Business and Financial Operations Occupations·SOC 13-2051

Best degree programs for Financial and Investment Analysts, ranked by enrollment

Q: What degree do you need to become a Financial?

Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Finance, General, which awarded 49,441 degrees in 2024-25, 78.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Q: Which college majors lead to becoming a Financial?

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 9 programs to this occupation. The largest are Finance and Financial Management Services, Applied Mathematics, Accounting and Related Services, Data Analytics. Together they graduate about 63,404 people a year.

Q: How much do financial and investment analysts earn?

The median is $102,740 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $63,720 at the 10th percentile to $180,860 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.

Q: Is demand for financial and investment analysts growing?

BLS projects a +5.7% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, faster than average, with roughly 25,100 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

Q: How many schools offer programs for this career?

971 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 9 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.

Q: What other job titles do financial and investment analysts work under?

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Analyst, Financial Analyst, Investment Analyst, Securities Analyst among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 13-2051.

9 college programs and 971 schools train Financial and Investment Analysts. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $102,740 median wage, 361,980 U.S. jobs. Federal data.

9 college programs at 971 schools train financial and investment analysts, graduating 63,404 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Finance, General. The job pays a median of $102,740 (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Graduates / yr

63,404

from every feeder program

Median annual wage

$102,740

BLS OEWS May 2025

Projected growth

+5.7%

Faster than average

Openings / yr

25,100

new plus replacement

Schools

971

with a feeder program

States with jobs

BLS reports wages

About financial and investment analysts

Conduct quantitative analyses of information involving investment programs or financial data of public or private institutions, including valuation of businesses.

Also calledAnalystFinancial AnalystInvestment AnalystSecurities AnalystInvestorBank AnalystBond AnalystPrime BrokerBrand AnalystMoney ManagerStock AnalystTrust Officer

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.

Business, Management, Marketing, And Related Support Services

CIP 52.08

Finance and Financial Management Services

49,865graduates / yr

753 schools · 5 specializations · 78.7% of pipeline

Grad earnings $53,572

Mathematics And Statistics

CIP 27.03

Applied Mathematics

5,694graduates / yr

127 schools · 1 specialization · 9.0% of pipeline

Grad earnings $60,930

Business, Management, Marketing, And Related Support Services

CIP 52.03

Accounting and Related Services

5,263graduates / yr

134 schools · 2 specializations · 8.3% of pipeline

Grad earnings $51,824

Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies

CIP 30.71

Data Analytics

2,582graduates / yr

50 schools · 1 specialization · 4.1% of pipeline

Grad earnings —

9 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.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#	Program	Graduates / yr	Share of pipeline	Schools	Grad earnings (1 yr)	Median debt
1	Finance, General CIP 52.0801	49,441	78.0%	753	$53,572	$23,672
2	Financial Mathematics CIP 27.0305	5,694	9.0%	127	$60,930	$21,143
3	Accounting and Finance CIP 52.0304	3,776	6.0%	134	$51,824	$24,433
4	Financial Analytics CIP 30.7104	2,582	4.1%	50	—	—
5	Accounting and Business/Management CIP 52.0305	1,487	2.3%	101	$51,824	$24,433
6	Investments and Securities CIP 52.0807	348	0.5%	24	$53,572	$23,672
7	Public Finance CIP 52.0808	36	0.1%	4	$53,572	$23,672
8	International Finance CIP 52.0806	34	0.1%	3	$53,572	$23,672
9	Financial Risk Management CIP 52.0810	6	0.0%	2	$53,572	$23,672

Top 50 schools by graduates into this job

Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#	School	Graduates / yr	Top feeder program	Grad rate	Net price	Acceptance
1	Ohio State University - Main Campus Columbus, OH Public · 2 feeder programs	947	Finance, General	88%	—	61%
2	CUNY Bernard M Baruch College New York, NY Public · 2 feeder programs	886	Finance, General	72%	—	48%
3	Florida State University Tallahassee, FL Public · 2 feeder programs	784	Finance, General	86%	—	24%
4	University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs	726	Financial Analytics	97%	$22,055	5%
5	The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX Public · 3 feeder programs	718	Finance, General	89%	—	27%
6	Wake Technical Community College Raleigh, NC Public · 1 feeder programs	634	Accounting and Finance	33%	—	—
7	Southern New Hampshire University Manchester, NH Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs	632	Finance, General	43%	$34,565	100%
8	Texas A&M University - College Station College Station, TX Public · 5 feeder programs	612	Finance, General	84%	—	57%
9	University of Iowa Iowa City, IA Public · 2 feeder programs	585	Finance, General	75%	—	84%
10	University of Houston Houston, TX Public · 3 feeder programs	583	Finance, General	65%	—	74%
11	The University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, AL Public · 1 feeder programs	571	Finance, General	73%	—	77%
12	Pennsylvania State University - Main Campus University Park, PA Public · 2 feeder programs	554	Finance, General	86%	—	61%
13	The University of Texas at Dallas Richardson, TX Public · 3 feeder programs	542	Finance, General	76%	—	65%
14	Florida International University Miami, FL Public · 1 feeder programs	538	Finance, General	74%	—	55%
15	Arizona State University Campus Immersion Tempe, AZ Public · 2 feeder programs	537	Finance, General	68%	—	90%
16	University of Georgia Athens, GA Public · 1 feeder programs	536	Finance, General	90%	—	38%
17	University of Miami Coral Gables, FL Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs	522	Finance, General	84%	$26,589	19%
18	Bentley University Waltham, MA Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs	502	Finance, General	87%	$31,677	45%
19	Rutgers University - New Brunswick New Brunswick, NJ Public · 1 feeder programs	502	Finance, General	84%	—	58%
20	University of Illinois Urbana - Champaign Champaign, IL Public · 3 feeder programs	491	Finance, General	85%	—	42%
21	University of South Carolina - Columbia Columbia, SC Public · 2 feeder programs	483	Finance, General	79%	—	60%
22	Miami University - Oxford Oxford, OH Public · 2 feeder programs	480	Finance, General	80%	—	75%
23	University of South Florida Tampa, FL Public · 2 feeder programs	476	Finance, General	77%	—	43%
24	University of Arkansas Fayetteville, AR Public · 1 feeder programs	456	Finance, General	71%	—	74%
25	Washington University in St Louis St. Louis, MO Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs	454	Financial Mathematics	94%	$14,126	12%
26	Tulane University of Louisiana New Orleans, LA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs	447	Finance, General	86%	$33,106	14%
27	University of Central Florida Orlando, FL Public · 2 feeder programs	447	Finance, General	78%	—	40%
28	University of Maryland - College Park College Park, MD Public · 3 feeder programs	440	Finance, General	89%	—	45%
29	University of Massachusetts - Amherst Amherst, MA Public · 2 feeder programs	422	Finance, General	83%	—	60%
30	Auburn University Auburn, AL Public · 1 feeder programs	407	Finance, General	82%	—	46%
31	Fordham University Bronx, NY Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs	404	Financial Mathematics	82%	$38,931	59%
32	University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs	401	Finance, General	95%	$19,452	11%
33	University of North Carolina at Charlotte Charlotte, NC Public · 2 feeder programs	399	Finance, General	69%	—	80%
34	Michigan State University East Lansing, MI Public · 1 feeder programs	390	Finance, General	81%	—	85%
35	University of Minnesota - Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN Public · 2 feeder programs	387	Finance, General	85%	—	80%
36	Clemson University Clemson, SC Public · 1 feeder programs	379	Finance, General	87%	—	38%
37	Georgetown University Washington, DC Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs	378	Finance, General	95%	$22,242	13%
38	Texas Tech University Lubbock, TX Public · 1 feeder programs	364	Finance, General	69%	—	73%
39	University of Kentucky Lexington, KY Public · 3 feeder programs	362	Finance, General	71%	—	93%
40	University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT Public · 2 feeder programs	360	Finance, General	65%	—	86%
41	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, VA Public · 2 feeder programs	357	Finance, General	86%	—	55%
42	The University of Tennessee - Knoxville Knoxville, TN Public · 1 feeder programs	353	Finance, General	74%	—	42%
43	University of Cincinnati - Main Campus Cincinnati, OH Public · 2 feeder programs	349	Finance, General	75%	—	85%
44	Boston College Chestnut Hill, MA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs	336	Finance, General	91%	$21,126	16%
45	Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton, FL Public · 1 feeder programs	328	Finance, General	63%	—	66%
46	University of Wisconsin - Madison Madison, WI Public · 1 feeder programs	328	Finance, General	90%	—	45%
47	Boston University Boston, MA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs	327	Financial Analytics	89%	$21,956	11%
48	Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs	326	Finance, General	84%	$33,246	63%
49	Georgia State University Atlanta, GA Public · 3 feeder programs	323	Finance, General	53%	—	55%
50	University of Florida Gainesville, FL Public · 1 feeder programs	314	Finance, General	91%	—	24%

What financial and investment analysts earn

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

Median annual wage

$102,740

Mean annual

$116,800

Median hourly

$49.40/hr

People employed

361,980

What the range looks like

10th pct$63,720Median$102,74090th pct$180,860

Top-paying states

Top-paying metro areas

Bozeman, MT

$109,320median

70 jobs

San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA

$144,910median

3,880 jobs

Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT

$158,310median

2,550 jobs

New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ

$128,930median

53,870 jobs

San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA

$130,520median

9,910 jobs

Anchorage, AK

$113,010median

120 jobs

Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ

$135,680median

—

Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH

$117,520median

13,010 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34

+5.7%

Faster than average

Openings per year

25,100

new jobs plus replacements

Employment change

21,100

368,500 → 389,600

Typical entry education

Bachelor's degree

Where the jobs are, state by state

Pick a state for in-state pay, the schools there, and the programs they run.

This occupation state by state: pay, jobs, and schools
State	Median pay	Jobs	Concentration	Schools	Graduates / yr
Texas	$99,150	28,820	0.88×	60	5,943
Florida	$94,490	23,900	1.03×	38	4,501
Pennsylvania	$84,460	13,310	0.94×	62	3,807
North Carolina	$102,390	12,710	1.10×	69	3,677
New York	$127,930	52,380	2.32×	63	3,228
Ohio	$94,280	9,760	0.76×	43	3,132
Massachusetts	$111,040	14,790	1.75×	37	2,985
Illinois	$101,180	20,520	1.45×	37	2,333
California	$109,110	45,380	1.07×	36	1,787
Michigan	$95,420	7,400	0.72×	36	1,721
New Jersey	$108,610	10,380	1.04×	25	1,718
Arizona	$93,540	5,940	0.79×	6	1,639
Georgia	$99,420	9,780	0.86×	20	1,623
Connecticut	$109,500	—	—	15	1,540
Wisconsin	$95,570	5,430	0.79×	26	1,414
Indiana	$81,760	3,680	0.49×	27	1,373
Alabama	$91,290	3,410	0.69×	18	1,335
Utah	$91,370	4,510	1.12×	11	1,206
South Carolina	$93,670	3,600	0.67×	13	1,205
Iowa	$92,370	2,000	0.55×	15	1,092
Virginia	$105,490	10,410	1.09×	19	1,070
Missouri	$98,420	4,430	0.65×	25	1,064
Minnesota	$102,990	7,450	1.09×	29	1,056
Tennessee	$92,990	4,910	0.64×	23	1,028
Louisiana	$75,680	1,450	0.32×	13	992
Maryland	$100,370	5,360	0.83×	10	900
Washington	$107,210	8,820	1.07×	10	791
District of Columbia	$105,780	3,670	2.24×	7	781
Kansas	$84,860	1,870	0.56×	18	763
New Hampshire	$82,520	580	0.36×	8	732
Kentucky	$81,660	2,460	0.53×	14	722
Oklahoma	$79,640	1,550	0.39×	14	704
Arkansas	$81,110	1,390	0.46×	13	675
Rhode Island	$100,550	1,790	1.53×	8	621
Delawaremoderate	$101,800	2,290	2.02×	4	520
Colorado	$103,850	8,040	1.20×	8	472
Mississippi	$79,580	720	0.26×	8	417
Idaho	$100,830	680	0.34×	5	411
Nebraska	$85,320	—	—	7	405
Oregon	$120,590	2,820	0.62×	11	381
Nevadalimited	$83,430	1,830	0.51×	2	281
North Dakota	$78,170	300	0.30×	5	258
Hawaiilimited	$94,640	600	0.41×	2	159
West Virginia	$69,030	400	0.25×	6	150
Maine	$88,320	710	0.48×	5	141
South Dakota	$99,150	820	0.77×	7	89
Wyominglimited	$187,090	190	0.29×	1	70
Montanamoderate	$99,190	440	0.37×	3	39
New Mexicomoderate	$87,630	930	0.46×	3	37
Alaskamoderate	$102,240	190	0.25×	3	33
Vermontlimited	$99,090	230	0.32×	1	13

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

Advise clients on aspects of capitalization, such as amounts, sources, or timing.
Analyze financial or operational performance of companies facing financial difficulties to identify or recommend remedies.
Assess companies as investments for clients by examining company facilities.
Collaborate on projects with other professionals, such as lawyers, accountants, or public relations experts.
Collaborate with investment bankers to attract new corporate clients.
Conduct financial analyses related to investments in green construction or green retrofitting projects.
Confer with clients to restructure debt, refinance debt, or raise new debt.
Create client presentations of plan details.

Tools and technology

hotmarks an O*NET hot technology

Alteryx softwarehotApache HivehotGoogle DocshotIBM SPSS StatisticshotIntuit QuickBookshotMarketo Marketing AutomationhotMicrosoft AccesshotMicrosoft ExcelhotMicrosoft Office softwarehotMicrosoft Outlookhot

How to get in

How to become a Financial

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.

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 9 majors mapped to Financial and Investment Analysts9 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+

27.0305Financial Mathematics
30.7104Financial Analytics
52.0304Accounting and Finance
52.0305Accounting and Business/Management
52.0801Finance, General
52.0806International Finance
52.0807Investments and Securities
52.0808Public Finance
52.0810Financial Risk Management

Related careers

Jobs O*NET identifies as close to this one, with their own pay and outlook.

13-2052

Personal Financial Advisors

$105,070266,800 jobs+9.6%

41-3031

Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agents

$78,660489,570 jobs+3.3%

11-3031

Financial Managers

$166,570841,710 jobs+14.8%

13-2054

Financial Risk Specialists

$117,33063,850 jobs+6.5%

13-2099

Financial Specialists, All Other

$81,100132,130 jobs+3.1%

13-2041

Credit Analysts

$83,51064,390 jobs-4.4%

Common questions

What degree do you need to become a Financial?+

Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Finance, General, which awarded 49,441 degrees in 2024-25, 78.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Financial?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 9 programs to this occupation. The largest are Finance and Financial Management Services, Applied Mathematics, Accounting and Related Services, Data Analytics. Together they graduate about 63,404 people a year.

How much do financial and investment analysts earn?+

The median is $102,740 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $63,720 at the 10th percentile to $180,860 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 financial and investment analysts growing?+

BLS projects a +5.7% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, faster than average, with roughly 25,100 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career?+

971 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 9 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 financial and investment analysts work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Analyst, Financial Analyst, Investment Analyst, Securities Analyst among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 13-2051.

↑ Zoom outAll occupations Business and Financial Operations Occupations

Financial and Investment Analysts by stateTexas Florida Pennsylvania North Carolina New York Ohio Massachusetts Illinois California Michigan New Jersey Arizona

Programs that lead hereFinance and Financial Management Services Applied Mathematics Accounting and Related Services Data Analytics

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.
Official source →
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34
Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
Official source →
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)
Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
Official source →
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohorts
Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Official source →
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest available
Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
Official source →
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018
Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
Official source →
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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