Health Sciences Degrees (2026 stats)
TL;DR
Health Sciences maps to BLS occupations averaging about $108,631, with roughly 21,750 workers nationwide in those roles. About 253,795 bachelor's completions in IPEDS 2023; median program completion runs near 63%.
Key Statistics
Health Sciences: what the data shows
Common questions about health sciences degrees, answered from IPEDS, College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, and O*NET in this repository—not program marketing copy.
What is a health sciences degree?
A Health Sciences program is classified under NCES CIP 51.5100 in the Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences, General field family (51.51).
IPEDS counted 253,795 completions for this CIP in the survey year in our extract.
Types of health sciences degrees and related programs
Other NCES program codes in the 51.51 family with pages on EDsmart Data:
- Medical Assisting (CIP 51.5108)
- Practical Nursing (CIP 51.5116)
How long does it take to get a health sciences degree?
Award levels reported to IPEDS for CIP 51.5100 in our file:
- 186,752 Associate (31.2% of IPEDS total)—about two years of full-time study
- 253,795 Bachelor's (42.4% of IPEDS total)—typically four years
- 150,630 Master's (25.2% of IPEDS total)—one to two years beyond a bachelor's
- 7,230 Doctorate (1.2% 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 health sciences?
O*NET skill ratings for occupations mapped to this major emphasize Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, Complex Problem Solving, Active Learning, Speaking, Social Perceptiveness, and related competencies. See the Skills section for the full list in our extract.
What degree do you need?
For Genetic Counselors (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 health sciences degree?
Our degree→occupation mapping links Health Sciences 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Genetic Counselors | 3,510 | $98,910 |
| Audiologists | 14,730 | $92,120 |
| Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technologists | — | — |
| Biochemists and Biophysicists | 34,520 | $103,650 |
| Dietitians and Nutritionists | 76,570 | $73,850 |
| Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary | 74,250 | $79,940 |
See Careers & Jobs for mean wages and industry context.
Is a health sciences degree worth it?
Among schools reporting in our Scorecard extract, median published in-state tuition is $5,688 and median net price is $13,846.
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 Sciences and the types of students that study this field.
Tuition Costs for Common Institutions
$5,688 Median In-State Public
$33,560 Median Out of State Private
Tuition costs for Health Sciences majors are, on average, $5,688 for in-state public colleges, and $33,560 for out of state private colleges.
Tuition costs comparison for Health Sciences programs.
Institutions awarding the most Health Sciences degrees
| # | Institution | State | Completions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chamberlain University-Illinois | IL | 13,506 |
| 2 | Capella University | MN | 12,709 |
| 3 | Western Governors University | UT | 12,084 |
| 4 | Ivy Tech Community College | IN | 11,076 |
| 5 | Ultimate Medical Academy | FL | 10,732 |
| 6 | Grand Canyon University | AZ | 8,143 |
| 7 | Walden University | MN | 6,466 |
| 8 | University of Phoenix-Arizona | AZ | 5,221 |
| 9 | NUC University | PR | 5,120 |
| 10 | Purdue University Global | IN | 4,637 |
IPEDS Completions (c2024_a), all award levels for this CIP in our extract.
Degrees Awarded Over Time
253,795 Total Degrees Awarded in 2023
This chart shows the number of degrees awarded in Health Sciences from 2015 to 2023.
Historical trend of degrees awarded in Health Sciences.
Top 5 Schools by Enrollment
| # | School | State | Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Southern New Hampshire University | NH | 156,755 |
| 2 | Western Governors University | UT | 135,822 |
| 3 | University of Phoenix-Arizona | AZ | 76,996 |
| 4 | Grand Canyon University | AZ | 68,619 |
| 5 | Arizona State University Campus Immersion | AZ | 64,398 |
Schools with the largest enrollment offering Health Sciences programs.
Top 5 Most Affordable Tuition
| # | School | State | Tuition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tohono O'odham Community College | AZ | $932 |
| 2 | Taft College | CA | $1,108 |
| 3 | Imperial Valley College | CA | $1,126 |
| 4 | El Camino Community College District | CA | $1,144 |
| 5 | Lassen Community College | CA | $1,144 |
Schools with the lowest tuition costs for Health Sciences programs.
Top 5 Lowest Net Price
| # | School | State | Net Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Canada College | CA | $10 |
| 2 | Coastal Pines Technical College | GA | $124 |
| 3 | Oxnard College | CA | $659 |
| 4 | Moorpark College | CA | $742 |
| 5 | Wiregrass Georgia Technical College | GA | $1,228 |
Schools with the lowest average net price for Health Sciences programs.
Graduation Rates
62.99% Median Graduation Rate (150% of normal time)
61.35% Average Graduation Rate
165 Institutions Reporting
49.65% - 74.29% Interquartile Range
Graduation/completion rates for Health Sciences 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 Sciences is in TX (18,987 completions). That state represents about 7.5% 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 MN (14.44% 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 | 18,987 | 7.5% | 6.48% |
| CA | 18,356 | 7.2% | 4.08% |
| FL | 16,263 | 6.4% | 7.10% |
| IL | 13,480 | 5.3% | 9.73% |
| AZ | 13,332 | 5.2% | 9.61% |
| NY | 12,795 | 5.0% | 4.64% |
| MN | 12,325 | 4.9% | 14.44% |
| UT | 11,436 | 4.5% | 10.59% |
| PA | 10,540 | 4.2% | 6.17% |
| OH | 9,825 | 3.9% | 7.09% |
| IN | 7,114 | 2.8% | 6.88% |
| MI | 6,073 | 2.4% | 5.30% |
| NC | 5,919 | 2.3% | 4.79% |
| GA | 5,779 | 2.3% | 5.05% |
| MA | 5,639 | 2.2% | 4.42% |
| VA | 5,272 | 2.1% | 4.29% |
| NJ | 4,772 | 1.9% | 5.53% |
| MO | 4,730 | 1.9% | 6.63% |
Related specializations
Other NCES program codes in the 51.51 CIP family with dedicated pages on EDsmart Data.
- Medical Assisting CIP 51.5108
- Practical Nursing CIP 51.5116
Degree Levels (IPEDS)
Completions reported to IPEDS for CIP 51.5100 in the survey year used in our extract (598,407 total across levels below).
- 186,752 Associate (31.2% of IPEDS total)
- 253,795 Bachelor's (42.4% of IPEDS total)
- 150,630 Master's (25.2% of IPEDS total)
- 7,230 Doctorate (1.2% 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 $108,631. Figures are national OEWS estimates for the occupation—not earnings of Health Sciences graduates alone.
Related occupations (BLS OEWS)
| Occupation | Mean annual wage | U.S. employment |
|---|---|---|
| Genetic Counselors | $143,815 | 3,510 |
| Audiologists | $123,159 | 14,730 |
| Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technologists | — | — |
| Biochemists and Biophysicists | $133,564 | 34,520 |
| Dietitians and Nutritionists | $96,955 | 76,570 |
| Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary | $104,536 | 74,250 |
Open each occupation for full career profile charts and industry breakdowns on EDsmart Data.
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
$108,739 Average Wage in Workforce
The average salary for Health Sciences majors is $108,739.
Average annual salaries of the most common occupations for Health Sciences majors.
Occupations by Share
21,750 2023 Workforce
The number of Health Sciences graduates in the workforce has been growing.
Various jobs filled by those with a major in Health Sciences by share of the total number of graduates.
Diversity
Demographic information for those who earn a degree in Health Sciences 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 Sciences.
Age distribution for Health Sciences degree holders in the workforce.
Gender Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
253,795 Total Degrees Awarded
38,500 Male (15.17%)
215,295 Female (84.83%)
Gender distribution of Health Sciences degree recipients.
Race and Ethnicity Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
131,166 White (51.68%)
43,753 Hispanic or Latino (17.24%)
33,909 Black or African American (13.36%)
22,106 Asian (8.71%)
8,887 Two or More Races (3.50%)
Racial and ethnic distribution of Health Sciences degree recipients.
Degrees Awarded
The most common degree types awarded to students graduating in Health Sciences are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Associates Degree.
Distribution of degree types awarded in Health Sciences.
Skills
Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for those working in the Health Sciences field from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Required Skills
Health Sciences majors need many skills, but most especially Critical Thinking, Active Listening, and Reading Comprehension.
Rating of how necessary various skills are for Health Sciences 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 Sciences majors.
About
Health Sciences
In 2023, 253,795 degrees were awarded across all undergraduate and graduate programs in Health Sciences.
CIP Code
51.5100 - Health Sciences
What the data shows
Women earned 82.1% of 994,689 Health Sciences completions in the IPEDS file used here.
Mapped BLS occupations show employment-weighted mean pay of about $108,631. The largest mapped role by headcount is Genetic Counselors (3,510 U.S. jobs in OEWS).
Published tuition medians in College Scorecard land at $5,688 in-state at public colleges and $33,560 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.