Human Resources Development Degrees (2026 stats)
TL;DR
Human Resources Development maps to BLS occupations averaging about $107,567, with roughly 1,076,540 workers nationwide in those roles. Median in-state published tuition is about $8,825; common paths include Human Resources Assistants, Except Payroll and Timekeeping and Human Resources Managers.
Key Statistics
Human Resources Development: what the data shows
Common questions about human resources development degrees, answered from IPEDS, College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, and O*NET in this repository—not program marketing copy.
What is a human resources development degree?
A Human Resources Development program is classified under NCES CIP 52.1005 in the Human Resources Management and Services field family (52.10).
A program that prepares individuals to apply integrated training, organizational development, and career planning and counseling skills to the design, management, and evaluation of programs to improve individual productivity, employability, and job satisfaction and organizational effectiveness. Includes instruction in psychology; organizational behavior; principles of adult education; occupational counseling; skill testing and evaluation; program design; consulting practice; organizational development; and applications to issues such as training, management development, customer service, and total quality management
IPEDS counted 468 completions for this CIP in the survey year in our extract.
Types of human resources development degrees and related programs
Other NCES program codes in the 52.10 family with pages on EDsmart Data:
- Executive/Career Coaching (CIP 52.1006)
- Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General (CIP 52.1001)
- Labor Studies (CIP 52.1004)
- Labor and Industrial Relations (CIP 52.1002)
- Organizational Behavior Studies (CIP 52.1003)
How long does it take to get a human resources development degree?
Award levels reported to IPEDS for CIP 52.1005 in our file:
- 4 Associate (0.3% of IPEDS total)—about two years of full-time study
- 468 Bachelor's (35.8% of IPEDS total)—typically four years
- 819 Master's (62.7% of IPEDS total)—one to two years beyond a bachelor's
- 15 Doctorate (1.1% 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 degree do you need?
For Human Resources Assistants, Except Payroll and Timekeeping (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%).
O*NET education distributions describe incumbent workers, not minimum legal or employer requirements.
What jobs can you get with a human resources development degree?
Our degree→occupation mapping links Human Resources Development 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Human Resources Assistants, Except Payroll and Timekeeping | 92,580 | $49,440 |
| Human Resources Managers | 215,520 | $140,030 |
| Eligibility Interviewers, Government Programs | 156,260 | $51,500 |
| Chefs and Head Cooks | 182,320 | $60,990 |
| Instructional Coordinators | 210,850 | $74,720 |
| First-Line Supervisors of Non-Retail Sales Workers | 219,010 | $84,130 |
See Careers & Jobs for mean wages and industry context.
Is a human resources development degree worth it?
College Scorecard national medians for the Human Resources Management and Services bachelor's program family: median debt $27,790, median earnings $68,069 four years after enrollment. Debt-to-earnings proxy: 0.55.
About 3.7% 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 $8,825 and median net price is $18,425.
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 Human Resources Development and the types of students that study this field.
Tuition Costs for Common Institutions
$8,825 Median In-State Public
$34,350 Median Out of State Private
Tuition costs for Human Resources Development majors are, on average, $8,825 for in-state public colleges, and $34,350 for out of state private colleges.
Tuition costs comparison for Human Resources Development programs.
Degrees Awarded Over Time
100,000 Total Degrees Awarded in 2023
This chart shows the number of degrees awarded in Human Resources Development from 2015 to 2023.
Historical trend of degrees awarded in Human Resources Development.
Top 5 Schools by Enrollment
| # | School | State | Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Southern New Hampshire University | NH | 163,164 |
| 2 | Southern New Hampshire University | NH | 163,164 |
| 3 | Southern New Hampshire University | NH | 163,164 |
| 4 | Western Governors University | UT | 155,088 |
| 5 | University of Phoenix-Arizona | AZ | 85,991 |
Schools with the largest enrollment offering Human Resources Development programs.
Top 5 Most Affordable Tuition
| # | School | State | Tuition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Angeles Trade Technical College | CA | $1,238 |
| 2 | Los Angeles Trade Technical College | CA | $1,238 |
| 3 | Los Angeles City College | CA | $1,238 |
| 4 | Los Angeles City College | CA | $1,238 |
| 5 | Laney College | CA | $1,258 |
Schools with the lowest tuition costs for Human Resources Development programs.
Top 5 Lowest Net Price
| # | School | State | Net Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Southern Regional Technical College | GA | $813 |
| 2 | Texas A&M University-Central Texas | TX | $1,300 |
| 3 | Texas A&M University-Central Texas | TX | $1,300 |
| 4 | Joliet Junior College | IL | $1,672 |
| 5 | South Texas College | TX | $1,751 |
Schools with the lowest average net price for Human Resources Development programs.
Graduation Rates
Graduation rate data is not available for this degree program.
Graduation/completion rates for Human Resources Development 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 Human Resources Development is in TX (189 completions). That state represents about 40.4% 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 WI (0.11% 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 | 189 | 40.4% | 0.06% |
| WI | 85 | 18.2% | 0.11% |
| MI | 71 | 15.2% | 0.06% |
| LA | 28 | 6.0% | 0.06% |
| ID | 19 | 4.1% | 0.07% |
| IL | 15 | 3.2% | 0.01% |
| KS | 13 | 2.8% | 0.04% |
| AR | 12 | 2.6% | 0.04% |
| PR | 7 | 1.5% | 0.02% |
| GA | 6 | 1.3% | 0.01% |
| HI | 6 | 1.3% | 0.05% |
| CT | 5 | 1.1% | 0.01% |
| FL | 4 | 0.8% | 0.00% |
| VA | 3 | 0.6% | 0.00% |
| NY | 2 | 0.4% | 0.00% |
| SC | 2 | 0.4% | 0.00% |
| OK | 1 | 0.2% | 0.00% |
Related specializations
Other NCES program codes in the 52.10 CIP family with dedicated pages on EDsmart Data.
- Executive/Career Coaching CIP 52.1006
- Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General CIP 52.1001
- Labor Studies CIP 52.1004
- Labor and Industrial Relations CIP 52.1002
- Organizational Behavior Studies CIP 52.1003
Degree Levels (IPEDS)
Completions reported to IPEDS for CIP 52.1005 in the survey year used in our extract (1,306 total across levels below).
- 4 Associate (0.3% of IPEDS total)
- 468 Bachelor's (35.8% of IPEDS total)
- 819 Master's (62.7% of IPEDS total)
- 15 Doctorate (1.1% 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 $107,567. Figures are national OEWS estimates for the occupation—not earnings of Human Resources Development graduates alone.
Related occupations (BLS OEWS)
| Occupation | Mean annual wage | U.S. employment |
|---|---|---|
| Human Resources Assistants, Except Payroll and Timekeeping | $59,617 | 92,580 |
| Human Resources Managers | $202,537 | 215,520 |
| Eligibility Interviewers, Government Programs | $64,234 | 156,260 |
| Chefs and Head Cooks | $73,379 | 182,320 |
| Instructional Coordinators | $104,217 | 210,850 |
| First-Line Supervisors of Non-Retail Sales Workers | $96,985 | 219,010 |
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 Human Resources Management and Services CIP family (34 programs reporting debt). Not specific to every Human Resources Development graduate.
- $27,790 median federal loan debt among completers
- $68,069 median earnings four years after enrollment (national program median)
- 0.55 debt-to-earnings ratio (Scorecard proxy)
- 3.7% 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
$107,567 Average Wage in Workforce
The average salary for Human Resources Development majors is $107,567.
Average annual salaries of the most common occupations for Human Resources Development majors.
Occupations by Share
1,076,540 2023 Workforce
The number of Human Resources Development graduates in the workforce has been growing.
Various jobs filled by those with a major in Human Resources Development by share of the total number of graduates.
Diversity
Demographic information for those who earn a degree in Human Resources Development in the United States.
Workforce Age
N/A Average Age in 2023
This chart shows distribution of ages for employees with a degree in Human Resources Development.
Age distribution for Human Resources Development degree holders in the workforce.
Gender Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
468 Total Degrees Awarded
116 Male (24.79%)
352 Female (75.21%)
Gender distribution of Human Resources Development degree recipients.
Race and Ethnicity Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
265 White (56.62%)
101 Hispanic or Latino (21.58%)
48 Black or African American (10.26%)
28 Asian (5.98%)
12 Two or More Races (2.56%)
Racial and ethnic distribution of Human Resources Development degree recipients.
Degrees Awarded
The most common degree types awarded to students graduating in Human Resources Development are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Associates Degree.
Distribution of degree types awarded in Human Resources Development.
Skills
Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for those working in the Human Resources Development field from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Required Skills
Human Resources Development majors need many skills, but most especially Critical Thinking, Active Listening, and Reading Comprehension.
Rating of how necessary various skills are for Human Resources Development 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 Human Resources Development majors.
About
A program that prepares individuals to apply integrated training, organizational development, and career planning and counseling skills to the design, management, and evaluation of programs to improve individual productivity, employability, and job satisfaction and organizational effectiveness. Includes instruction in psychology; organizational behavior; principles of adult education; occupational counseling; skill testing and evaluation; program design; consulting practice; organizational development; and applications to issues such as training, management development, customer service, and total quality management
In 2023, 100,000 degrees were awarded across all undergraduate and graduate programs in Human Resources Development.
CIP Code
52.1005 - Human Resources Development
What the data shows
At the program-family level, College Scorecard reports median debt of $27,790 for bachelor's completers and median earnings near $68,069, a debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.55. Those figures describe national program cohorts in this CIP family—not every individual Human Resources Development graduate.
Women earned 74.9% of 1,604 Human Resources Development completions in the IPEDS file used here.
Mapped BLS occupations show employment-weighted mean pay of about $107,567. The largest mapped role by headcount is Human Resources Assistants, Except Payroll and Timekeeping (92,580 U.S. jobs in OEWS).
Published tuition medians in College Scorecard land at $8,825 in-state at public colleges and $34,350 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.