Majors guide
College majors: what you study, what you earn, where you work
Picking a major is the single biggest decision in college search. Each guide below explains the coursework, the typical careers (with starting-salary ranges from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics), and the related majors students often pair or substitute. Then click through to find U.S. colleges that offer the program in your state.
STEM & Engineering
Computer Science, Cybersecurity, Data Science, IT, Engineering, high-demand technical majors.
Computer Science
Computer Science combines the mathematical foundations of computation with practical software engineering, preparing graduates for careers in software, AI/ML, security, data, and research.
Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity prepares graduates to defend networks, systems, and data, combining computing fundamentals with offensive and defensive security techniques and the policy frameworks that govern them.
Information Technology
Information Technology (IT) focuses on applying computing systems to organizational needs, administering networks, supporting users, building business systems, and managing IT operations.
Data Science
Data Science combines statistics, programming, and domain expertise to turn raw data into decisions, drawing on machine learning, visualization, and data engineering.
Engineering
Engineering majors apply math, physics, and design to build the physical and digital systems that power society, from bridges and chips to medical devices and aircraft.
Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical Engineering applies physics, materials, and design to machines and mechanical systems, suiting students who want to build, analyze, and test physical hardware.
Civil Engineering
Civil Engineering applies physics, mechanics, and design to the built environment, roads, bridges, water systems, and buildings, suiting students who want to plan and build public infrastructure.
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering applies physics and math to circuits, power, and electronics, suiting students who want to design the hardware and systems behind modern technology.
Architecture
Architecture combines design, structural reasoning, and building systems to plan habitable spaces, suiting students who pair creative drawing with technical problem-solving.
Computer Engineering
Computer Engineering blends electrical engineering and computer science to design the hardware and embedded systems that run modern devices, suiting students who enjoy both circuits and code.
Aerospace Engineering
Aerospace Engineering applies aerodynamics, propulsion, structures, and control systems to the design of aircraft and spacecraft, suiting students drawn to flight and space vehicles.
Chemical Engineering
Chemical Engineering applies chemistry, physics, and math to design large-scale processes that turn raw materials into fuels, medicines, and materials, for students who like lab science and design.
Biomedical Engineering
Biomedical Engineering applies engineering to medicine and biology, designing medical devices, imaging systems, and biomaterials, for students who want to improve healthcare through technology.
Industrial Engineering
Industrial Engineering applies math, statistics, and systems thinking to make operations more efficient, suiting students who like optimizing how people, machines, and materials work together.
Information Systems
Information Systems bridges business and technology, teaching students to design, analyze, and manage the systems organizations run on, suiting those drawn to both computing and how companies operate.
Software Engineering
Software engineering is the team discipline of designing, building, testing, and maintaining reliable software, suiting students who want to turn working code into dependable products.
Environmental Engineering
Environmental engineering applies chemistry and design to keep water, air, and soil clean, for students who want to build systems that control pollution and protect public health.
Materials Engineering
Materials engineering applies chemistry, physics, and engineering to choose, modify, and test metals, ceramics, polymers, and composites for real products.
Petroleum Engineering
Petroleum engineering applies math, geology, and fluid mechanics to find and extract oil and gas, suiting students who want hands-on work where earth science meets engineering design.
Agricultural Engineering
Agricultural engineering applies engineering design to farming and food systems, fitting students who want to build the machinery, water systems, and facilities behind food, feed, and fiber.
Nuclear Engineering
Nuclear Engineering applies physics and math to harness reactions inside the atom for power and other uses, fitting students drawn to reactors, radiation, and safety systems.
Marine Engineering
Marine engineering, the federal field of naval architecture and marine engineering, covers the design, construction, and testing of ships and offshore structures for students drawn to how vessels float, move, and endure at sea.
Landscape Architecture
Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor spaces, parks, campuses, streetscapes, and natural systems, for students who want to blend site design with ecology and the way people use land.
Systems Engineering
Systems engineering teaches you to design and integrate the parts of a complex system into one working whole, a fit for people who like connecting hardware, software, and human needs.
Mining Engineering
Mining engineering applies math, geology, and engineering to extract minerals from the earth safely and economically, turning ore deposits into working mines.
Biotechnology
Biotechnology applies biology, biochemistry, and genetics to engineer useful products like medicines, crops, and industrial enzymes, suiting students who want lab science aimed at real-world manufacturing.
Web Development
Web Development is the major for building websites and browser-based applications, where you write the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript that turn designs and content into working pages.
Network Administration
Network Administration trains you to keep an organization's networks and servers running securely, connecting users to systems and data day to day.
Aviation
Aviation trains students to fly and navigate fixed-wing aircraft, building the cockpit skills and federal certifications needed to work as professional pilots and flight crew.
Computer Programming
Computer Programming teaches you to write, test, and maintain the code that runs software and systems, suiting students who want hands-on, build-it work over abstract theory.
Database Management
Database Management teaches you to design, build, and protect the systems that store an organization's data, a fit for people who like structure, logic, and dependable information.
Business
Business Administration, Accounting, Finance, Marketing, the most-awarded U.S. major family.
Business Administration
Business Administration is the most popular U.S. major, a broad foundation in accounting, finance, marketing, management, and economics that prepares graduates for nearly any industry.
Accounting
Accounting prepares graduates for the CPA exam and careers in public accounting, corporate finance, audit, tax, and forensic accounting, a major with high job placement.
Finance
Finance majors learn how money moves, corporate finance, investments, financial markets, and risk management, preparing for roles in banking, investments, and corporate analysis.
Marketing
Marketing majors learn how to identify, reach, and convert customers, combining strategy, consumer behavior, digital channels, brand management, and analytics.
Supply Chain Management
Supply Chain Management studies how goods, information, and money move from suppliers to customers, suiting students who like logistics, data, and operations.
Human Resource Management
Human Resource Management studies how organizations hire, develop, pay, and retain people, a business major suited to students who want to work at the intersection of people and operations.
Actuarial Science
Actuarial Science applies probability, statistics, and finance to measure and price risk, suiting students who enjoy heavy math and want to work toward professional actuarial exams.
Construction Management
Construction Management blends building science, project planning, and business to prepare graduates to plan, budget, and oversee construction projects from groundbreaking to handover.
Hospitality Management
Hospitality Management combines business fundamentals with the operation of hotels, restaurants, events, and tourism, suiting students who want to run guest-facing service businesses.
Real Estate
Real Estate covers property markets, valuation, finance, development, and law, preparing graduates to broker, manage, finance, develop, and appraise residential and commercial property.
Business Analytics
Business analytics teaches you to turn raw business data into decisions, blending statistics, programming, and management judgment to answer real organizational questions.
Operations Management
Operations management trains you to run the day-to-day production and delivery work of a company, planning output, controlling quality, and keeping plants and processes efficient.
International Business
International business prepares students to help companies operate across national borders, blending management, trade, finance, and cross-cultural skills for careers in global commerce.
Sports Management
Sports Management applies business and operations skills to the world of athletics, preparing students to run teams, venues, events, and recreation and fitness programs.
Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship teaches you to start, finance, and run your own venture, suiting people who want to turn an idea into a working business and manage it day to day.
Fashion Merchandising
Fashion Merchandising is the business-of-fashion major focused on buying, promoting, and selling apparel and brands, for students drawn to retail and product strategy rather than design.
Insurance
Insurance is a business major focused on measuring and pricing risk, teaching students to underwrite coverage, settle claims, and protect organizations from financial loss.
Agribusiness
Agribusiness pairs farming and agricultural science with business management, preparing students to run the operations, finances, and markets that move food and crops from field to buyer.
Financial Planning
Financial planning teaches you to help individuals and families set and reach money goals across investing, taxes, insurance, retirement, and estate planning; it suits people who like advising others.
Health & Nursing
Nursing, Health Sciences, and pre-professional pathways into medicine, PA, dentistry, and pharmacy.
Nursing
Nursing prepares graduates for the NCLEX-RN licensure exam and careers as Registered Nurses, combining biomedical sciences with clinical rotations across hospital units.
Health Sciences
Health Sciences is a broad pre-professional major for students preparing for medical, dental, PA, PT, or pharmacy school, combining biology, chemistry, and patient-care exposure.
Public Health
Public Health studies how to prevent disease and protect population health, suiting students who want to improve community well-being through data, policy, and programs rather than treating patients.
Healthcare Administration
Healthcare Administration prepares graduates to manage the business side of hospitals, clinics, and health systems, combining health-policy knowledge with management, finance, and operations.
Nutrition and Dietetics
Nutrition and Dietetics studies how food and nutrients affect health, preparing graduates to assess diets and plan medical nutrition therapy in clinical, community, and food-service settings.
Kinesiology
Kinesiology studies human movement and exercise science, suiting students who want to work in fitness, rehabilitation, athletic training, or healthcare rather than treating disease.
Athletic Training
Athletic Training prepares students to prevent, evaluate, and rehabilitate injuries in physically active people, suiting those who want a hands-on clinical role in sports and orthopedic care.
Speech-Language Pathology
Speech-Language Pathology studies how people produce speech, language, voice, and swallowing, suiting students who want to assess and treat communication and swallowing disorders across the lifespan.
Occupational Therapy
Occupational therapy prepares you to help people regain everyday skills after injury, illness, or disability so they can take part in the daily activities that matter to them.
Physical Therapy
Physical therapy trains you to evaluate why movement breaks down after injury or illness and to restore function through hands-on treatment and guided exercise.
Respiratory Therapy
Respiratory Therapy trains you to assess and treat patients with breathing and cardiopulmonary problems, suiting hands-on students drawn to bedside clinical care.
Radiologic Technology
Radiologic Technology trains you to operate X-ray and imaging equipment and position patients to capture the diagnostic pictures physicians use to find disease and injury.
Health Informatics
Health informatics is the study of capturing, storing, and analyzing clinical data so care teams can make better-informed decisions at the point of care.
Veterinary Technology
Veterinary Technology trains the clinical support staff who assist veterinarians with animal nursing, lab work, anesthesia, and imaging, suited to people who want hands-on patient care.
Dental Hygiene
Dental Hygiene is a clinical health major that trains you to clean teeth, screen for oral disease, and coach patients on prevention through hands-on care.
Medical Laboratory Science
Medical Laboratory Science trains you to perform and interpret the diagnostic tests doctors rely on, a detail-focused, hands-on science career behind the scenes of patient care.
Paramedicine
Paramedicine trains students to deliver advanced emergency medical care outside the hospital, suiting people who stay calm in crises and want hands-on prehospital work.
Exercise Science
Exercise science studies how the body moves and adapts to physical activity, preparing students for clinical, rehabilitation, and athletic-performance careers.
Physician Assistant Studies
Physician Assistant Studies trains clinicians to diagnose illness, order tests, and prescribe treatment as part of a physician-led care team, a graduate, generalist path into medicine.
Epidemiology
Epidemiology studies how disease, injury, and health outcomes spread through populations, suiting analytically minded students who want to investigate causes and shape prevention.
Pharmacy
Pharmacy trains you to prepare, dispense, and manage medications safely, advising patients and prescribers on drug use, dosing, and side effects.
Surgical Technology
Surgical Technology trains you to set up the operating room, prepare sterile instruments, and assist the surgical team during procedures, hands-on, detail-focused OR work.
Diagnostic Medical Sonography
Diagnostic Medical Sonography trains you to operate ultrasound equipment and capture images of organs, vessels, and tissue that physicians use to diagnose and monitor conditions.
Dental Assisting
Dental Assisting is an allied-health program that trains you to support dentists chairside, take dental x-rays, sterilize instruments, and run the front office of a practice.
Occupational Health and Safety
Occupational health and safety trains you to spot, measure, and reduce workplace hazards, suiting students who want to keep workers safe and employers compliant.
Physical Therapist Assistant
Physical Therapist Assistant is a hands-on health-care major that trains you to deliver physical therapy treatments under a licensed therapist's direction.
Occupational Therapy Assistant
Occupational therapy assistants carry out therapy plans set by a supervising therapist, helping patients regain everyday skills, a hands-on patient-care path without the graduate degree.
Nuclear Medicine Technology
Nuclear Medicine Technology trains you to administer small amounts of radioactive material and image how it moves through the body, for people drawn to hands-on imaging and patient care.
Cardiovascular Technology
Cardiovascular Technology trains people to image and test the heart and blood vessels at a physician's request, blending bedside patient care with hands-on procedural skill.
Medical Assisting
Medical Assisting prepares you for both the clinical and front-office sides of a physician's practice through a short, hands-on healthcare credential.
Massage Therapy
Massage Therapy trains you in hands-on techniques to manipulate muscles and soft tissue, for people who want a practical, touch-based path in wellness and clinical care.
Social Sciences
Psychology, Sociology, Political Science, Economics, the foundation for law, policy, and human-services careers.
Psychology
Psychology majors study human cognition, behavior, and emotion, preparing graduates for clinical, research, business, and human-services careers (and graduate school in clinical, counseling, and I/O psych).
Sociology
Sociology studies social institutions, group behavior, inequality, and culture, preparing graduates for research, policy, social services, and graduate school in law or social work.
Political Science
Political Science studies governments, political behavior, and policy, preparing graduates for law school, public service, journalism, and policy research.
Economics
Economics studies how individuals, firms, and governments allocate resources, combining theory with empirical analysis and a strong mathematical foundation.
Urban Planning
Urban Planning studies how communities use land, housing, and transportation, suiting students who want to shape physical and policy decisions about where people live and move.
Anthropology
Anthropology studies humanity across cultures, languages, and time, suiting students drawn to fieldwork, qualitative research, and questions about how human societies live and change.
Geography
Geography studies the spatial patterns of physical environments and human activity, suiting students who want to combine fieldwork, mapping, and data analysis to understand places.
International Relations
International Relations studies how countries, institutions, and global actors interact through politics, law, and diplomacy, for students drawn to world affairs and policy.
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of how language is structured, learned, and used, for students drawn to patterns in sound, meaning, and grammar.
Public Policy
Public Policy teaches you to analyze how governments decide, weighing economic and political tradeoffs to design and evaluate programs that address real public problems.
Criminology
Criminology applies social science to understand why crime happens, how offenders behave, and how laws, courts, and corrections respond, suiting students drawn to research and policy.
Geographic Information Science
Geographic Information Science teaches you to map, model, and analyze location data, at the intersection of geography, computing, and visual problem-solving.
Archaeology
Archaeology is the study of past human societies through the material remains they left behind, suited to students who like excavation, fieldwork, and reconstructing how people once lived.
Public service & law
Social Work, Public Administration, Criminal Justice, Pre-Law, careers oriented around the public good.
Social Work
Social Work prepares graduates for licensed direct practice with individuals, families, and communities, combining behavioral sciences with field placements and an explicit ethical framework.
Criminal Justice
Criminal Justice studies the institutions and practices of policing, courts, and corrections, preparing graduates for law enforcement, probation, corrections, and law school.
Public Administration
Public Administration trains graduates for careers in government, nonprofits, and public-private partnerships, combining policy analysis with management practice.
Pre-Law
Pre-Law isn't a major itself but a track, students major in any field while taking the courses, building the GPA, and earning the LSAT score for law school admission.
Paralegal Studies
Paralegal Studies trains graduates to support attorneys with legal research, drafting, and case management, suiting detail-oriented students drawn to law without attending law school.
Emergency Management
Emergency management teaches you to plan for, respond to, and recover from disasters using the incident command system, fitting people drawn to public safety and coordinated crisis work.
Fire Science
Fire Science teaches how fires ignite, spread, and are suppressed, along with prevention, investigation, and codes, fitting students headed toward firefighting and fire safety roles.
Education
K–12 teaching pathways with state licensure built in.
Education
Education prepares graduates for state-licensed teaching careers in public and private K–12 schools, combining content-area study with pedagogy and supervised student-teaching.
Early Childhood Education
Early Childhood Education prepares you to teach and care for children from infancy through the early primary grades, focusing on play-based learning and developmental milestones.
Special Education
Special Education prepares you to teach students with disabilities and diverse learning needs, designing individualized instruction and support across grade levels and settings.
Secondary Education
Secondary Education prepares you to teach a subject to middle- and high-school students, blending content mastery with classroom instruction methods, and suits people who want to teach teens rather than young children.
Elementary Education
Elementary Education prepares you to teach all core subjects to children in the elementary grades, building skills in reading, math, science, and child development.
Instructional Design
Instructional Design is the craft of planning, building, and evaluating courses and digital learning materials, a fit for people who like turning complex content into clear lessons.
Arts & humanities
Communications, English, History, flexible majors that build communication and analysis skills.
Communications
Communications studies how messages move through media, combining writing, public speaking, and media analysis with hands-on training in PR, journalism, broadcasting, or strategic communication.
English & Literature
English develops critical reading, analytical writing, and rhetorical skill, a flexible major that feeds into law, publishing, education, marketing, and any field that values communication.
History
History trains graduates in research, evidence, and argument, feeding into law, education, museums, government, and any field that values long-form analytical writing.
Journalism
Journalism teaches students to report, write, and verify news across print, broadcast, and digital media, suiting people drawn to research, storytelling, and the public interest.
Graphic Design
Graphic Design teaches students to communicate ideas visually through typography, layout, and imagery, suiting people who want to combine creativity with craft across print and digital media.
Interior Design
Interior Design combines spatial planning, materials, and building codes with studio drawing and CAD, preparing graduates to design functional, safe interiors for homes, offices, and public spaces.
Fashion Design
Fashion Design teaches the craft of conceiving and constructing apparel and accessories, suited to students who pair visual creativity with hands-on technical and production skills.
Music
Music combines performance, theory, and history with applied study on a primary instrument or voice, suiting students who want formal training in composing, performing, or teaching music.
Film Production
Film Production teaches the craft of making moving images, from screenwriting and directing to cinematography, editing, and sound, for students who want hands-on, collaborative creative work.
Photography
Photography combines technical camera and lighting craft with visual storytelling and post-production, suited to students who want to build a portfolio across editorial, commercial, or fine-art work.
Public Relations
Public Relations trains students to shape an organization's reputation through media relations, messaging, and crisis communication, suiting strong writers who like persuasion and strategy.
Animation
Animation is a creative-technical major that teaches you to bring characters, objects, and effects to life through computer imagery, suited to artists who think in motion and detail.
Digital Media
Digital Media is a hands-on field where students design, produce, and manage content for screens and networks, blending visual creativity with technical and storytelling skills.
Game Design
Game Design teaches you to plan and build playable interactive media, making it a fit for people who pair creative storytelling with systems thinking.
Creative Writing
Creative Writing is a craft-focused major where you produce original fiction, poetry, and other literary work in workshops, suited to writers who want to build a publishable body of work.
Theater Arts
Theater Arts trains students to stage live dramatic productions through acting, directing, and design, fitting people who want to bring stories to life in front of an audience.
Culinary Arts
Culinary Arts trains you to cook professionally and run a working kitchen, blending hands-on technique with menu planning, food safety, and cost control.
Art History
Art History studies how art was made, used, and understood across cultures and eras, suiting students who pair close visual analysis with research and writing.
Industrial Design
Industrial design teaches you to shape the form, function, and feel of manufactured products people use every day, blending artistic skill with engineering and manufacturing reality.
Studio Art
Studio Art is a hands-on visual-arts major where you make original work across media like drawing, painting, sculpture, and photography, suited to students who learn by creating.
Dance
Dance is the study and practice of moving the body as an expressive art form, suited to students who want to perform, choreograph, or teach across styles like ballet, modern, and jazz.
Religious Studies
Religious Studies examines the world's religious traditions, texts, and practices through history, philosophy, and social science, suiting students drawn to belief, culture, and ethics.
Natural sciences
Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, Environmental Science, research-foundation majors.
Biology
Biology is the foundational pre-health major, covering molecular, cellular, organismal, and ecological levels of living systems.
Chemistry
Chemistry studies matter and its transformations, preparing graduates for pharmaceutical, materials, energy, environmental, and biotech careers, plus medical and graduate school.
Physics
Physics studies the fundamental laws of matter, energy, and motion, a foundational major for engineering, computing, finance, and graduate research.
Mathematics
Mathematics develops formal proof, abstraction, and quantitative analysis, feeding into research, finance, computing, actuarial science, and graduate programs across STEM.
Environmental Science
Environmental Science combines biology, chemistry, geology, and policy to address climate, conservation, water, and pollution challenges.
Statistics
Statistics covers the mathematics of collecting, modeling, and drawing conclusions from data, a quantitative major suited to students who like reasoning under uncertainty.
Geology
Geology studies the Earth's materials, structure, and history, suiting students drawn to fieldwork, lab analysis, and questions about natural resources, hazards, and deep time.
Astronomy
Astronomy studies the physics of planets, stars, galaxies, and the universe, suiting students who pair strong math and physics with observational and computational analysis.
Microbiology
Microbiology studies microorganisms, bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites, suiting students aiming for lab research, biotech, public health, and clinical or pharmaceutical work.
Biochemistry
Biochemistry studies the chemistry of living systems, bridging biology and chemistry for students aiming at research, biotech, pharmaceutical, or medical and graduate pathways.
Forestry
Forestry combines biology, ecology, and resource management to steward forests and woodlands. It suits students who want science-based, hands-on work managing land and natural resources.
Forensic Science
Forensic Science applies biology, chemistry, and laboratory methods to physical evidence, suiting students who want to support criminal and legal investigations through scientific analysis.
Applied Mathematics
Applied mathematics uses modeling, analysis, and computation to solve concrete problems in engineering, science, and industry, suiting students who like math aimed at real-world questions.
Neuroscience
Neuroscience studies how the brain and nervous system work at the molecular, cellular, and behavioral levels, suiting students drawn to lab research and questions about the mind.
Genetics
Genetics studies how heritable information is stored, regulated, and passed between generations, suiting students drawn to lab science, molecular detail, and how traits arise.
Agricultural Science
Agricultural Science studies how crops, livestock, and soils are produced and improved, for students who want to apply biology and chemistry to farming and food systems.
Marine Biology
Marine biology applies the life sciences to organisms in oceans, coastal waters, and estuaries, suiting students drawn to fieldwork, lab research, and ocean ecosystems.
Meteorology
Meteorology applies physics, chemistry, and math to the atmosphere to explain and forecast weather and climate, suiting students who like quantitative science with real-world stakes.
Zoology
Zoology is the biology major centered on animals, how their bodies are built, how they function, how they behave, and how they fit into the natural world.
Oceanography
Oceanography studies the chemistry, physics, and motion of ocean water, suiting students drawn to fieldwork, lab analysis, and how the sea, atmosphere, and coastlines interact.
Geophysics
Geophysics applies physics and math to probe the Earth's interior, suiting students who like physical science but want to measure and model the planet itself.
Food Science
Food science applies chemistry, biology, and physics to how food is processed, preserved, and kept safe, suiting students who like lab work and want food to be their subject.