Business is the most popular bachelor’s degree in the United States by a wide margin. In the 2021–22 academic year, colleges and universities awarded about 375,400 business degrees, nearly 1 in 5 of the 2 million bachelor’s degrees conferred nationwide. Health professions came in second at 263,800, followed by social sciences and history, biological sciences, psychology, and engineering.
The Six Largest Majors by Degrees Awarded
These six fields of study account for 58 percent of all bachelor’s degrees conferred in a single year, based on the most recent data from the National Center for Education Statistics:
- Business: 375,400 degrees (19% of all bachelor’s degrees)
- 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 is not particularly close. The category covers a broad range of concentrations, from general management and marketing to accounting, finance, and supply chain logistics. That breadth is part of why the numbers are so large: a student who wants to work in almost any industry can find a business specialization that fits.
Health professions have surged in recent years, driven largely by nursing. An aging population and persistent staffing shortages across hospitals and clinics have made health care one of the most reliable career paths for new graduates. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects about 189,100 annual job openings for registered nurses alone through 2034.
Which Majors Are Growing Fastest
Popularity does not stand still. Several fields that were once considered niche are pulling in serious enrollment numbers. Computer science and cybersecurity have seen strong growth as employers compete for tech talent. Healthcare administration is expanding alongside nursing, reflecting demand not just for bedside care but for people who can manage the business side of hospitals and clinics. Mathematics and statistics programs are also drawing more students, fueled by the explosion of data-driven roles in nearly every industry.
Learning sciences, a field focused on how people learn and how to design better educational experiences, has emerged as a surprise growth area. Nursing, meanwhile, has appeared on fastest-growing lists for years running and shows no signs of slowing down.
How Popular Majors Line Up With Pay
The most popular majors are not always the highest-paying ones. Engineering, which ranks sixth in total degrees, dominates the salary charts. Computer engineering graduates earn a median of $90,000 early in their careers (ages 22 to 27), followed by computer science at $87,000 and chemical engineering at $85,000. By mid-career (ages 35 to 45), chemical engineering reaches $135,000, computer engineering hits $131,000, and aerospace engineering comes in at $130,000.
Business majors land in the middle of the pay spectrum, but their earnings vary widely depending on specialization. Finance graduates start around $70,000 and reach a median of $112,000 by mid-career. Business analytics graduates follow a similar trajectory, starting at $72,000 and climbing to $109,000. Marketing majors can reach $100,000 by mid-career. General business or management degrees typically earn less than those more specialized tracks.
Nursing stands out as one of the few health professions fields where early-career pay is strong right out of the gate, with a median starting salary of $70,000. Economics graduates, who often fall under the social sciences umbrella, start at $72,000 and can reach $115,000 by mid-career, putting them on par with several engineering disciplines. Psychology and biology graduates, despite being among the most popular majors, generally earn less unless they pursue graduate school.
Where the Jobs Actually Are
Salary matters, but so does whether jobs exist when you graduate. The BLS projects annual job openings through 2034 for occupations requiring a bachelor’s degree, and the results largely favor popular majors.
General and operations managers top the list with roughly 308,700 projected openings per year, a role that pulls heavily from business graduates. Registered nurses come next at 189,100 openings. Accountants and auditors account for 124,200, and software developers for 115,200. Other high-volume roles include management analysts (98,100 openings), elementary school teachers (91,000), market research analysts (87,200), and human resources specialists (81,800).
The pattern is clear: business and health care graduates have the widest job market, while tech-oriented fields like software development offer strong demand with higher pay per opening. Students in social sciences and psychology face a thinner job market at the bachelor’s level, though graduate degrees in those fields open additional doors.
Associate Degrees Follow a Different Pattern
The picture shifts at two-year institutions. About one million associate degrees and another one million certificates are awarded each year, roughly matching the two million bachelor’s degrees combined. Health professions rank among the top-earning fields for associate degree holders, and engineering technology programs consistently produce some of the highest salaries at the two-year level.
Students earning associate degrees and certificates are more demographically diverse than their four-year counterparts. Among undergraduates, 56 percent of Black students and 62 percent of Latino students are enrolled in certificate or associate degree programs, compared to 47 percent of white students.
Pay can be surprisingly competitive. Workers with an associate degree in engineering typically earn median annual salaries in the $50,000 to $60,000 range, which exceeds what many bachelor’s degree holders in fields like education earn. Certificates in industrial technology and similar skilled trades can push median earnings even higher, sometimes past $65,000.
Choosing Between Popularity and Fit
A major’s popularity tells you something useful: it signals that institutions invest in those programs, that employers recognize the credential, and that you will have a large alumni network when you graduate. But popularity alone is a poor reason to choose a field of study. The gap between a finance major earning $112,000 at mid-career and a general business major earning significantly less shows how much specialization matters, even within the most popular category.
If earning potential is your priority, engineering and computer science offer the clearest path to high starting salaries with strong growth projections. If job availability matters most, business and health care cast the widest net. And if you are drawn to a field like psychology or biology, going in with a plan for graduate school or a specific career track will help you avoid the earnings plateau that many bachelor’s-level graduates in those fields experience.