Best degree programs for Human Resources Managers, ranked by enrollment
9 college programs and 2,394 schools train Human Resources Managers. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $149,280 median wage, 220,660 U.S. jobs. Federal data.
9 college programs at 2,394 schools train human resources managers, graduating 393,560 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Business Administration and Management, General. The job pays a median of $149,280 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About human resources managers
Plan, direct, or coordinate human resources activities and staff of an organization.
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.
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.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 52.0201 | 348,906 | 88.7% | 2,305 | $43,506 | $25,000 |
| 2 | CIP 52.1001 | 18,033 | 4.6% | 518 | $49,084 | $26,536 |
| 3 | CIP 52.0213 | 16,743 | 4.3% | 548 | $43,506 | $25,000 |
| 4 | Organizational Behavior Studiesmain feeder CIP 52.1003 | 3,311 | 0.8% | 116 | $49,084 | $26,536 |
| 5 | CIP 42.2804 | 3,169 | 0.8% | 127 | $33,805 | $27,000 |
| 6 | CIP 09.0901 | 1,805 | 0.5% | 79 | $39,658 | $24,500 |
| 7 | Labor and Industrial Relationsmain feeder CIP 52.1002 | 1,363 | 0.3% | 26 | $49,084 | $26,536 |
| 8 | Labor Studiesmain feeder CIP 52.1004 | 137 | 0.0% | 13 | $49,084 | $26,536 |
| 9 | Executive/Career Coachingmain feeder CIP 52.1006 | 93 | 0.0% | 9 | $49,084 | $26,536 |
Top 50 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
What human resources managers 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 | $170,080 | 27,450 | 1.06× | 229 | 58,723 |
| Arizona | $139,820 | 3,950 | 0.86× | 39 | 27,951 |
| Texas | $136,500 | 23,220 | 1.16× | 138 | 24,432 |
| Florida | $137,790 | 11,570 | 0.82× | 99 | 19,525 |
| New York | $176,650 | 17,920 | 1.30× | 141 | 16,018 |
| New Hampshire | $135,000 | 1,150 | 1.19× | 18 | 14,430 |
| North Carolina | $142,990 | 6,480 | 0.92× | 113 | 13,796 |
| Utah | $131,380 | 2,240 | 0.91× | 12 | 13,016 |
| Indiana | $130,340 | 3,030 | 0.67× | 47 | 12,310 |
| Virginia | $165,980 | 5,770 | 0.99× | 58 | 11,248 |
| Colorado | $166,400 | 3,620 | 0.89× | 31 | 11,045 |
| Massachusetts | $181,780 | 7,540 | 1.46× | 61 | 10,894 |
| Pennsylvania | $133,060 | 8,230 | 0.96× | 110 | 10,339 |
| Illinois | $151,370 | 13,520 | 1.56× | 85 | 9,729 |
| Georgia | $150,700 | 7,270 | 1.05× | 83 | 9,432 |
| Ohio | $130,480 | 8,040 | 1.02× | 85 | 8,916 |
| New Jersey | $172,440 | 6,400 | 1.05× | 50 | 7,766 |
| Michigan | $138,930 | 5,890 | 0.94× | 70 | 7,654 |
| Alabama | $113,210 | 2,160 | 0.72× | 41 | 7,322 |
| Minnesota | $153,770 | 4,370 | 1.04× | 51 | 7,310 |
| Maryland | $152,770 | 3,820 | 0.97× | 39 | 7,035 |
| Kentucky | $121,460 | 1,960 | 0.69× | 45 | 6,571 |
| Idaho | $119,990 | 1,040 | 0.86× | 10 | 5,801 |
| West Virginia | $120,020 | 510 | 0.52× | 27 | 5,527 |
| Louisiana | $107,880 | 1,390 | 0.50× | 29 | 5,378 |
| Tennessee | $131,760 | 4,310 | 0.93× | 53 | 5,249 |
| South Carolina | $124,290 | 2,400 | 0.73× | 45 | 4,660 |
| Missouri | $130,680 | 3,510 | 0.84× | 53 | 4,306 |
| Oklahoma | $116,080 | 1,750 | 0.72× | 33 | 4,208 |
| Wisconsin | $133,490 | 3,730 | 0.89× | 49 | 4,048 |
| Connecticut | $165,930 | 3,020 | 1.25× | 20 | 3,956 |
| Washington | $165,530 | 4,560 | 0.90× | 48 | 3,885 |
| Iowa | $126,370 | 1,620 | 0.73× | 44 | 3,707 |
| Nebraska | $129,460 | 1,660 | 1.14× | 21 | 3,440 |
| Mississippi | $106,100 | 720 | 0.43× | 26 | 2,466 |
| Arkansas | $108,580 | 1,290 | 0.70× | 33 | 2,395 |
| Kansas | $134,470 | 1,290 | 0.63× | 34 | 2,318 |
| District of Columbia | $184,350 | 2,250 | 2.26× | 11 | 2,198 |
| Oregon | $140,570 | 2,810 | 1.01× | 28 | 1,934 |
| New Mexico | $118,070 | 820 | 0.66× | 23 | 1,622 |
| Maine | $129,720 | 700 | 0.76× | 17 | 1,350 |
| Rhode Island | $167,110 | 530 | 0.74× | 11 | 1,135 |
| Delaware | $153,890 | 580 | 0.84× | 6 | 1,106 |
| Nevada | $128,550 | 1,520 | 0.69× | 7 | 1,100 |
| South Dakota | $117,930 | 420 | 0.65× | 16 | 911 |
| North Dakota | $139,050 | 290 | 0.47× | 17 | 827 |
| Hawaii | $128,910 | 710 | 0.80× | 7 | 735 |
| Vermont | $132,050 | 360 | 0.84× | 7 | 709 |
| Wyoming | $127,520 | 140 | 0.34× | 7 | 448 |
| Montana | $115,280 | 530 | 0.74× | 15 | 411 |
| Alaska | $129,570 | 610 | 1.32× | 7 | 381 |
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
- Serve as a link between management and employees by handling questions, interpreting and administering contracts and helping resolve work-related problems.
- Plan, direct, supervise, and coordinate work activities of subordinates and staff relating to employment, compensation, labor relations, and employee relations.
- Perform difficult staffing duties, including dealing with understaffing, refereeing disputes, firing employees, and administering disciplinary procedures.
- Represent organization at personnel-related hearings and investigations.
- Negotiate bargaining agreements and help interpret labor contracts.
- Advise managers on organizational policy matters, such as equal employment opportunity and sexual harassment, and recommend needed changes.
- Plan and conduct new employee orientation to foster positive attitude toward organizational objectives.
- Analyze and modify compensation and benefits policies to establish competitive programs and ensure compliance with legal requirements.
Skills
- Active Listening4.4
- Speaking4.3
- Reading Comprehension4.3
- Writing4.1
- Monitoring4.0
- Critical Thinking4.0
- Active Learning4.0
- Learning Strategies3.8
Knowledge areas
- Personnel and Human Resources4.9
- English Language4.3
- Administration and Management4.2
- Customer and Personal Service3.9
- Education and Training3.9
- Law and Government3.6
Abilities
- Oral Expression4.5
- Written Comprehension4.4
- Oral Comprehension4.4
- Written Expression4.1
- Speech Clarity4.1
- Near Vision4.0
Core activities
- Resolving Conflicts and Negotiating with Others4.7
- Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates4.7
- Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships4.7
- Making Decisions and Solving Problems4.6
- Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards4.6
- Developing and Building Teams4.5
Tools and technology
hotmarks an O*NET hot technologyHow to get in
How to become a Human Resources Manager
Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
- Work experience needed
- 5 years or more
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 Human Resources Managers9 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 09.0901Organizational Communication, General
- 42.2804Industrial and Organizational Psychology
- 52.0201Business Administration and Management, General
- 52.0213Organizational Leadership
- 52.1001Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General
- 52.1002Labor and Industrial Relations
- 52.1003Organizational Behavior Studies
- 52.1004Labor Studies
- 52.1006Executive/Career Coaching
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 a Human Resources Manager?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Business Administration and Management, General, which awarded 348,906 degrees in 2024-25, 88.7% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Human Resources Manager?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 9 programs to this occupation. The largest are Business Administration, Human Resources Management and Services, Clinical, Public Relations. Together they graduate about 393,560 people a year.
How much do human resources managers earn?+
The median is $149,280 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $88,200 at the 10th percentile to $267,810 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 human resources managers growing?+
BLS projects a +5.0% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, faster than average, with roughly 17,900 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
2,394 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 human resources managers work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Employee Relations Manager, HR Manager (Human Resources Manager), HR Director (Human Resources Director), HR VP (Human Resources Vice President) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 11-3121.
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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