Neuroscience Degrees (2026 stats)
TL;DR
Neuroscience maps to BLS occupations averaging about $64,987, with roughly 1,596,050 workers nationwide in those roles. About 10,180 bachelor's completions in IPEDS 2023; median program completion runs near 68%.
Key Statistics
Neuroscience: what the data shows
Common questions about neuroscience degrees, answered from IPEDS, College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, and O*NET in this repository—not program marketing copy.
What is a neuroscience degree?
A Neuroscience program is classified under NCES CIP 26.1501 in the Neurobiology and Neurosciences field family (26.15).
A program that focuses on the interdisciplinary scientific study of the molecular, structural, physiologic, cognitive, and behavioral aspects of the brain and nervous system. Includes instruction in molecular and cellular neuroscience, brain science, anatomy and physiology of the central nervous system, molecular and biochemical bases of information processing, behavioral neuroscience, biology of neuropsychiatric disorders, and applications to the clinical sciences and biomedical engineering
IPEDS counted 10,180 completions for this CIP in the survey year in our extract.
Types of neuroscience degrees and related programs
Other NCES program codes in the 26.15 family with pages on EDsmart Data:
- Neuroanatomy (CIP 26.1502)
- Neurobiology and Anatomy (CIP 26.1503)
- Neurobiology and Behavior (CIP 26.1504)
How long does it take to get a neuroscience degree?
Award levels reported to IPEDS for CIP 26.1501 in our file:
- 4 Associate (0.0% of IPEDS total)—about two years of full-time study
- 10,180 Bachelor's (95.6% of IPEDS total)—typically four years
- 432 Master's (4.1% of IPEDS total)—one to two years beyond a bachelor's
- 27 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 neuroscience?
O*NET skill ratings for occupations mapped to this major emphasize Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, Speaking, Writing, Critical Thinking, Service Orientation, and related competencies. See the Skills section for the full list in our extract.
What degree do you need?
For 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%). Bachelor's awards account for a majority of IPEDS completions for CIP 26.1501, 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 neuroscience degree?
Our degree→occupation mapping links Neuroscience 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Teachers, Postsecondary | 1,500,000 | — |
| Secondary School Teachers | 1,072,540 | $64,580 |
See Careers & Jobs for mean wages and industry context.
Is a neuroscience degree worth it?
College Scorecard national medians for the Neurobiology and Neurosciences bachelor's program family: median debt $37,367, median earnings $62,451 four years after enrollment. Debt-to-earnings proxy: 1.18.
About 6.5% 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 $4,780 and median net price is $8,033.
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 Neuroscience and the types of students that study this field.
Tuition Costs for Common Institutions
$4,780 Median In-State Public
$15,968 Median Out of State Private
Tuition costs for Neuroscience majors are, on average, $4,780 for in-state public colleges, and $15,968 for out of state private colleges.
Tuition costs comparison for Neuroscience programs.
Degrees Awarded Over Time
10,180 Total Degrees Awarded in 2023
This chart shows the number of degrees awarded in Neuroscience from 2015 to 2023.
Historical trend of degrees awarded in Neuroscience.
Top 5 Schools by Enrollment
| # | School | State | Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brigham Young University-Idaho | ID | 42,090 |
| 2 | Tarrant County College District | TX | 40,214 |
| 3 | Purdue University-Main Campus | IN | 39,637 |
| 4 | Connecticut State Community College | CT | 32,292 |
| 5 | Hillsborough Community College | FL | 19,998 |
Schools with the largest enrollment offering Neuroscience programs.
Top 5 Most Affordable Tuition
| # | School | State | Tuition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Angeles Trade Technical College | CA | $1,238 |
| 2 | Victor Valley College | CA | $1,425 |
| 3 | Tarrant County College District | TX | $1,728 |
| 4 | Pitt Community College | NC | $1,972 |
| 5 | Durham Technical Community College | NC | $1,986 |
Schools with the lowest tuition costs for Neuroscience programs.
Top 5 Lowest Net Price
| # | School | State | Net Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Henry Ford College | MI | $576 |
| 2 | Durham Technical Community College | NC | $1,183 |
| 3 | Mississippi Delta Community College | MS | $2,276 |
| 4 | Advantage Technical College | PR | $2,791 |
| 5 | Seminole State College of Florida | FL | $3,119 |
Schools with the lowest average net price for Neuroscience programs.
Graduation Rates
67.52% Median Graduation Rate (150% of normal time)
65.93% Average Graduation Rate
484 Institutions Reporting
54.59% - 80.85% Interquartile Range
Graduation/completion rates for Neuroscience 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 Neuroscience is in NY (805 completions). That state represents about 7.9% 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 VT (1.10% 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| NY | 805 | 7.9% | 0.29% |
| PA | 785 | 7.7% | 0.46% |
| TX | 766 | 7.5% | 0.26% |
| MA | 745 | 7.3% | 0.58% |
| CA | 563 | 5.5% | 0.12% |
| MI | 538 | 5.3% | 0.47% |
| OH | 483 | 4.7% | 0.35% |
| IL | 429 | 4.2% | 0.31% |
| VA | 414 | 4.1% | 0.34% |
| GA | 405 | 4.0% | 0.35% |
| WI | 367 | 3.6% | 0.48% |
| IN | 346 | 3.4% | 0.34% |
| TN | 296 | 2.9% | 0.40% |
| NC | 294 | 2.9% | 0.24% |
| MD | 271 | 2.7% | 0.37% |
| AZ | 236 | 2.3% | 0.17% |
| CO | 220 | 2.2% | 0.31% |
| FL | 215 | 2.1% | 0.09% |
Related specializations
Other NCES program codes in the 26.15 CIP family with dedicated pages on EDsmart Data.
- Neuroanatomy CIP 26.1502
- Neurobiology and Anatomy CIP 26.1503
- Neurobiology and Behavior CIP 26.1504
Degree Levels (IPEDS)
Completions reported to IPEDS for CIP 26.1501 in the survey year used in our extract (10,643 total across levels below).
- 4 Associate (0.0% of IPEDS total)
- 10,180 Bachelor's (95.6% of IPEDS total)
- 432 Master's (4.1% of IPEDS total)
- 27 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 $64,987. Figures are national OEWS estimates for the occupation—not earnings of Neuroscience graduates alone.
Related occupations (BLS OEWS)
| Occupation | Mean annual wage | U.S. employment |
|---|---|---|
| Teachers, Postsecondary | $36,511 | 1,500,000 |
| Secondary School Teachers | $104,813 | 1,072,540 |
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 Neurobiology and Neurosciences CIP family (33 programs reporting debt). Not specific to every Neuroscience graduate.
- $37,367 median federal loan debt among completers
- $62,451 median earnings four years after enrollment (national program median)
- 1.18 debt-to-earnings ratio (Scorecard proxy)
- 6.5% 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
$40,621 Average Wage in Workforce
The average salary for Neuroscience majors is $40,621.
Average annual salaries of the most common occupations for Neuroscience majors.
Occupations by Share
1,596,050 2023 Workforce
The number of Neuroscience graduates in the workforce has been growing.
Various jobs filled by those with a major in Neuroscience by share of the total number of graduates.
Diversity
Demographic information for those who earn a degree in Neuroscience in the United States.
Workforce Age
N/A Average Age in 2023
This chart shows distribution of ages for employees with a degree in Neuroscience.
Age distribution for Neuroscience degree holders in the workforce.
Gender Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
10,180 Total Degrees Awarded
3,022 Male (29.69%)
7,158 Female (70.31%)
Gender distribution of Neuroscience degree recipients.
Race and Ethnicity Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
4,804 White (47.19%)
2,221 Asian (21.82%)
1,230 Hispanic or Latino (12.08%)
669 Black or African American (6.57%)
532 Two or More Races (5.23%)
Racial and ethnic distribution of Neuroscience degree recipients.
Degrees Awarded
The most common degree types awarded to students graduating in Neuroscience are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Associates Degree.
Distribution of degree types awarded in Neuroscience.
Skills
Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for those working in the Neuroscience field from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Required Skills
Neuroscience majors need many skills, but most especially Critical Thinking, Active Listening, and Reading Comprehension.
Rating of how necessary various skills are for Neuroscience 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 Neuroscience majors.
About
A program that focuses on the interdisciplinary scientific study of the molecular, structural, physiologic, cognitive, and behavioral aspects of the brain and nervous system. Includes instruction in molecular and cellular neuroscience, brain science, anatomy and physiology of the central nervous system, molecular and biochemical bases of information processing, behavioral neuroscience, biology of neuropsychiatric disorders, and applications to the clinical sciences and biomedical engineering
In 2023, 10,180 degrees were awarded across all undergraduate and graduate programs in Neuroscience.
CIP Code
26.1501 - Neuroscience
What the data shows
At the program-family level, College Scorecard reports median debt of $37,367 for bachelor's completers and median earnings near $62,451, a debt-to-earnings ratio of 1.18. Those figures describe national program cohorts in this CIP family—not every individual Neuroscience graduate.
Women earned 69.3% of 11,557 Neuroscience completions in the IPEDS file used here.
Mapped BLS occupations show employment-weighted mean pay of about $64,987. The largest mapped role by headcount is Teachers, Postsecondary (1,500,000 U.S. jobs in OEWS).
Published tuition medians in College Scorecard land at $4,780 in-state at public colleges and $15,968 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.