Humanities/Humanistic Studies Degrees (2026 stats)
TL;DR
Humanities/Humanistic Studies maps to BLS occupations averaging about $135,756, with roughly 24,110 workers nationwide in those roles. About 1,437 bachelor's completions in IPEDS 2023; median in-state published tuition is about $5,502.
Key Statistics
Humanities/Humanistic Studies: what the data shows
Common questions about humanities/humanistic studies degrees, answered from IPEDS, College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, and O*NET in this repository—not program marketing copy.
What is a humanities/humanistic studies degree?
A Humanities/Humanistic Studies program is classified under NCES CIP 24.0103 in the Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities field family (24.01).
A program that focuses on combined studies and research in the humanities subjects as distinguished from the social and physical sciences, emphasizing languages, literatures, art, music, philosophy and religion
IPEDS counted 1,437 completions for this CIP in the survey year in our extract.
Types of humanities/humanistic studies degrees and related programs
Other NCES program codes in the 24.01 family with pages on EDsmart Data:
- General Studies (CIP 24.0102)
- Liberal Arts & Humanities (CIP 24.01)
- Liberal Arts & Sciences (CIP 24.0101)
- Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities, Other (CIP 24.0199)
How long does it take to get a humanities/humanistic studies degree?
Award levels reported to IPEDS for CIP 24.0103 in our file:
- 20,186 Associate (91.4% of IPEDS total)—about two years of full-time study
- 1,437 Bachelor's (6.5% of IPEDS total)—typically four years
- 457 Master's (2.1% 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 Area, Ethnic, and Cultural Studies Teachers, Postsecondary (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 humanities/humanistic studies degree?
Our degree→occupation mapping links Humanities/Humanistic Studies 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Area, Ethnic, and Cultural Studies Teachers, Postsecondary | 11,430 | $84,290 |
| Recreation and Fitness Studies Teachers, Postsecondary | 12,680 | $75,890 |
See Careers & Jobs for mean wages and industry context.
Is a humanities/humanistic studies degree worth it?
College Scorecard national medians for the Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities bachelor's program family: median debt $21,625, median earnings $53,072 four years after enrollment. Debt-to-earnings proxy: 0.59.
About 7.5% 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 $5,502 and median net price is $13,596.
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 Humanities/Humanistic Studies and the types of students that study this field.
Tuition Costs for Common Institutions
$5,502 Median In-State Public
$35,704 Median Out of State Private
Tuition costs for Humanities/Humanistic Studies majors are, on average, $5,502 for in-state public colleges, and $35,704 for out of state private colleges.
Tuition costs comparison for Humanities/Humanistic Studies programs.
Degrees Awarded Over Time
100,000 Total Degrees Awarded in 2023
This chart shows the number of degrees awarded in Humanities/Humanistic Studies from 2015 to 2023.
Historical trend of degrees awarded in Humanities/Humanistic Studies.
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 | University of Phoenix-Arizona | AZ | 85,991 |
| 4 | Arizona State University Campus Immersion | AZ | 64,674 |
| 5 | Arizona State University Campus Immersion | AZ | 64,674 |
Schools with the largest enrollment offering Humanities/Humanistic Studies programs.
Top 5 Most Affordable Tuition
| # | School | State | Tuition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Haskell Indian Nations University | KS | $600 |
| 2 | Haskell Indian Nations University | KS | $600 |
| 3 | Tohono O'odham Community College | AZ | $932 |
| 4 | Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute | NM | $1,095 |
| 5 | Barstow Community College | CA | $1,104 |
Schools with the lowest tuition costs for Humanities/Humanistic Studies programs.
Top 5 Lowest Net Price
| # | School | State | Net Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Canada College | CA | $32 |
| 2 | Canada College | CA | $32 |
| 3 | New Mexico State University-Grants | NM | $68 |
| 4 | New Mexico State University-Grants | NM | $68 |
| 5 | Fort Peck Community College | MT | $400 |
Schools with the lowest average net price for Humanities/Humanistic Studies programs.
Graduation Rates
Graduation rate data is not available for this degree program.
Graduation/completion rates for Humanities/Humanistic Studies 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 Humanities/Humanistic Studies is in CA (243 completions). That state represents about 16.9% 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 HI (0.23% 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 | 243 | 16.9% | 0.05% |
| NJ | 172 | 12.0% | 0.20% |
| WA | 151 | 10.5% | 0.22% |
| FL | 126 | 8.8% | 0.06% |
| TX | 105 | 7.3% | 0.04% |
| AZ | 67 | 4.7% | 0.05% |
| NY | 50 | 3.5% | 0.02% |
| IN | 47 | 3.3% | 0.04% |
| MI | 39 | 2.7% | 0.03% |
| CT | 38 | 2.6% | 0.08% |
| PA | 33 | 2.3% | 0.02% |
| MA | 31 | 2.2% | 0.02% |
| SC | 31 | 2.2% | 0.06% |
| OH | 29 | 2.0% | 0.02% |
| UT | 28 | 1.9% | 0.03% |
| HI | 26 | 1.8% | 0.23% |
| WI | 24 | 1.7% | 0.03% |
| KY | 22 | 1.5% | 0.04% |
Related specializations
Other NCES program codes in the 24.01 CIP family with dedicated pages on EDsmart Data.
- General Studies CIP 24.0102
- Liberal Arts & Humanities CIP 24.01
- Liberal Arts & Sciences CIP 24.0101
- Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities, Other CIP 24.0199
Degree Levels (IPEDS)
Completions reported to IPEDS for CIP 24.0103 in the survey year used in our extract (22,080 total across levels below).
- 20,186 Associate (91.4% of IPEDS total)
- 1,437 Bachelor's (6.5% of IPEDS total)
- 457 Master's (2.1% 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 $135,756. Figures are national OEWS estimates for the occupation—not earnings of Humanities/Humanistic Studies graduates alone.
Related occupations (BLS OEWS)
| Occupation | Mean annual wage | U.S. employment |
|---|---|---|
| Area, Ethnic, and Cultural Studies Teachers, Postsecondary | $129,630 | 11,430 |
| Recreation and Fitness Studies Teachers, Postsecondary | $141,278 | 12,680 |
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 Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities CIP family (186 programs reporting debt). Not specific to every Humanities/Humanistic Studies graduate.
- $21,625 median federal loan debt among completers
- $53,072 median earnings four years after enrollment (national program median)
- 0.59 debt-to-earnings ratio (Scorecard proxy)
- 7.5% 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
$135,756 Average Wage in Workforce
The average salary for Humanities/Humanistic Studies majors is $135,756.
Average annual salaries of the most common occupations for Humanities/Humanistic Studies majors.
Occupations by Share
24,110 2023 Workforce
The number of Humanities/Humanistic Studies graduates in the workforce has been growing.
Various jobs filled by those with a major in Humanities/Humanistic Studies by share of the total number of graduates.
Diversity
Demographic information for those who earn a degree in Humanities/Humanistic Studies in the United States.
Workforce Age
N/A Average Age in 2023
This chart shows distribution of ages for employees with a degree in Humanities/Humanistic Studies.
Age distribution for Humanities/Humanistic Studies degree holders in the workforce.
Gender Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
1,437 Total Degrees Awarded
454 Male (31.59%)
983 Female (68.41%)
Gender distribution of Humanities/Humanistic Studies degree recipients.
Race and Ethnicity Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
790 White (54.98%)
280 Hispanic or Latino (19.49%)
96 Black or African American (6.68%)
84 Asian (5.85%)
84 Two or More Races (5.85%)
Racial and ethnic distribution of Humanities/Humanistic Studies degree recipients.
Degrees Awarded
The most common degree types awarded to students graduating in Humanities/Humanistic Studies are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Associates Degree.
Distribution of degree types awarded in Humanities/Humanistic Studies.
Skills
Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for those working in the Humanities/Humanistic Studies field from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Required Skills
Humanities/Humanistic Studies majors need many skills, but most especially Critical Thinking, Active Listening, and Reading Comprehension.
Rating of how necessary various skills are for Humanities/Humanistic Studies 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 Humanities/Humanistic Studies majors.
About
A program that focuses on combined studies and research in the humanities subjects as distinguished from the social and physical sciences, emphasizing languages, literatures, art, music, philosophy and religion
In 2023, 100,000 degrees were awarded across all undergraduate and graduate programs in Humanities/Humanistic Studies.
CIP Code
24.0103 - Humanities/Humanistic Studies
What the data shows
At the program-family level, College Scorecard reports median debt of $21,625 for bachelor's completers and median earnings near $53,072, a debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.59. Those figures describe national program cohorts in this CIP family—not every individual Humanities/Humanistic Studies graduate.
Women earned 63.2% of 22,307 Humanities/Humanistic Studies completions in the IPEDS file used here.
Mapped BLS occupations show employment-weighted mean pay of about $135,756. The largest mapped role by headcount is Area, Ethnic, and Cultural Studies Teachers, Postsecondary (11,430 U.S. jobs in OEWS).
Published tuition medians in College Scorecard land at $5,502 in-state at public colleges and $35,704 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.