Marketing Degrees (2026 stats)
TL;DR
Marketing maps to BLS occupations averaging about $209,972, with roughly 56,300 workers nationwide in those roles. About 43,860 bachelor's completions in IPEDS 2023; modeled 10-year ROI is about 501% on median net price.
Key Statistics
Marketing: what the data shows
Common questions about marketing degrees, answered from IPEDS, College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, and O*NET in this repository—not program marketing copy.
What is a marketing degree?
A Marketing program is classified under NCES CIP 52.1401 in the Marketing field family (52.14).
A program that generally prepares individuals to undertake and manage the process of developing consumer audiences and moving products from producers to consumers. Includes instruction in buyer behavior and dynamics, principle of marketing research, demand analysis, cost-volume and profit relationships, pricing theory, marketing campaign and strategic planning, market segments, advertising methods, sales operations and management, consumer relations, retailing, and applications to specific products and markets.
IPEDS counted 43,860 completions for this CIP in the survey year in our extract.
Types of marketing degrees and related programs
Other NCES program codes in the 52.14 family with pages on EDsmart Data:
- Digital Marketing (CIP 52.1404)
- International Marketing (CIP 52.1403)
- Marketing Research (CIP 52.1402)
How long does it take to get a marketing degree?
Award levels reported to IPEDS for CIP 52.1401 in our file:
- 1,781 Associate (3.7% of IPEDS total)—about two years of full-time study
- 43,860 Bachelor's (92.1% of IPEDS total)—typically four years
- 1,929 Master's (4.0% of IPEDS total)—one to two years beyond a bachelor's
- 65 Doctorate (0.1% of IPEDS total)—varies by program
Time to completion depends on enrollment intensity and transfer credits; figures above describe credential type, not calendar time for every student.
What do you learn in marketing?
O*NET skill ratings for occupations mapped to this major emphasize Active Learning, Active Listening, Reading Comprehension, Social Perceptiveness, Speaking, Critical Thinking, and related competencies. See the Skills section for the full list in our extract.
What degree do you need?
For Marketing Managers (top mapped occupation), O*NET incumbent surveys in our career profile report these education credentials most often: Some college (29%), High School or Equivalent (27%), Bachelors Degree (22%). Bachelor's awards account for a majority of IPEDS completions for CIP 52.1401, but occupation data show multiple pathways.
O*NET education distributions describe incumbent workers, not minimum legal or employer requirements.
What jobs can you get with a marketing degree?
Our degree→occupation mapping links Marketing to the BLS roles below. Employment is U.S. OEWS; median wage is national May 2024 where published in our extract.
| Occupation | U.S. employment | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Marketing Managers | 384,980 | $161,030 |
See Careers & Jobs for mean wages and industry context.
Is a marketing degree worth it?
College Scorecard national medians for the Marketing bachelor's program family: median debt $32,425, median earnings $69,303 four years after enrollment. Debt-to-earnings proxy: 0.72.
About 3.2% of graduates in this field family were not working and not enrolled one year after completion in Scorecard's national program medians.
Among schools reporting in our Scorecard extract, median published in-state tuition is $11,790 and median net price is $16,866.
We do not score "worth" on opinion—compare debt, earnings, wages for mapped occupations, and completion data above against your cost and career target.
Institutions
Information about the types of higher education institutions that grant degrees in Marketing and the types of students that study this field.
Tuition Costs for Common Institutions
$11,790 Median In-State Public
$41,649 Median Out of State Private
Tuition costs for Marketing majors are, on average, $11,790 for in-state public colleges, and $41,649 for out of state private colleges.
Tuition costs comparison for Marketing programs.
Institutions awarding the most Marketing degrees
| # | Institution | State | Completions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Southern New Hampshire University | NH | 634 |
| 2 | The University of Alabama | AL | 582 |
| 3 | Western Governors University | UT | 581 |
| 4 | Florida International University | FL | 567 |
| 5 | University of Cincinnati-Main Campus | OH | 553 |
| 6 | Ohio State University-Main Campus | OH | 546 |
| 7 | Florida State University | FL | 531 |
| 8 | University of Houston | TX | 497 |
| 9 | University of Georgia | GA | 449 |
| 10 | University of South Florida | FL | 445 |
IPEDS Completions (c2024_a), all award levels for this CIP in our extract.
Degrees Awarded Over Time
43,860 Total Degrees Awarded in 2023
This chart shows the number of degrees awarded in Marketing from 2015 to 2023.
Historical trend of degrees awarded in Marketing.
Top 5 Schools by Enrollment
| # | School | State | Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grand Canyon University | AZ | 68,619 |
| 2 | Arizona State University Campus Immersion | AZ | 64,398 |
| 3 | Texas A&M University-College Station | TX | 59,099 |
| 4 | Ivy Tech Community College | IN | 54,926 |
| 5 | Arizona State University Digital Immersion | AZ | 49,000 |
Schools with the largest enrollment offering Marketing programs.
Top 5 Most Affordable Tuition
| # | School | State | Tuition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute | NM | $1,095 |
| 2 | Taft College | CA | $1,108 |
| 3 | Antelope Valley Community College District | CA | $1,124 |
| 4 | Imperial Valley College | CA | $1,126 |
| 5 | El Camino Community College District | CA | $1,144 |
Schools with the lowest tuition costs for Marketing programs.
Top 5 Lowest Net Price
| # | School | State | Net Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Canada College | CA | $10 |
| 2 | College of the Sequoias | CA | $29 |
| 3 | Henry Ford College | MI | $576 |
| 4 | Central Carolina Community College | NC | $616 |
| 5 | Oxnard College | CA | $659 |
Schools with the lowest average net price for Marketing programs.
Graduation Rates
54.89% Median Graduation Rate (150% of normal time)
54.42% Average Graduation Rate
1,014 Institutions Reporting
42.98% - 66.29% Interquartile Range
Graduation/completion rates for Marketing programs across institutions.
Where students complete this major (IPEDS)
Bachelor's-level completions (IPEDS Completions, award level 5) summed by institution state. State is taken from IPEDS Directory (HD2023) for each reporting institution.
Geographic concentration
The largest number of reported bachelor's completions for Marketing is in TX (4,220 completions). That state represents about 9.6% of U.S. bachelor's completions reported for this CIP in the IPEDS file we use.
Among states, the highest concentration relative to all bachelor's degrees awarded in-state is OK (2.15% of that state's bachelor's completions).
Top states by count of bachelor's completions for this CIP (IPEDS).
| State | Bachelor's completions (this CIP) | % of U.S. total (this CIP) | % of state's all bachelor's |
|---|---|---|---|
| TX | 4,220 | 9.6% | 1.44% |
| FL | 3,090 | 7.0% | 1.35% |
| OH | 2,894 | 6.6% | 2.09% |
| PA | 2,158 | 4.9% | 1.26% |
| GA | 1,779 | 4.1% | 1.55% |
| MI | 1,510 | 3.4% | 1.32% |
| IL | 1,509 | 3.4% | 1.09% |
| WI | 1,340 | 3.1% | 1.76% |
| NC | 1,293 | 3.0% | 1.05% |
| AZ | 1,264 | 2.9% | 0.91% |
| UT | 1,245 | 2.8% | 1.15% |
| NY | 1,197 | 2.7% | 0.43% |
| AL | 1,181 | 2.7% | 1.74% |
| MA | 1,176 | 2.7% | 0.92% |
| SC | 1,132 | 2.6% | 2.04% |
| TN | 1,087 | 2.5% | 1.47% |
| MN | 914 | 2.1% | 1.07% |
| OK | 898 | 2.0% | 2.15% |
Related specializations
Other NCES program codes in the 52.14 CIP family with dedicated pages on EDsmart Data.
- Digital Marketing CIP 52.1404
- International Marketing CIP 52.1403
- Marketing Research CIP 52.1402
Degree Levels (IPEDS)
Completions reported to IPEDS for CIP 52.1401 in the survey year used in our extract (47,635 total across levels below).
- 1,781 Associate (3.7% of IPEDS total)
- 43,860 Bachelor's (92.1% of IPEDS total)
- 1,929 Master's (4.0% of IPEDS total)
- 65 Doctorate (0.1% of IPEDS total)
Source: IPEDS Completions (c2024_a), summed by award level for this CIP.
Careers & Jobs
Occupations linked to this major in our degree→career mapping, with wages and employment from processed BLS career profiles in this repo.
Across these BLS occupations, employment-weighted mean pay is about $209,972. Figures are national OEWS estimates for the occupation—not earnings of Marketing graduates alone.
Related occupations (BLS OEWS)
| Occupation | Mean annual wage | U.S. employment |
|---|---|---|
| Marketing Managers | $209,972 | 384,980 |
Open each occupation for full career profile charts and industry breakdowns on EDsmart Data.
Program outcomes (College Scorecard)
National medians across bachelor's programs in the Marketing CIP family (219 programs reporting debt). Not specific to every Marketing graduate.
- $32,425 median federal loan debt among completers
- $69,303 median earnings four years after enrollment (national program median)
- 0.72 debt-to-earnings ratio (Scorecard proxy)
- 3.2% of graduates not working and not enrolled one year out (program cohort)
Source: College Scorecard program-level outcomes aggregated by 4-digit CIP family.
Employment
Wages and industry mix below use BLS OEWS data for occupations linked to this major in our mapping—not a graduate earnings survey.
Yearly Income for Common Jobs
$209,972 Average Wage in Workforce
The average salary for Marketing majors is $209,972.
Average annual salaries of the most common occupations for Marketing majors.
Occupations by Share
56,300 2023 Workforce
The number of Marketing graduates in the workforce has been growing.
Various jobs filled by those with a major in Marketing by share of the total number of graduates.
Return on Investment & Value
Debt and earnings fields below come from College Scorecard where present in our degree extract.
Financial value (extract)
$13,532 Median Student Debt
$40,568 Median Annual Earnings (10 years after enrollment)
33.36% Debt-to-Earnings Ratio
3.3 years Estimated Payback Period (assuming 10% of income)
501.30% Return on Investment (10-year earnings vs 4-year cost)
Ten-year earnings in this extract exceed four years of median net price.
$67,466 Estimated Total Cost (4 years at median net price)
Financial value comparison for Marketing degree.
Diversity
Demographic information for those who earn a degree in Marketing in the United States.
Workforce Age
N/A Average Age in 2023
This chart shows distribution of ages for employees with a degree in Marketing.
Age distribution for Marketing degree holders in the workforce.
Gender Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
43,860 Total Degrees Awarded
18,750 Male (42.75%)
25,110 Female (57.25%)
Gender distribution of Marketing degree recipients.
Race and Ethnicity Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
28,020 White (63.89%)
6,490 Hispanic or Latino (14.80%)
2,726 Black or African American (6.22%)
2,313 Asian (5.27%)
1,736 Two or More Races (3.96%)
Racial and ethnic distribution of Marketing degree recipients.
Degrees Awarded
The most common degree types awarded to students graduating in Marketing are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Associates Degree.
Distribution of degree types awarded in Marketing.
Skills
Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for those working in the Marketing field from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Required Skills
Marketing majors need many skills, but most especially Critical Thinking, Active Listening, and Reading Comprehension.
Rating of how necessary various skills are for Marketing majors.
Skills Bar Chart
This bar chart shows the same information as the radar chart, displaying the importance of each skill.
Skill importance ratings for Marketing majors.
About
A program that generally prepares individuals to undertake and manage the process of developing consumer audiences and moving products from producers to consumers. Includes instruction in buyer behavior and dynamics, principle of marketing research, demand analysis, cost-volume and profit relationships, pricing theory, marketing campaign and strategic planning, market segments, advertising methods, sales operations and management, consumer relations, retailing, and applications to specific products and markets.
In 2023, 43,860 degrees were awarded across all undergraduate and graduate programs in Marketing.
CIP Code
52.1401 - Marketing
What the data shows
At the program-family level, College Scorecard reports median debt of $32,425 for bachelor's completers and median earnings near $69,303, a debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.72. Those figures describe national program cohorts in this CIP family—not every individual Marketing graduate.
Women earned 58.3% of 50,466 Marketing completions in the IPEDS file used here.
Mapped BLS occupations show employment-weighted mean pay of about $209,972. The largest mapped role by headcount is Marketing Managers (384,980 U.S. jobs in OEWS).
Published tuition medians in College Scorecard land at $11,790 in-state at public colleges and $41,649 at private institutions for programs in this field.
Data Sources
This page uses data from the following sources:
- College Scorecard - U.S. Department of Education
- Institutional characteristics, costs, completion rates, and earnings data
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: collegescorecard.ed.gov
- Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)
- Employment and wage data by occupation
- Latest data: May 2024
- Source: bls.gov/oes
- O*NET Online - U.S. Department of Labor
- Occupational skills, knowledge, abilities, and work activities
- Database version: 28.0 (August 2023)
- Source: onetcenter.org
- IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) - National Center for Education Statistics
- Institutional data, completions, enrollment, and financial aid
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: nces.ed.gov/ipeds
- Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS)
- Demographic and workforce data
- Latest data: 2023 ACS 5-Year Estimates
- Source: census.gov/acs
Data Processing: All data has been processed, cleaned, and aggregated for presentation. Where specific data points are unavailable, estimates are based on available data and clearly marked.
Last Updated: Data reflects the most recent available information as of January 2025.
Methodology
Data for this profile is sourced from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard dataset, IPEDS completion data, and Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data.
All financial figures are adjusted for inflation and represent the most recent available data. Employment and wage data are from the most recent Census Bureau ACS PUMS estimates.