Best degree programs for Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants, ranked by enrollment
2 college programs and 467 schools train Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $76,590 median wage, 459,910 U.S. jobs. Federal data.
2 college programs at 467 schools train executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants, graduating 8,222 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Administrative Assistant and Secretarial Science, General. The job pays a median of $76,590 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants
Provide high-level administrative support by conducting research, preparing statistical reports, and handling information requests, as well as performing routine administrative functions such as preparing correspondence, receiving visitors, arranging conference calls, and scheduling meetings. May also train and supervise lower-level clerical staff.
Fields of study that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level, the tier our program pages are built on. Numbers are graduates per year.
2 degree programs that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are College Scorecard figures for people who finished the program, reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. That is a different measurement from the occupation-wide wages further down this page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 52.0401 | 7,104 | 86.4% | 413 | $25,993 | $9,500 |
| 2 | Executive Assistant/Executive Secretarymain feeder CIP 52.0402 | 1,118 | 13.6% | 69 | $25,993 | $9,500 |
Top 50 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
What executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants earn
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
Top-paying states
Top-paying metro areas
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Where the jobs are, state by state
Pick a state for in-state pay, the schools there, and the programs they run.
| State | Median pay | Jobs | Concentration | Schools | Graduates / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | $89,000 | 59,640 | 1.11× | 79 | 1,392 |
| Idaho | $60,200 | 1,180 | 0.46× | 5 | 1,386 |
| Texas | $71,990 | 34,520 | 0.83× | 34 | 672 |
| Alabama | $69,450 | 2,880 | 0.46× | 19 | 547 |
| Minnesota | $78,470 | 7,970 | 0.91× | 18 | 459 |
| Kentucky | $62,410 | 2,700 | 0.46× | 7 | 333 |
| Georgia | $68,290 | 14,560 | 1.01× | 21 | 331 |
| Louisiana | $53,240 | 9,270 | 1.62× | 8 | 320 |
| South Carolina | $60,890 | 3,880 | 0.57× | 11 | 271 |
| Wisconsin | $68,920 | 4,480 | 0.51× | 12 | 259 |
| Tennessee | $68,190 | 5,360 | 0.55× | 21 | 224 |
| Mississippi | $55,670 | 1,240 | 0.36× | 12 | 196 |
| Utah | $61,130 | 5,440 | 1.06× | 6 | 180 |
| Illinois | $74,390 | 14,900 | 0.83× | 23 | 141 |
| Oklahoma | $59,910 | 2,810 | 0.56× | 14 | 140 |
| Ohio | $69,600 | 10,940 | 0.67× | 10 | 131 |
| New York | $80,640 | 88,890 | 3.10× | 14 | 114 |
| Michigan | $66,840 | 9,030 | 0.69× | 12 | 87 |
| Indianalimited | $59,080 | 5,060 | 0.53× | 1 | 82 |
| Arkansas | $51,600 | 2,070 | 0.54× | 8 | 81 |
| Iowa | $62,340 | 4,150 | 0.90× | 11 | 76 |
| Kansas | $64,860 | 2,750 | 0.65× | 12 | 70 |
| Florida | $64,710 | 19,220 | 0.65× | 12 | 60 |
| Nebraskamoderate | $66,210 | 1,860 | 0.61× | 3 | 49 |
| Nevadalimited | $67,830 | 2,670 | 0.58× | 2 | 49 |
| Arizona | $70,770 | 6,490 | 0.68× | 9 | 45 |
| New Mexicomoderate | $73,890 | 2,800 | 1.09× | 4 | 45 |
| Pennsylvania | $75,270 | 12,910 | 0.72× | 8 | 45 |
| Washington | $79,250 | 11,560 | 1.10× | 9 | 45 |
| Oregonmoderate | $75,480 | 6,000 | 1.03× | 4 | 41 |
| Alaskamoderate | $66,210 | 1,320 | 1.37× | 3 | 28 |
| Coloradolimited | $65,850 | 10,340 | 1.22× | 1 | 28 |
| Missourimoderate | $60,320 | 8,500 | 0.98× | 3 | 24 |
| Massachusetts | $82,650 | 14,820 | 1.38× | 5 | 15 |
| Hawaiilimited | $80,710 | 1,440 | 0.77× | 2 | 14 |
| Connecticutlimited | $82,520 | 6,490 | 1.29× | 1 | 8 |
| Marylandmoderate | $78,540 | 13,960 | 1.71× | 3 | 7 |
| West Virginiamoderate | $63,820 | 860 | 0.41× | 3 | 6 |
| North Dakotamoderate | $61,270 | 540 | 0.42× | 3 | 5 |
| New Jerseymoderate | $89,520 | 11,690 | 0.92× | 3 | 4 |
| Wyominglimited | $52,210 | 560 | 0.67× | 2 | 4 |
| South Dakotalimited | $55,170 | 1,230 | 0.91× | 1 | 3 |
| Rhode Islandlimited | $77,820 | 950 | 0.64× | 1 | 1 |
| Virginialimited | $80,330 | 10,360 | 0.85× | 1 | 1 |
Skills and tools
From O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupational database. Importance is a 1 to 5 scale.
What they do day to day
- Manage and maintain executives' schedules.
- Make travel arrangements for executives.
- Prepare invoices, reports, memos, letters, financial statements, and other documents, using word processing, spreadsheet, database, or presentation software.
- Coordinate and direct office services, such as records, departmental finances, budget preparation, personnel issues, and housekeeping, to aid executives.
- Answer phone calls and direct calls to appropriate parties or take messages.
- Prepare responses to correspondence containing routine inquiries.
- Open, sort, and distribute incoming correspondence, including faxes and email.
- Greet visitors and determine whether they should be given access to specific individuals.
Skills
- Active Listening4.0
- Reading Comprehension4.0
- Speaking3.9
- Writing3.8
- Critical Thinking3.3
- Monitoring3.1
- Active Learning3.1
- Learning Strategies2.9
Knowledge areas
- Administrative4.5
- English Language4.2
- Customer and Personal Service3.5
- Computers and Electronics3.3
- Administration and Management3.2
- Personnel and Human Resources2.8
Abilities
- Written Comprehension4.0
- Written Expression4.0
- Oral Expression4.0
- Speech Recognition4.0
- Oral Comprehension4.0
- Speech Clarity3.9
Core activities
- Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates4.6
- Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships4.5
- Getting Information4.5
- Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work4.5
- Communicating with People Outside the Organization4.5
- Performing Administrative Activities4.4
Tools and technology
hotmarks an O*NET hot technologyHow to get in
How to become a Executive Secretary
Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- Work experience needed
- Less than 5 years
Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 2 majors mapped to Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants2 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 52.0401Administrative Assistant and Secretarial Science, General
- 52.0402Executive Assistant/Executive Secretary
Related careers
Jobs O*NET identifies as close to this one, with their own pay and outlook.
Common questions
What degree do you need to become an Executive Secretary?+
High school diploma or equivalent is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Administrative Assistant and Secretarial Science, General, which awarded 7,104 degrees in 2024-25, 86.4% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming an Executive Secretary?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 2 programs to this occupation. The largest are Business Operations Support and Assistant Services. Together they graduate about 8,222 people a year.
How much do executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants earn?+
The median is $76,590 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $50,560 at the 10th percentile to $109,850 at the 90th. 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 executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants growing?+
BLS projects a -1.6% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, decline, with roughly 50,000 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
467 institutions 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 executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Executive Assistant, Executive Secretary, Administrative Assistant, Administrative Secretary among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 43-6011.
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 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected 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 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, 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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