Business is the most popular college major in the United States by a wide margin. In the 2021–22 academic year, colleges and universities awarded 375,400 bachelor’s degrees in business, accounting for 19 percent of all bachelor’s degrees conferred. That’s more than the next two most popular fields combined.
The Six Most Popular Majors
Out of roughly 2 million bachelor’s degrees awarded in 2021–22, six fields accounted for about 58 percent of the total, according to the National Center for Education Statistics:
- Business: 375,400 degrees (19%)
- Health professions and related programs: 263,800 degrees (13%)
- Social sciences and history: 151,100 degrees (7%)
- Biological and biomedical sciences: 131,500 degrees (7%)
- Psychology: 129,600 degrees (6%)
- Engineering: 123,000 degrees (6%)
Business has held the top spot for decades, and it isn’t particularly close. The category includes concentrations like finance, accounting, management, marketing, and supply chain logistics. Health professions, the runner-up, covers nursing, public health, health administration, and similar programs. Its growth in recent years reflects rising demand for healthcare workers across the economy.
Social sciences and history, biological sciences, and psychology each hover around 6 to 7 percent of all degrees. These fields attract students with a wide range of career goals, from graduate school in medicine or law to direct entry into the workforce.
Popular vs. In Demand
The most popular major and the most in-demand major aren’t the same thing. Popularity measures how many students choose a field. Demand measures how many employers are actively hiring graduates with that degree. A field can produce a huge number of graduates while employers chase talent in a smaller, more specialized area.
NACE’s Winter 2026 Salary Survey asked employers which bachelor’s degrees they planned to hire from the class of 2026. The results reveal where employer appetite is strongest. Finance and mechanical engineering tied for the top spot, with 61.3 percent of responding firms planning to hire those graduates. Computer science came in third at 60 percent, followed by accounting at 58.7 percent. Electrical engineering (51.3%), information sciences and systems (48%), and logistics/supply chain (44.7%) rounded out the upper tier.
Notice the overlap with business: finance, accounting, marketing, and logistics are all concentrations within the business umbrella. That helps explain why so many students choose business. It’s not just one career path. It’s a broad category with multiple specializations that consistently show up on employer wish lists.
How Starting Salaries Compare
Choosing a major shapes your early earning potential, sometimes dramatically. Average starting salary projections for the class of 2026 illustrate the gap between technical and non-technical fields:
- Engineering: $81,198
- Computer sciences: $81,535
- Math and sciences: $74,184
- Business: $68,873
Engineering and computer science graduates start at roughly $81,000 on average, about $12,000 more than business graduates. That gap is meaningful in your first few years out of school, though it tends to narrow or shift as people move into management roles, earn advanced degrees, or switch fields entirely. Within engineering, sub-specialties vary widely. Petroleum engineering graduates, for example, see projected starting salaries around $100,750.
Business may not lead on starting pay, but its sheer versatility is part of the appeal. A finance or accounting degree opens doors across industries, from tech to healthcare to government. That flexibility, combined with strong employer demand, helps explain why nearly one in five graduates walks across the stage with a business degree.
What These Numbers Mean for You
If you’re choosing a major, popularity alone shouldn’t drive the decision. The fact that business is the most popular major means the job market absorbs hundreds of thousands of business graduates every year, but it also means you’re competing with a very large pool of candidates. Standing out with internships, a strong GPA, or a specialized concentration matters more when the field is crowded.
Health professions offer a different dynamic. Demand for nurses, therapists, and public health workers continues to grow, and the pipeline of graduates, while large, hasn’t kept pace with the need in many parts of the country. If job security is a priority, health-related fields have a strong structural tailwind.
Engineering and computer science produce fewer graduates than business or health, but they command higher starting salaries and appear consistently at the top of employer hiring plans. The tradeoff is a more demanding curriculum with higher attrition rates. Many students who enter these programs switch to other majors before graduating.
Psychology and the social sciences remain popular despite lower average starting salaries because they serve as springboards to graduate programs in law, counseling, social work, and public policy. If your plan includes an advanced degree, the undergraduate major matters less than your GPA and relevant experience.