Business Degree Guide

A business degree can open doors to many exciting, high-paying careers in commerce, technology, manufacturing, finance, and other industries. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), business is the most popular major for undergraduates.

As one of the most versatile majors, a business degree can prepare you to work in fast-growing industries like marketing, information technology, and financial services. Business graduates often enjoy above-average salaries and strong job growth, and many schools have expanded to offer online degrees in business.

This guide explores business degrees at every level and their various concentrations. Explore professional pathways for graduates of business programs, including data on earning potential.

A business degree is a broad academic program that can prepare you for a career in finance, marketing, entrepreneurship, human resources, or another business area. You can earn a business degree at any level, from a two-year associate’s degree to a research-based doctorate.

There are many different types of business degrees offered at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. These may be offered as concentrations, minors, or separate majors entirely. Some of the most common business degree concentrations include human resources, marketing, finance, and management.

Yes — you can find online business degrees at the associate, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral levels. The rigor of these programs may increase at each level, but so can your earning potential.

Business degrees vary range from two-year programs that prepare you for an entry-level role to Ph.D.s in business that can help you secure a leadership, teaching, or research position.

Choose a business concentration where you feel satisfied, engaged, and well compensated for your skills and experience. If you’re unsure which area to focus on, talk to a mentor, professor, or career counselor about how to select the right path for your future.

Accounting concentrations develop skills like budgeting, analyzing financial records, business taxation, and auditing. An accounting-focused degree can prepare you to help organizations navigate economic conditions and make better financial decisions.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), accounting professionals made a median annual salary of $81,680 as of May 2024.

A concentration in data analytics can prepare you to draw insights from various information sets, which can improve business decisions and your understanding of market conditions.

A specialization in this field may cover data analytics technology, marketing, and market research analysis. The median annual salary for market research analysts was $76,950 as of May 2024, according to the BLS.

In an economics concentration, you’ll gain an understanding of financial markets and corporate finance. You may encounter this subject as a concentration or a standalone economics program.

This discipline can teach you about consumer behaviors and how businesses can maneuver through the global marketplace. Economists earn a median annual salary of $115,440 as of May 2024, though they may need advanced education beyond a bachelor’s degree.

Entrepreneurship concentrations can prepare you to launch and manage your own business venture. You can learn to develop and commercialize ideas and innovations, handle early venture financing, and create business models.

Entrepreneurship programs can lead to many business careers, including management analyst, who earned a median annual salary of $101,190 in May 2024.

In a finance concentration, you can learn to analyze an organization’s finances, spot investment opportunities, identify risk, and improve financial decisions. Coursework fosters skills in capital budgeting, investment analysis, and business valuation and forecasting.

Finance degrees can prepare you to pursue many finance- and leadership-related positions, including financial manager. As of May 2024, these professionals earned a median annual salary of $161,700.

Hospitality and tourism management concentrations focus on lodging operations, international tourism, and destination marketing.

You can explore unique management challenges in the hospitality and service industry and ways to approach these issues. Lodging management roles earned a median annual salary of $68,130 as of May 2024.

If you specialize in human resources, you can learn to manage people and help connect management professionals to their employees.

You might study subjects like recruitment, compensation and benefits management, and employee and labor relations in these concentrations. Data from the BLS indicates that human resources specialists earned a median annual salary of $72,910 as of May 2024.

An international business concentration examines standard business topics in global contexts. For example, you might examine how foreign language, culture, and policy shape finance, marketing, and consumer behavior.

International business specializations can lead to many business roles in international organizations, such as an operations research analyst. These professionals earned a median annual salary of $91,290 as of May 2024.

A management concentration in a business administration program develops leadership skills across various sectors. Your studies may cover business ethics and analysis, organizational behavior, operations management, and strategic management.

A business management degree can lead to most careers in management, a field that reported a median annual salary of $122,090 in May 2024.

Marketing concentrations delve into advertising planning and development strategies in greater depth than general business programs.

You can learn to research and capitalize on market and consumer data and opportunities in this concentration. Marketing and advertising managers earned a median annual salary of $156,660 as of May 2024.

You can study the latest leadership theory and practice developments in an organizational leadership specialization.

This discipline explores the best methods for building and motivating a cohesive team while managing conflict resolution. This specialization can prepare you to pursue a career in training and development, among other business roles. Top executives were reported to earn a median annual salary of $105,350 in May 2024.

Supply chain and logistics concentrations explore ways organizations can improve the procurement and delivery of goods and services.

Supply chain management studies can cover sourcing, inventory management, forecasting, and sustainability. Logisticians earned a median annual salary of $80,880 as of May 2024.

Business is a popular degree, and many online business schools are competing for your enrollment. Make sure to choose the right program for you, one that offers strong student outcomes and affordable tuition.

Your college or university should hold institutional accreditation with an accrediting body, such as the Higher Learning Commission or the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. Institutional accreditation gives you access to financial aid resources and makes your degree much more valuable after graduation.

While programmatic accreditation is not vital, it can signal that your university has invested in its business program. Agencies that oversee business programs specifically include:

Business degrees can provide a general business education, but most also offer concentration options in areas such as entrepreneurship, finance, human resources, accounting, or international business.

Not every school offers every concentration, so look for universities that offer a series of courses in your specific field of interest.

Public community colleges are usually required to admit every applicant with a high school diploma or GED certificate, but other schools are more selective — sometimes, much more selective. You may need a minimum GPA, a college-track high school curriculum, or a professional background in business for admission. Common application requirements include:

A business degree can provide the foundation for many diverse career paths across virtually all industries. For example, you can pursue work as a management consultant, a marketing manager, or an entrepreneur in industries like healthcare, manufacturing, and technology development.

The table below includes 10 career paths you could pursue with a business degree.

In business, the more education you have, the more money you can earn. Attaining an MBA or other master’s degree in business can position you for leadership positions that put you into a different payscale entirely.

The cost of a business degree depends on several factors, including where you live, the prestige of your school, and whether it’s public or private. Universities with national or international reputations typically charge more than schools with less brand recognition, and public institutions are usually cheaper than private schools.

For the 2022-2023 academic year, NCES reported that public four-year in-state schools had an average sticker price of $9,596 for tuition and fees, public out-of-state institutions quoted an average of $28,297, and private nonprofit schools averaged $35,248. NCES’s most recent postsecondary student aid report provides even greater insight into the cost of business programs by degree level.