Knowledge Management Degrees (2026 stats)
TL;DR
Knowledge Management maps to BLS occupations averaging about $154,579, with roughly 1,269,070 workers nationwide in those roles. Median in-state published tuition is about $9,098; common paths include Database Administrators and Sales Managers.
Key Statistics
Knowledge Management: what the data shows
Common questions about knowledge management degrees, answered from IPEDS, College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, and O*NET in this repository—not program marketing copy.
What is a knowledge management degree?
A Knowledge Management program is classified under NCES CIP 52.1207 in the Management Information Systems and Services field family (52.12).
A program that focuses on the study of knowledge management in government agencies and corporations for the purpose of supporting stated organizational goals and objectives, and prepares individuals to function as information resource managers. Includes instruction in information technology, principles of computer and information systems, management information systems, applicable policy and regulations, and operations and personnel management
IPEDS counted 94 completions for this CIP in the survey year in our extract.
Types of knowledge management degrees and related programs
Other NCES program codes in the 52.12 family with pages on EDsmart Data:
- Information Resources Management (CIP 52.1206)
- Management Information Systems, General (CIP 52.1201)
How long does it take to get a knowledge management degree?
Award levels reported to IPEDS for CIP 52.1207 in our file:
- 38 Associate (19.9% of IPEDS total)—about two years of full-time study
- 94 Bachelor's (49.2% of IPEDS total)—typically four years
- 59 Master's (30.9% of IPEDS total)—one to two years beyond a bachelor's
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 Database Administrators (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 knowledge management degree?
Our degree→occupation mapping links Knowledge Management 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Database Administrators | 73,180 | $104,620 |
| Sales Managers | 603,710 | $138,060 |
| Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary | 319,630 | $104,070 |
| Education Administrators, Postsecondary | 176,420 | $103,960 |
| Public Relations Managers | 76,060 | $138,520 |
| Compensation and Benefits Managers | 20,070 | $140,360 |
See Careers & Jobs for mean wages and industry context.
Is a knowledge management degree worth it?
College Scorecard national medians for the Management Information Systems and Services bachelor's program family: median debt $33,844, median earnings $83,290 four years after enrollment. Debt-to-earnings proxy: 0.57.
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 $9,098 and median net price is $16,784.
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 Knowledge Management and the types of students that study this field.
Tuition Costs for Common Institutions
$9,098 Median In-State Public
$34,220 Median Out of State Private
Tuition costs for Knowledge Management majors are, on average, $9,098 for in-state public colleges, and $34,220 for out of state private colleges.
Tuition costs comparison for Knowledge Management programs.
Degrees Awarded Over Time
100,000 Total Degrees Awarded in 2023
This chart shows the number of degrees awarded in Knowledge Management from 2015 to 2023.
Historical trend of degrees awarded in Knowledge Management.
Top 5 Schools by Enrollment
| # | School | State | Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Southern New Hampshire University | NH | 163,164 |
| 2 | Western Governors University | UT | 155,088 |
| 3 | Western Governors University | UT | 155,088 |
| 4 | University of Phoenix-Arizona | AZ | 85,991 |
| 5 | University of Phoenix-Arizona | AZ | 85,991 |
Schools with the largest enrollment offering Knowledge Management programs.
Top 5 Most Affordable Tuition
| # | School | State | Tuition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | East Los Angeles College | CA | $1,238 |
| 2 | East Los Angeles College | CA | $1,238 |
| 3 | Los Angeles Trade Technical College | CA | $1,238 |
| 4 | Clovis Community College | NM | $1,592 |
| 5 | Clovis Community College | NM | $1,592 |
Schools with the lowest tuition costs for Knowledge Management programs.
Top 5 Lowest Net Price
| # | School | State | Net Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texas A&M University-Central Texas | TX | $1,300 |
| 2 | Durham Technical Community College | NC | $1,664 |
| 3 | Middlesex College | NJ | $2,288 |
| 4 | Humacao Community College | PR | $2,508 |
| 5 | Carroll Community College | MD | $2,725 |
Schools with the lowest average net price for Knowledge Management programs.
Graduation Rates
Graduation rate data is not available for this degree program.
Graduation/completion rates for Knowledge Management 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 Knowledge Management is in NE (45 completions). That state represents about 47.9% 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 NE (0.15% 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| NE | 45 | 47.9% | 0.15% |
| MO | 24 | 25.5% | 0.03% |
| MA | 23 | 24.5% | 0.02% |
| IL | 1 | 1.1% | 0.00% |
| NY | 1 | 1.1% | 0.00% |
Related specializations
Other NCES program codes in the 52.12 CIP family with dedicated pages on EDsmart Data.
- Information Resources Management CIP 52.1206
- Management Information Systems, General CIP 52.1201
Degree Levels (IPEDS)
Completions reported to IPEDS for CIP 52.1207 in the survey year used in our extract (191 total across levels below).
- 38 Associate (19.9% of IPEDS total)
- 94 Bachelor's (49.2% of IPEDS total)
- 59 Master's (30.9% 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 $154,579. Figures are national OEWS estimates for the occupation—not earnings of Knowledge Management graduates alone.
Related occupations (BLS OEWS)
| Occupation | Mean annual wage | U.S. employment |
|---|---|---|
| Database Administrators | $122,296 | 73,180 |
| Sales Managers | $160,084 | 603,710 |
| Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary | $150,347 | 319,630 |
| Education Administrators, Postsecondary | $141,801 | 176,420 |
| Public Relations Managers | $182,777 | 76,060 |
| Compensation and Benefits Managers | $179,559 | 20,070 |
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 Management Information Systems and Services CIP family (31 programs reporting debt). Not specific to every Knowledge Management graduate.
- $33,844 median federal loan debt among completers
- $83,290 median earnings four years after enrollment (national program median)
- 0.57 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
$154,579 Average Wage in Workforce
The average salary for Knowledge Management majors is $154,579.
Average annual salaries of the most common occupations for Knowledge Management majors.
Occupations by Share
1,269,070 2023 Workforce
The number of Knowledge Management graduates in the workforce has been growing.
Various jobs filled by those with a major in Knowledge Management by share of the total number of graduates.
Diversity
Demographic information for those who earn a degree in Knowledge Management in the United States.
Workforce Age
N/A Average Age in 2023
This chart shows distribution of ages for employees with a degree in Knowledge Management.
Age distribution for Knowledge Management degree holders in the workforce.
Gender Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
94 Total Degrees Awarded
62 Male (65.96%)
32 Female (34.04%)
Gender distribution of Knowledge Management degree recipients.
Race and Ethnicity Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
36 White (38.30%)
21 Hispanic or Latino (22.34%)
15 Asian (15.96%)
11 Black or African American (11.70%)
3 Two or More Races (3.19%)
Racial and ethnic distribution of Knowledge Management degree recipients.
Degrees Awarded
The most common degree types awarded to students graduating in Knowledge Management are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Associates Degree.
Distribution of degree types awarded in Knowledge Management.
Skills
Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for those working in the Knowledge Management field from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Required Skills
Knowledge Management majors need many skills, but most especially Critical Thinking, Active Listening, and Reading Comprehension.
Rating of how necessary various skills are for Knowledge Management 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 Knowledge Management majors.
About
A program that focuses on the study of knowledge management in government agencies and corporations for the purpose of supporting stated organizational goals and objectives, and prepares individuals to function as information resource managers. Includes instruction in information technology, principles of computer and information systems, management information systems, applicable policy and regulations, and operations and personnel management
In 2023, 100,000 degrees were awarded across all undergraduate and graduate programs in Knowledge Management.
CIP Code
52.1207 - Knowledge Management
What the data shows
At the program-family level, College Scorecard reports median debt of $33,844 for bachelor's completers and median earnings near $83,290, a debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.57. Those figures describe national program cohorts in this CIP family—not every individual Knowledge Management graduate.
Men earned 40.3% of 226 Knowledge Management completions in the IPEDS file used here.
Mapped BLS occupations show employment-weighted mean pay of about $154,579. The largest mapped role by headcount is Database Administrators (73,180 U.S. jobs in OEWS).
Published tuition medians in College Scorecard land at $9,098 in-state at public colleges and $34,220 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.