s Degree in General Health & Wellness?

This major is dominated by women with about 60% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of health and wellness majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	33
Black or African American	105
Hispanic or Latino	178
White	394
International Students	0
Other Races/Ethnicities	80

How Much Do General Health & Wellness Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

Average salaries range from $43,480 to $59,660 (25th to 75th percentile) for careers related to health and wellness. 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 General Health & Wellness

Some degrees associated with health and wellness 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.

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

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	5.4%
Some College Courses	1.5%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	40.2%
Bachelor’s Degree	42.9%
Master’s Degree	10.1%
Doctoral Degree	0.4%

Online General Health & Wellness Programs

In 2020-2021, 222 schools offered a health and wellness 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)	6	1
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	37	12
Bachelor’s Degree	24	11
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	30	16
Post-Master’s	5	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	4	1
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	2	1
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in General Health & Wellness Worth It?

The median salary for a health and wellness grad is $43,480 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 9% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $71,600 after 20 years!

Trades Related to General Health & Wellness

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

Major	Number of Grads
General Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences	28,633

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.