Best degree programs for Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products, ranked by enrollment
1 college programs and 85 schools train Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $104,920 median wage, 284,800 U.S. jobs. Federal data.
1 college programs at 85 schools train sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, technical and scientific products, graduating 1,847 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Selling Skills and Sales Operations. The job pays a median of $104,920 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, technical and scientific products
Sell goods for wholesalers or manufacturers where technical or scientific knowledge is required in such areas as biology, engineering, chemistry, and electronics, normally obtained from at least 2 years of postsecondary education.
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.
1 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 52.1804 | 1,847 | 100.0% | 85 | $50,281 | $24,250 |
Top 50 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
What sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, technical and scientific products 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Utahmoderate | — | 3,930 | 1.23× | 4 | 205 |
| Indiana | $102,910 | 4,370 | 0.75× | 5 | 192 |
| Kentuckylimited | $97,640 | 4,170 | 1.14× | 2 | 149 |
| Ohio | $108,370 | 9,870 | 0.97× | 11 | 148 |
| Kansaslimited | $130,850 | 2,440 | 0.93× | 1 | 136 |
| Iowamoderate | $103,380 | 2,580 | 0.90× | 3 | 123 |
| Illinois | $107,570 | 7,350 | 0.66× | 11 | 112 |
| Californiamoderate | $124,220 | 27,590 | 0.83× | 4 | 104 |
| North Carolinalimited | $125,370 | 11,990 | 1.32× | 1 | 96 |
| Oklahomalimited | $72,480 | 3,970 | 1.27× | 2 | 86 |
| Wisconsin | $78,480 | 3,390 | 0.63× | 8 | 83 |
| Pennsylvanialimited | $103,790 | 7,190 | 0.65× | 2 | 64 |
| Washingtonmoderate | $127,390 | 9,960 | 1.53× | 3 | 61 |
| Georgiamoderate | $128,850 | 5,700 | 0.64× | 3 | 46 |
| Minnesota | $103,000 | 4,960 | 0.92× | 5 | 45 |
| North Dakotalimited | $102,720 | 510 | 0.65× | 2 | 45 |
| Tennesseelimited | $94,450 | 8,290 | 1.38× | 2 | 31 |
| Michiganmoderate | $125,650 | 9,140 | 1.13× | 3 | 25 |
| Alabamalimited | $87,140 | 2,780 | 0.72× | 1 | 24 |
| New Jerseylimited | $131,360 | 5,600 | 0.71× | 2 | 22 |
| Idaholimited | $101,390 | 1,880 | 1.20× | 1 | 17 |
| Coloradolimited | $135,000 | 4,150 | 0.79× | 1 | 7 |
| Massachusettslimited | $118,980 | 11,650 | 1.75× | 2 | 7 |
| Nebraskalimited | $84,400 | 1,700 | 0.91× | 2 | 7 |
| Arizonalimited | $100,620 | 8,860 | 1.49× | 1 | 5 |
| Floridalimited | $107,700 | 19,840 | 1.09× | 1 | 3 |
| Mississippilimited | $74,990 | 810 | 0.38× | 1 | 2 |
| Wyominglimited | $100,850 | 280 | 0.55× | 1 | 2 |
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
- Negotiate prices or terms of sales or service agreements.
- Prepare and submit sales contracts for orders.
- Visit establishments to evaluate needs or to promote product or service sales.
- Maintain customer records, using automated systems.
- Answer customers' questions about products, prices, availability, or credit terms.
- Quote prices, credit terms, or other bid specifications.
- Contact new or existing customers to discuss how specific products or services can meet their needs.
- Emphasize product features, based on analyses of customers' needs and on technical knowledge of product capabilities and limitations.
Skills
- Speaking4.1
- Active Listening3.8
- Reading Comprehension3.7
- Critical Thinking3.4
- Active Learning3.3
- Writing3.3
- Monitoring3.1
- Mathematics2.8
Knowledge areas
- Customer and Personal Service4.5
- Sales and Marketing4.4
- English Language3.7
- Mathematics3.4
- Administration and Management3.1
- Computers and Electronics3.0
Abilities
- Oral Expression4.3
- Oral Comprehension4.0
- Speech Clarity3.8
- Speech Recognition3.8
- Written Comprehension3.8
- Written Expression3.6
Core activities
- Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships4.2
- Getting Information4.1
- Selling or Influencing Others4.0
- Working with Computers3.8
- Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work3.7
- Communicating with People Outside the Organization3.7
Tools and technology
hotmarks an O*NET hot technologyHow to get in
How to become a Sales Representative
Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
- On-the-job training
- Moderate-term on-the-job training
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 1 majors mapped to Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 52.1804Selling Skills and Sales Operations
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 Sales Representative?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Selling Skills and Sales Operations, which awarded 1,847 degrees in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Sales Representative?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are General Sales. Together they graduate about 1,847 people a year.
How much do sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, technical and scientific products earn?+
The median is $104,920 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $52,600 at the 10th percentile to $200,440 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 sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, technical and scientific products growing?+
BLS projects a +1.9% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 27,200 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
85 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 1 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 sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, technical and scientific products work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Solar Consultant, Energy Consultant, Sales Representative, Solar Sales Consultant, Marketing Representative, Inside Sales Representative among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 41-4011.
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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