Health and Wellness, General Degrees (2026 stats)
TL;DR
Health and Wellness, General maps to BLS occupations averaging about $149,642, with roughly 3,455,310 workers nationwide in those roles. About 3,466 bachelor's completions in IPEDS 2023; median in-state published tuition is about $6,022.
Key Statistics
Health and Wellness, General: what the data shows
Common questions about health and wellness, general degrees, answered from IPEDS, College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, and O*NET in this repository—not program marketing copy.
What is a health and wellness, general degree?
A Health and Wellness, General program is classified under NCES CIP 51.0001 in the Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences, General field family (51.00).
A program of study that prepares individuals to assume roles as health/wellness professionals in private business and industry, community organizations, and health care settings. Includes instruction in personal health, community health and welfare, nutrition, epidemiology, disease prevention, fitness and exercise, and health behaviors
IPEDS counted 3,466 completions for this CIP in the survey year in our extract.
How long does it take to get a health and wellness, general degree?
Award levels reported to IPEDS for CIP 51.0001 in our file:
- 823 Associate (17.5% of IPEDS total)—about two years of full-time study
- 3,466 Bachelor's (73.9% of IPEDS total)—typically four years
- 395 Master's (8.4% of IPEDS total)—one to two years beyond a bachelor's
- 7 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 degree do you need?
For Registered Nurses (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 51.0001, 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 health and wellness, general degree?
Our degree→occupation mapping links Health and Wellness, General 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Registered Nurses | 3,282,010 | $93,600 |
| Home Health Aides | — | — |
| Mental Health Counselors | — | — |
| Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health | 84,930 | $80,060 |
| Health and Safety Engineers, Except Mining Safety Engineers and Inspectors | 23,220 | $109,660 |
| Health Education Specialists | 65,150 | $63,000 |
See Careers & Jobs for mean wages and industry context.
Is a health and wellness, general degree worth it?
College Scorecard national medians for the Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences, General bachelor's program family: median debt $25,619, median earnings $61,296 four years after enrollment. Debt-to-earnings proxy: 0.73.
About 5.1% 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 $6,022 and median net price is $14,621.
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 Health and Wellness, General and the types of students that study this field.
Tuition Costs for Common Institutions
$6,022 Median In-State Public
$34,227 Median Out of State Private
Tuition costs for Health and Wellness, General majors are, on average, $6,022 for in-state public colleges, and $34,227 for out of state private colleges.
Tuition costs comparison for Health and Wellness, General programs.
Degrees Awarded Over Time
100,000 Total Degrees Awarded in 2023
This chart shows the number of degrees awarded in Health and Wellness, General from 2015 to 2023.
Historical trend of degrees awarded in Health and Wellness, General.
Top 5 Schools by Enrollment
| # | School | State | Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Southern New Hampshire University | NH | 163,164 |
| 2 | Western Governors University | UT | 155,088 |
| 3 | Grand Canyon University | AZ | 73,371 |
| 4 | Arizona State University Campus Immersion | AZ | 64,674 |
| 5 | Arizona State University Campus Immersion | AZ | 64,674 |
Schools with the largest enrollment offering Health and Wellness, General programs.
Top 5 Most Affordable Tuition
| # | School | State | Tuition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barstow Community College | CA | $1,104 |
| 2 | Taft College | CA | $1,108 |
| 3 | El Camino Community College District | CA | $1,144 |
| 4 | Lassen Community College | CA | $1,144 |
| 5 | Imperial Valley College | CA | $1,148 |
Schools with the lowest tuition costs for Health and Wellness, General programs.
Top 5 Lowest Net Price
| # | School | State | Net Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Canada College | CA | $32 |
| 2 | New Mexico State University-Grants | NM | $68 |
| 3 | College of San Mateo | CA | $536 |
| 4 | Imperial Valley College | CA | $1,115 |
| 5 | Macomb Community College | MI | $1,618 |
Schools with the lowest average net price for Health and Wellness, General programs.
Graduation Rates
Graduation rate data is not available for this degree program.
Graduation/completion rates for Health and Wellness, General 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 Health and Wellness, General is in TX (1,068 completions). That state represents about 30.8% 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 IN (0.63% 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 | 1,068 | 30.8% | 0.36% |
| IN | 648 | 18.7% | 0.63% |
| AL | 145 | 4.2% | 0.21% |
| NY | 135 | 3.9% | 0.05% |
| PA | 134 | 3.9% | 0.08% |
| MO | 127 | 3.7% | 0.18% |
| AZ | 125 | 3.6% | 0.09% |
| WV | 118 | 3.4% | 0.33% |
| GA | 104 | 3.0% | 0.09% |
| RI | 93 | 2.7% | 0.37% |
| CT | 86 | 2.5% | 0.18% |
| MN | 61 | 1.8% | 0.07% |
| OR | 58 | 1.7% | 0.13% |
| IL | 55 | 1.6% | 0.04% |
| VT | 51 | 1.5% | 0.41% |
| WI | 49 | 1.4% | 0.06% |
| IA | 39 | 1.1% | 0.08% |
| DC | 31 | 0.9% | 0.14% |
Degree Levels (IPEDS)
Completions reported to IPEDS for CIP 51.0001 in the survey year used in our extract (4,691 total across levels below).
- 823 Associate (17.5% of IPEDS total)
- 3,466 Bachelor's (73.9% of IPEDS total)
- 395 Master's (8.4% of IPEDS total)
- 7 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 $149,642. Figures are national OEWS estimates for the occupation—not earnings of Health and Wellness, General graduates alone.
Related occupations (BLS OEWS)
| Occupation | Mean annual wage | U.S. employment |
|---|---|---|
| Registered Nurses | $152,361 | 3,282,010 |
| Home Health Aides | — | — |
| Mental Health Counselors | — | — |
| Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health | $110,339 | 84,930 |
| Health and Safety Engineers, Except Mining Safety Engineers and Inspectors | $127,278 | 23,220 |
| Health Education Specialists | $71,851 | 65,150 |
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 Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences, General CIP family (73 programs reporting debt). Not specific to every Health and Wellness, General graduate.
- $25,619 median federal loan debt among completers
- $61,296 median earnings four years after enrollment (national program median)
- 0.73 debt-to-earnings ratio (Scorecard proxy)
- 5.1% 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
$149,642 Average Wage in Workforce
The average salary for Health and Wellness, General majors is $149,642.
Average annual salaries of the most common occupations for Health and Wellness, General majors.
Occupations by Share
3,455,310 2023 Workforce
The number of Health and Wellness, General graduates in the workforce has been growing.
Various jobs filled by those with a major in Health and Wellness, General by share of the total number of graduates.
Diversity
Demographic information for those who earn a degree in Health and Wellness, General in the United States.
Workforce Age
N/A Average Age in 2023
This chart shows distribution of ages for employees with a degree in Health and Wellness, General.
Age distribution for Health and Wellness, General degree holders in the workforce.
Gender Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
3,466 Total Degrees Awarded
799 Male (23.05%)
2,667 Female (76.95%)
Gender distribution of Health and Wellness, General degree recipients.
Race and Ethnicity Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
1,719 White (49.60%)
608 Black or African American (17.54%)
604 Hispanic or Latino (17.43%)
248 Asian (7.16%)
162 Two or More Races (4.67%)
Racial and ethnic distribution of Health and Wellness, General degree recipients.
Degrees Awarded
The most common degree types awarded to students graduating in Health and Wellness, General are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Associates Degree.
Distribution of degree types awarded in Health and Wellness, General.
Skills
Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for those working in the Health and Wellness, General field from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Required Skills
Health and Wellness, General majors need many skills, but most especially Critical Thinking, Active Listening, and Reading Comprehension.
Rating of how necessary various skills are for Health and Wellness, General 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 Health and Wellness, General majors.
About
A program of study that prepares individuals to assume roles as health/wellness professionals in private business and industry, community organizations, and health care settings. Includes instruction in personal health, community health and welfare, nutrition, epidemiology, disease prevention, fitness and exercise, and health behaviors
In 2023, 100,000 degrees were awarded across all undergraduate and graduate programs in Health and Wellness, General.
CIP Code
51.0001 - Health and Wellness, General
What the data shows
At the program-family level, College Scorecard reports median debt of $25,619 for bachelor's completers and median earnings near $61,296, a debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.73. Those figures describe national program cohorts in this CIP family—not every individual Health and Wellness, General graduate.
Women earned 77.9% of 5,611 Health and Wellness, General completions in the IPEDS file used here.
Mapped BLS occupations show employment-weighted mean pay of about $149,642. The largest mapped role by headcount is Registered Nurses (3,282,010 U.S. jobs in OEWS).
Published tuition medians in College Scorecard land at $6,022 in-state at public colleges and $34,227 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.