New Jersey·Community and Social Service Occupations·SOC 21-1091

Best Health Education Specialist programs in New Jersey, ranked by enrollment

Provide and manage health education programs that help individuals, families, and their communities maximize and maintain healthy lifestyles.

17 schools in New Jersey run programs that feed this job, graduating 813 people a year. The job pays a median of $73,740 in New Jersey across about 1,420 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledHealth EducatorClinical InstructorPublic Health EducatorHealth Education SpecialistEducatorInstructorHealth CoachFitness Coach
Graduates / yr
813
in New Jersey
Median pay · New Jersey
$73,740
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
1,420
people employed
Schools
17
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
54%
across those schools
Median net price
$23,094
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in New Jersey that lead to this job

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

6 programs in New Jersey that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in New Jersey (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 New Jersey page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1712
87.6%
14$36,762$25,076
245
5.5%
2$34,545$25,000
326
3.2%
2$36,762$25,076
416
2.0%
1$37,335$22,861
513
1.6%
2$39,658$24,500
61
0.1%
1$36,762$25,076

Top 17 schools in New Jersey

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 4 of the 17 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Rutgers University - New Brunswick
New Brunswick, NJ Public · 2 feeder programs
485Public Health, General$45,40884%58%
2Montclair State University
Montclair, NJ Public · 1 feeder programs
98Public Health, General$34,03265%88%
3The College of New Jersey
Ewing, NJ Public · 1 feeder programs
61Public Health, General86%62%
4William Paterson University of New Jersey
Wayne, NJ Public · 3 feeder programs
48Public Health, General44%90%
5Rowan University
Glassboro, NJ Public · 3 feeder programs
47Health and Wellness, General$27,58467%78%
6Caldwell University
Caldwell, NJ Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
21Public Health Education and Promotion57%$21,90271%
7Middlesex College
Edison, NJ Public · 1 feeder programs
10Public Health, General33%
8County College of Morris
Randolph, NJ Public · 1 feeder programs
8Public Health, General36%
9Mercer County Community College
West Windsor, NJ Public · 1 feeder programs
6Public Health, General25%
10Passaic County Community College
Paterson, NJ Public · 1 feeder programs
6Public Health, General19%
11Drew University
Madison, NJ Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
5Public Health Education and Promotion70%$23,09468%
12Fairleigh Dickinson University - Florham Campus
Madison, NJ Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
5Public Health, General67%$23,57395%
13Stockton University
Galloway, NJ Public · 1 feeder programs
5Public Health, General$44,42369%89%
14Brookdale Community College
Lincroft, NJ Public · 1 feeder programs
3Public Health, General30%
15Fairleigh Dickinson University - Metropolitan Campus
Teaneck, NJ Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
2Public Health, General53%$18,05991%
16Rider University
Lawrenceville, NJ Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
2Public Health, General61%$23,84479%
17Centenary University
Hackettstown, NJ Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
1Public Health, General56%$17,49083%

All 17 schools in New Jersey

Every school in New Jersey 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 New Jersey that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Rutgers University - New BrunswickNew BrunswickPublic4852
Montclair State UniversityMontclairPublic981
The College of New JerseyEwingPublic611
William Paterson University of New JerseyWaynePublic483
Rowan UniversityGlassboroPublic473
Caldwell UniversityCaldwellPrivate not-for-profit211
Middlesex CollegeEdisonPublic101
County College of MorrisRandolphPublic81
Mercer County Community CollegeWest WindsorPublic61
Passaic County Community CollegePatersonPublic61
Drew UniversityMadisonPrivate not-for-profit51
Fairleigh Dickinson University - Florham CampusMadisonPrivate not-for-profit51
Stockton UniversityGallowayPublic51
Brookdale Community CollegeLincroftPublic31
Fairleigh Dickinson University - Metropolitan CampusTeaneckPrivate not-for-profit21

What health education specialists earn in New Jersey

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

Median annual in New Jersey
$73,740
Mean annual
$84,800
Jobs in state
1,420
What the range looks like
10th pct$46,250Median$73,74090th pct$130,100
Versus the national median
+15.1%

U.S. median $64,070. New Jersey pays above the national figure.

Job concentration
0.78×

1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.

Metro areas in New Jersey

Trenton-Princeton, NJ
$102,680median
60 jobs
Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ
$66,750median
50 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+4.5%
About as fast as average
Openings per year
7,900
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
3,200
71,800 → 75,000
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 Health Education Specialists page.

How to become a Health Education Specialist

Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree

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

SpeakingActive ListeningWritingLearning StrategiesActive LearningReading Comprehension

The same job in other states

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

Related careers in New Jersey

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 9 majors mapped to Health Education Specialists9 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 09.0905Health Communication
  • 51.0001Health and Wellness, General
  • 51.0504Dental Public Health and Education
  • 51.1504Community Health Services/Liaison/Counseling
  • 51.2201Public Health, General
  • 51.2207Public Health Education and Promotion
  • 51.2209Maternal and Child Health
  • 51.2210International Public Health/International Health
  • 51.2212Behavioral Aspects of Health

Common questions

Answers for people weighing health education specialists programs in New Jersey.

What degree do you need to become a Health Education Specialist?+

Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Public Health, General, which awarded 712 degrees in New Jersey in 2024-25, 87.6% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Health Education Specialist?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 6 programs to this occupation. The largest are Public Health, Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences, Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions, Public Relations. Together they graduate about 813 people a year in New Jersey.

How much do health education specialists earn in New Jersey?+

The median is $73,740 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 15.1% above the U.S. median of $64,070. 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 health education specialists growing?+

BLS projects a +4.5% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 7,900 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in New Jersey?+

17 institutions in New Jersey reported graduates from at least one of the 6 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 health education specialists work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Health Educator, Clinical Instructor, Public Health Educator, Health Education Specialist among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 21-1091.

Health Education Specialists in other statesCaliforniaTexasNew YorkUtahIndianaNorth CarolinaFloridaArizona

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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