TL;DR

Investments and Securities maps to BLS occupations averaging about $108,560, with roughly 472,300 workers nationwide in those roles. Median in-state published tuition is about $9,358; a top linked occupation is Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agents.

Key Statistics

$9,358
Median In-State Public Tuition
$38,700
Median Out-of-State Private Tuition
$108,560
Avg. Wage (related occupations)
472,300
Workers (related occupations)
155
Bachelor's Completions (IPEDS 2023)

Investments and Securities: what the data shows

Common questions about investments and securities degrees, answered from IPEDS, College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, and O*NET in this repository—not program marketing copy.

What is a investments and securities degree?

A Investments and Securities program is classified under NCES CIP 52.0807 in the Finance and Financial Management Services field family (52.08).

A program that prepares individuals to manage assets placed in capital markets, and related technical operations. Includes instruction in security analysis, debt and equity analysis, investment strategies, securities markets, computer-assisted research, portfolio management, portfolio performance analysis, and applications to specific investment problems and business situations

IPEDS counted 155 completions for this CIP in the survey year in our extract.

Types of investments and securities degrees and related programs

Other NCES program codes in the 52.08 family with pages on EDsmart Data:

How long does it take to get a investments and securities degree?

Award levels reported to IPEDS for CIP 52.0807 in our file:

  • 155 Bachelor's (88.1% of IPEDS total)—typically four years
  • 19 Master's (10.8% of IPEDS total)—one to two years beyond a bachelor's
  • 2 Doctorate (1.1% 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 Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agents (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 52.0807, 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 investments and securities degree?

Our degree→occupation mapping links Investments and Securities to the BLS roles below. Employment is U.S. OEWS; median wage is national May 2024 where published in our extract.

OccupationU.S. employmentMedian annual wage
Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agents472,300$78,140

See Careers & Jobs for mean wages and industry context.

Is a investments and securities degree worth it?

College Scorecard national medians for the Finance and Financial Management Services bachelor's program family: median debt $35,481, median earnings $83,343 four years after enrollment. Debt-to-earnings proxy: 0.66.

About 3.4% 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 $9,358 and median net price is $18,397.

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 Investments and Securities and the types of students that study this field.

Tuition Costs for Common Institutions

$9,358 Median In-State Public

$38,700 Median Out of State Private

Tuition costs for Investments and Securities majors are, on average, $9,358 for in-state public colleges, and $38,700 for out of state private colleges.

Tuition costs comparison for Investments and Securities programs.

Degrees Awarded Over Time

100,000 Total Degrees Awarded in 2023

This chart shows the number of degrees awarded in Investments and Securities from 2015 to 2023.

Historical trend of degrees awarded in Investments and Securities.

Top 5 Schools by Enrollment

Schools with the largest enrollment offering Investments and Securities programs.

Top 5 Most Affordable Tuition

# School State Tuition
1 Lake Tahoe Community College CA $1,131
2 San Diego Miramar College CA $1,146
3 San Diego Miramar College CA $1,146
4 Imperial Valley College CA $1,148
5 Southeast New Mexico College NM $1,176

Schools with the lowest tuition costs for Investments and Securities programs.

Top 5 Lowest Net Price

Schools with the lowest average net price for Investments and Securities programs.

Graduation Rates

Graduation rate data is not available for this degree program.

Graduation/completion rates for Investments and Securities 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 Investments and Securities is in MA (67 completions). That state represents about 43.2% 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 ND (0.41% 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
MA6743.2%0.05%
ND5132.9%0.41%
FL1912.3%0.01%
IA85.2%0.02%
PA63.9%0.00%
NE42.6%0.01%

Related specializations

Other NCES program codes in the 52.08 CIP family with dedicated pages on EDsmart Data.

Degree Levels (IPEDS)

Completions reported to IPEDS for CIP 52.0807 in the survey year used in our extract (176 total across levels below).

  • 155 Bachelor's (88.1% of IPEDS total)
  • 19 Master's (10.8% of IPEDS total)
  • 2 Doctorate (1.1% 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 $108,560. Figures are national OEWS estimates for the occupation—not earnings of Investments and Securities graduates alone.

Related occupations (BLS OEWS)

Occupation Mean annual wage U.S. employment
Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agents$108,560472,300

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 Finance and Financial Management Services CIP family (179 programs reporting debt). Not specific to every Investments and Securities graduate.

  • $35,481 median federal loan debt among completers
  • $83,343 median earnings four years after enrollment (national program median)
  • 0.66 debt-to-earnings ratio (Scorecard proxy)
  • 3.4% 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

$108,560 Average Wage in Workforce

The average salary for Investments and Securities majors is $108,560.

Average annual salaries of the most common occupations for Investments and Securities majors.

Occupations by Share

472,300 2023 Workforce

The number of Investments and Securities graduates in the workforce has been growing.

Various jobs filled by those with a major in Investments and Securities by share of the total number of graduates.

Diversity

Demographic information for those who earn a degree in Investments and Securities in the United States.

Workforce Age

N/A Average Age in 2023

This chart shows distribution of ages for employees with a degree in Investments and Securities.

Age distribution for Investments and Securities degree holders in the workforce.

Gender Distribution

Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).

155 Total Degrees Awarded

127 Male (81.94%)

28 Female (18.06%)

Gender distribution of Investments and Securities degree recipients.

Race and Ethnicity Distribution

Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).

122 White (78.71%)

7 Black or African American (4.52%)

6 Two or More Races (3.87%)

3 Hispanic or Latino (1.94%)

1 Asian (0.65%)

Racial and ethnic distribution of Investments and Securities degree recipients.

Degrees Awarded

The most common degree types awarded to students graduating in Investments and Securities are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Associates Degree.

Distribution of degree types awarded in Investments and Securities.

Skills

Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for those working in the Investments and Securities field from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Required Skills

Investments and Securities majors need many skills, but most especially Critical Thinking, Active Listening, and Reading Comprehension.

Rating of how necessary various skills are for Investments and Securities 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 Investments and Securities majors.

About

A program that prepares individuals to manage assets placed in capital markets, and related technical operations. Includes instruction in security analysis, debt and equity analysis, investment strategies, securities markets, computer-assisted research, portfolio management, portfolio performance analysis, and applications to specific investment problems and business situations

In 2023, 100,000 degrees were awarded across all undergraduate and graduate programs in Investments and Securities.

CIP Code

52.0807 - Investments and Securities

What the data shows

At the program-family level, College Scorecard reports median debt of $35,481 for bachelor's completers and median earnings near $83,343, a debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.66. Those figures describe national program cohorts in this CIP family—not every individual Investments and Securities graduate.

Men earned 20.5% of 414 Investments and Securities completions in the IPEDS file used here.

Mapped BLS occupations show employment-weighted mean pay of about $108,560. The largest mapped role by headcount is Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agents (472,300 U.S. jobs in OEWS).

Published tuition medians in College Scorecard land at $9,358 in-state at public colleges and $38,700 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.