Indiana·Business and Financial Operations Occupations·SOC 13-1075

Best Labor Relations Specialist programs in Indiana, ranked by enrollment

Resolve disputes between workers and managers, negotiate collective bargaining agreements, or coordinate grievance procedures to handle employee.

14 schools in Indiana run programs that feed this job, graduating 566 people a year. The job pays a median of $77,190 in Indiana across about 2,600 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledBusiness AgentLabor SpecialistBusiness RepresentativeLabor Relations SpecialistConciliatorUnion StewardLabor MediatorLabor Organizer
Graduates / yr
566
in Indiana
Median pay · Indiana
$77,190
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
2,600
people employed
Schools
14
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
47%
across those schools
Median net price
$20,661
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Indiana that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

2 programs in Indiana that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Indiana (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Indiana page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 52.1001In Indiana
558
98.6%
12$49,084$26,536
2
CIP 52.1004In Indiana
8
1.4%
3$49,084$26,536

Top 14 schools in Indiana

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 7 of the 14 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Ivy Tech Community College
Indianapolis, IN Public · 1 feeder programs
155Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General$41,23740%
2Purdue University Global
West Lafayette, IN Public · 1 feeder programs
155Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General$50,81050%
3Purdue University - Main Campus
West Lafayette, IN Public · 1 feeder programs
80Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General83%50%
4Indiana Wesleyan University - National & Global
Marion, IN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
55Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General$56,75235%$18,316
5Indiana State University
Terre Haute, IN Public · 1 feeder programs
32Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General$38,29643%81%
6Indiana Institute of Technology - College of Professional Studies
Fort Wayne, IN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
25Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General28%$19,930
7Indiana University - Indianapolis
Indianapolis, IN Public · 2 feeder programs
22Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General$51,57054%76%
8Ball State University
Muncie, IN Public · 1 feeder programs
13Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General$47,45162%85%
9Purdue University Northwest
Hammond, IN Public · 1 feeder programs
10Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General$47,64043%72%
10Indiana Institute of Technology
Fort Wayne, IN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
9Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General48%$20,66170%
11University of Southern Indiana
Evansville, IN Public · 1 feeder programs
6Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General48%96%
12Indiana University - Northwest
Gary, IN Public · 1 feeder programs
2Labor Studies37%73%
13Indiana University - South Bend
South Bend, IN Public · 1 feeder programs
1Labor Studies40%84%
14Saint Mary - of - the - Woods College
Saint Mary of the Woods, IN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
1Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General47%$43,85772%

All 14 schools in Indiana

Every school in Indiana with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in Indiana that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Ivy Tech Community CollegeIndianapolisPublic1551
Purdue University GlobalWest LafayettePublic1551
Purdue University - Main CampusWest LafayettePublic801
Indiana Wesleyan University - National & GlobalMarionPrivate not-for-profit551
Indiana State UniversityTerre HautePublic321
Indiana Institute of Technology - College of Professional StudiesFort WaynePrivate not-for-profit251
Indiana University - IndianapolisIndianapolisPublic222
Ball State UniversityMunciePublic131
Purdue University NorthwestHammondPublic101
Indiana Institute of TechnologyFort WaynePrivate not-for-profit91
University of Southern IndianaEvansvillePublic61
Indiana University - NorthwestGaryPublic21
Indiana University - South BendSouth BendPublic11
Saint Mary - of - the - Woods CollegeSaint Mary of the WoodsPrivate not-for-profit11

What labor relations specialists earn in Indiana

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Indiana
$77,190
Mean annual
$74,700
Jobs in state
2,600
What the range looks like
10th pct$30,550Median$77,19090th pct$106,450
Versus the national median
-19.1%

U.S. median $95,420. Indiana pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
1.95×

Concentrated here: Indiana employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.

Metro areas in Indiana

Terre Haute, IN
$78,430median
70 jobs
Fort Wayne, IN
$77,380median
190 jobs
Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN
$79,050median
100 jobs
South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI
$75,810median
120 jobs
Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN
$76,980median
530 jobs
Evansville, IN
$73,300median
210 jobs
Columbus, IN
$38,920median
60 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
-0.1%
Little or no change
Openings per year
5,100
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
-100
65,400 → 65,400
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Labor Relations Specialists page.

How to become a Labor Relations Specialist

Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree
Work experience needed
Less than 5 years

Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.

Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.

Top skills

Active ListeningSpeakingReading ComprehensionCritical ThinkingWritingActive Learning

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Indiana

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 4 majors mapped to Labor Relations Specialists4 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 30.2801Dispute Resolution
  • 52.1001Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General
  • 52.1002Labor and Industrial Relations
  • 52.1004Labor Studies

Common questions

Answers for people weighing labor relations specialists programs in Indiana.

What degree do you need to become a Labor Relations Specialist?+

Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General, which awarded 558 degrees in Indiana in 2024-25, 98.6% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Labor Relations Specialist?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 2 programs to this occupation. The largest are Human Resources Management and Services. Together they graduate about 566 people a year in Indiana.

How much do labor relations specialists earn in Indiana?+

The median is $77,190 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 19.1% below the U.S. median of $95,420. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.

Is demand for labor relations specialists growing?+

BLS projects a -0.1% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 5,100 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Indiana?+

14 institutions in Indiana reported graduates from at least one of the 2 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

What other job titles do labor relations specialists work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Business Agent, Labor Specialist, Business Representative, Labor Relations Specialist among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 13-1075.

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

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