General Business Degrees (2026 stats)
TL;DR
General Business maps to BLS occupations averaging about $63,546, with roughly 130,740 workers nationwide in those roles. About 386,261 bachelor's completions in IPEDS 2023; modeled 10-year ROI is about 783% on median net price.
Key Statistics
General Business: what the data shows
Common questions about general business degrees, answered from IPEDS, College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, and O*NET in this repository—not program marketing copy.
What is a general business degree?
A General Business program is classified under NCES CIP 52.01 in the Business/Commerce, General field family (52.01).
Instructional content is defined in code 52.0101.
IPEDS counted 386,261 completions for this CIP in the survey year in our extract.
How long does it take to get a general business degree?
Award levels reported to IPEDS for CIP 52.01 in our file:
- 104,171 Associate (15.0% of IPEDS total)—about two years of full-time study
- 386,261 Bachelor's (55.5% of IPEDS total)—typically four years
- 203,408 Master's (29.2% of IPEDS total)—one to two years beyond a bachelor's
- 1,918 Doctorate (0.3% 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 general business?
O*NET skill ratings for occupations mapped to this major emphasize Speaking, Active Listening, Reading Comprehension, Service Orientation, Social Perceptiveness, Coordination, and related competencies. See the Skills section for the full list in our extract.
What degree do you need?
For New Accounts Clerks (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 52.01, 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 general business degree?
Our degree→occupation mapping links General Business 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 |
|---|---|---|
| New Accounts Clerks | 38,030 | $46,610 |
| First-Line Supervisors of Non-Retail Sales Workers | 219,010 | $84,130 |
| Gambling Cage Workers | 13,490 | $36,990 |
| Gambling and Sports Book Writers and Runners | 7,600 | $30,460 |
| First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers | 1,113,160 | $47,320 |
| Travel Guides | — | — |
See Careers & Jobs for mean wages and industry context.
Is a general business degree worth it?
College Scorecard national medians for the Business/Commerce, General bachelor's program family: median debt $23,535, median earnings $68,407 four years after enrollment. Debt-to-earnings proxy: 0.50.
About 4.9% 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 $8,448 and median net price is $12,960.
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 General Business and the types of students that study this field.
Tuition Costs for Common Institutions
$8,448 Median In-State Public
$35,960 Median Out of State Private
Tuition costs for General Business majors are, on average, $8,448 for in-state public colleges, and $35,960 for out of state private colleges.
Tuition costs comparison for General Business programs.
Institutions awarding the most General Business degrees
| # | Institution | State | Completions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Southern New Hampshire University | NH | 15,591 |
| 2 | University of Phoenix-Arizona | AZ | 14,221 |
| 3 | Western Governors University | UT | 12,463 |
| 4 | Miami Dade College | FL | 9,715 |
| 5 | Purdue University Global | IN | 6,368 |
| 6 | Valencia College | FL | 5,554 |
| 7 | American College of Financial Services | PA | 5,372 |
| 8 | American Public University System | WV | 5,266 |
| 9 | Ivy Tech Community College | IN | 5,012 |
| 10 | Colorado Technical University-Colorado Springs | CO | 4,800 |
IPEDS Completions (c2024_a), all award levels for this CIP in our extract.
Degrees Awarded Over Time
386,261 Total Degrees Awarded in 2023
This chart shows the number of degrees awarded in General Business from 2015 to 2023.
Historical trend of degrees awarded in General Business.
Top 5 Schools by Enrollment
| # | School | State | Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texas A&M University-College Station | TX | 59,099 |
| 2 | Ivy Tech Community College | IN | 54,926 |
| 3 | Purdue University-Main Campus | IN | 39,637 |
| 4 | Rutgers University-New Brunswick | NJ | 36,357 |
| 5 | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | IL | 34,623 |
Schools with the largest enrollment offering General Business programs.
Top 5 Most Affordable Tuition
| # | School | State | Tuition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tohono O'odham Community College | AZ | $932 |
| 2 | Woodland Community College | CA | $1,124 |
| 3 | Imperial Valley College | CA | $1,126 |
| 4 | Yuba College | CA | $1,128 |
| 5 | Lassen Community College | CA | $1,144 |
Schools with the lowest tuition costs for General Business programs.
Top 5 Lowest Net Price
| # | School | State | Net Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | College of the Sequoias | CA | $29 |
| 2 | Coahoma Community College | MS | $560 |
| 3 | Reedley College | CA | $1,584 |
| 4 | Imperial Valley College | CA | $1,697 |
| 5 | Hartnell College | CA | $2,895 |
Schools with the lowest average net price for General Business programs.
Graduation Rates
50.75% Median Graduation Rate (150% of normal time)
51.74% Average Graduation Rate
768 Institutions Reporting
36.69% - 66.50% Interquartile Range
Graduation/completion rates for General Business 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 General Business is in CA (35,374 completions). That state represents about 9.2% 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 FM (40.00% 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA | 35,374 | 9.2% | 7.87% |
| TX | 27,385 | 7.1% | 9.35% |
| FL | 23,688 | 6.1% | 10.34% |
| NY | 20,380 | 5.3% | 7.39% |
| AZ | 17,435 | 4.5% | 12.56% |
| PA | 15,763 | 4.1% | 9.23% |
| OH | 13,969 | 3.6% | 10.09% |
| GA | 11,748 | 3.0% | 10.26% |
| NC | 10,963 | 2.8% | 8.87% |
| MI | 10,776 | 2.8% | 9.40% |
| MA | 10,678 | 2.8% | 8.38% |
| IN | 10,658 | 2.8% | 10.31% |
| UT | 10,496 | 2.7% | 9.72% |
| VA | 10,440 | 2.7% | 8.50% |
| IL | 10,378 | 2.7% | 7.49% |
| NH | 9,295 | 2.4% | 14.69% |
| NJ | 8,227 | 2.1% | 9.53% |
| AL | 7,944 | 2.1% | 11.73% |
Degree Levels (IPEDS)
Completions reported to IPEDS for CIP 52.01 in the survey year used in our extract (695,758 total across levels below).
- 104,171 Associate (15.0% of IPEDS total)
- 386,261 Bachelor's (55.5% of IPEDS total)
- 203,408 Master's (29.2% of IPEDS total)
- 1,918 Doctorate (0.3% 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 $63,546. Figures are national OEWS estimates for the occupation—not earnings of General Business graduates alone.
Related occupations (BLS OEWS)
| Occupation | Mean annual wage | U.S. employment |
|---|---|---|
| New Accounts Clerks | $57,370 | 38,030 |
| First-Line Supervisors of Non-Retail Sales Workers | $96,985 | 219,010 |
| Gambling Cage Workers | $43,068 | 13,490 |
| Gambling and Sports Book Writers and Runners | $41,322 | 7,600 |
| First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers | $57,578 | 1,113,160 |
| Travel Guides | — | — |
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 Business/Commerce, General CIP family (108 programs reporting debt). Not specific to every General Business graduate.
- $23,535 median federal loan debt among completers
- $68,407 median earnings four years after enrollment (national program median)
- 0.50 debt-to-earnings ratio (Scorecard proxy)
- 4.9% 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
$63,153 Average Wage in Workforce
The average salary for General Business majors is $63,153.
Average annual salaries of the most common occupations for General Business majors.
Occupations by Share
130,740 2023 Workforce
The number of General Business graduates in the workforce has been growing.
Various jobs filled by those with a major in General Business 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)
$45,797 Median Annual Earnings (10 years after enrollment)
783.40% Return on Investment (10-year earnings vs 4-year cost)
Ten-year earnings in this extract exceed four years of median net price.
$51,842 Estimated Total Cost (4 years at median net price)
Financial value comparison for General Business degree.
Diversity
Demographic information for those who earn a degree in General Business in the United States.
Workforce Age
N/A Average Age in 2023
This chart shows distribution of ages for employees with a degree in General Business.
Age distribution for General Business degree holders in the workforce.
Gender Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
386,261 Total Degrees Awarded
209,303 Male (54.19%)
176,958 Female (45.81%)
Gender distribution of General Business degree recipients.
Race and Ethnicity Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
209,211 White (54.16%)
61,943 Hispanic or Latino (16.04%)
33,941 Black or African American (8.79%)
29,985 Asian (7.76%)
14,044 Two or More Races (3.64%)
Racial and ethnic distribution of General Business degree recipients.
Degrees Awarded
The most common degree types awarded to students graduating in General Business are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Associates Degree.
Distribution of degree types awarded in General Business.
Skills
Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for those working in the General Business field from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Required Skills
General Business majors need many skills, but most especially Critical Thinking, Active Listening, and Reading Comprehension.
Rating of how necessary various skills are for General Business 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 General Business majors.
About
Instructional content is defined in code 52.0101.
In 2023, 386,261 degrees were awarded across all undergraduate and graduate programs in General Business.
CIP Code
52.01 - General Business
What the data shows
At the program-family level, College Scorecard reports median debt of $23,535 for bachelor's completers and median earnings near $68,407, a debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.50. Those figures describe national program cohorts in this CIP family—not every individual General Business graduate.
Mapped BLS occupations show employment-weighted mean pay of about $63,546. The largest mapped role by headcount is New Accounts Clerks (38,030 U.S. jobs in OEWS).
Published tuition medians in College Scorecard land at $8,448 in-state at public colleges and $35,960 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.