BestOnlineCollege.org is an advertising-supported website. Many of the school and program listings that appear on this site are from partners who compensate us, and this compensation may affect how, where, and in what order listings appear (such as featured placements). This compensation does not influence our editorial content, evaluations, or rankings, which are determined independently using publicly available data. We do not review or feature every school or program available in the marketplace. Our goal is to provide accurate, unbiased information so you can make informed decisions. Read our full Advertiser Disclosure.
What Can You Do With a Health Science Degree? Jobs & Salaries (2026)
Key takeaway: A health science degree leads into the non-clinical side of healthcare: management and coordination, health education and promotion, health information and data, and the allied-health technologist roles that many graduates already hold when they enroll. The occupations most closely tied to the degree -- medical and health services managers, health education specialists, health information technologists and medical registrars, and health technologists and technicians -- carry median annual wages from $50,290 to $123,860, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS national medians. The degree licenses nothing; its value lies in which track you choose and what experience you attach to it.
Jobs you can get with a health science degree
Health science work splits along a line that matters more than any job title: whether you are already a credentialed clinician using the degree to move up, or a non-clinician using it to enter the health field. The occupations below cover both, and the same degree reaches them by different routes.
View the data behind this chart
| Occupation | Avg. annual openings |
|---|---|
| Medical and Health Services Manager | 62,100/yr |
| Health Technologist and Technician | 13,600/yr |
| Health Education Specialist | 7,900/yr |
| Health Information Technologist | 3,200/yr |
| Occupation | Median annual wage | Projected growth, 2024-34 | Openings per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medical and Health Services Manager | $123,860 | 23.2% | ~62,100 |
| Health Information Technologist and Medical Registrar | $68,020 | 14.7% | ~3,200 |
| Health Education Specialist | $64,070 | 4.5% | ~7,900 |
| Health Technologist and Technician, All Other | $50,290 | 5.2% | ~13,600 |
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS national medians; BLS Employment Projections, 2024-34.
Medical and health services manager. Managers run a department, a practice, a service line, or an entire facility: staffing and scheduling, budgeting, regulatory compliance, quality and patient-safety reporting, vendor and payer relations, and the operational side of every change that reaches the clinic. The role is reached far more often by promotion from a clinical or operational position than by direct hire, which is why allied-health professionals with a degree-completion bachelor’s are a large share of the pipeline. Employment in this occupation stood at 597,080 (BLS OEWS, May 2025), and the wage spread is wide: the 10th percentile was $73,390 and the 90th was $224,340 (BLS OEWS, May 2025), reflecting the range from a small practice manager to a hospital executive.
Health information technologist and medical registrar. These roles sit between clinical documentation and data: maintaining disease and procedure registries, validating and abstracting records, supporting electronic health record systems, analyzing clinical and operational data, and enforcing privacy and coding standards. The informatics track of a health science degree overlaps substantially with the work, though the RHIA credential specifically requires a CAHIIM-accredited health information management program. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 14.7 percent growth for this occupation over 2024-34 (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-34).
Health education specialist. Health educators assess the health needs of a community or population, design and deliver programs to address them, evaluate whether those programs worked, and advocate for policies and resources. They work in health departments, hospitals, nonprofits, schools, and employer wellness programs. Employment stood at 65,690 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). A bachelor’s is the standard entry credential and the CHES exam is the recognized professional marker; see how to become a health educator for the full path.
Health technologist and technician, all other. This is the residual BLS category for allied-health technical roles not classified elsewhere, and it stands in here for the clinical positions many degree-completion students hold when they enroll – the bench or bedside role from which the bachelor’s is meant to be the step up. The wage gap between this category and the management category above is, in plain terms, the economic argument most degree-completion students are making.
What the degree level changes
Health science is unusual because the credential rules for its main destinations are written by employers and professional bodies rather than by state licensure, with the exception of the clinical roles the degree does not itself reach. That means the honest answer to “what does my degree get me” is: it depends on the track, on the employer, and on what you already have.
The general pattern holds up well. An associate in health science supports entry-level non-clinical roles and transfer, but none of the occupations in the table are typically entered with it alone; the clinical technologist roles require their own accredited clinical associate degree, not a general one.
The bachelor’s in health science is the working credential. It is the standard entry requirement for health education specialist roles and CHES eligibility, the usual minimum for supervisory and management positions, and, in a degree-completion format, the step that moves credentialed technologists toward those positions. For health information work it is a common entry point, with the caveat about RHIA eligibility above.
A master’s in health science is not required for any occupation in the table, though it is common among medical and health services managers at larger organizations and expected for faculty and program-director roles in allied-health education. Its value is concentrated in leadership, MCHES-level health education, informatics and evaluation, and teaching. Do not expect a master’s to substitute for the years of clinical or operational experience those roles assume.
One more thing worth saying plainly: none of these occupations involve providing clinical care, and the health science degree does not qualify you to do so. If direct patient care is the goal, the route is a nursing degree or an accredited clinical allied-health program, not this one.
Common questions
What jobs can you get with a health science degree?
The core destinations are medical and health services manager and the supervisory and coordinator roles below it, health education specialist and related community and patient education roles, health information technologist and related data and EHR roles, and, for pre-professional students, admission to clinical graduate programs such as physician assistant, physical therapy, and occupational therapy. Allied-health professionals who enter with a clinical credential typically use the degree to move from a technologist role into one of the first three groups.
How much do health science majors make?
Among the occupations tied to this degree, Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS national medians report $123,860 for medical and health services managers, $68,020 for health information technologists and medical registrars, $64,070 for health education specialists, and $50,290 for health technologists and technicians in the all-other category. Actual pay is heavily shaped by employer type, geography, track, and how much clinical or operational experience you bring.
Do you need a master’s in health science?
Not for any of the occupations above. A master’s is common among managers at larger organizations, expected for allied-health faculty and program-director roles, and useful for MCHES-level health education and for informatics and evaluation work. Experience carries more weight than the degree for most management hiring.
Can you work in a clinical role with a health science degree?
No. The degree is non-clinical and does not lead to licensure. Clinical roles require their own accredited degree and license. A health science bachelor’s with a pre-professional track can satisfy prerequisites for graduate clinical programs, but the degree itself confers no scope of practice.
Is a health science degree worth it?
It is worth it if you hold an allied-health credential and need a bachelor’s to move into supervision, education, or administration, if you are targeting health education work where a bachelor’s and CHES eligibility are expected, or if you are using a pre-professional track deliberately as a route to a clinical graduate program. The is a health science degree worth it page works through the cost side of that decision.
Keep exploring
- Start at the online health science degree hub to compare programs and formats.
- Compare levels: associate in health science, bachelor’s in health science, and master’s in health science.
- Find programs near you on the health science programs by state index.
- Related fields worth comparing: healthcare administration, public health, and health information management.
Data verified: August 25, 2026. Salary, employment, and tuition figures on this page are sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS May 2025; Employment Projections 2024–2034) and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (2023 cohort). The source agency and data year are cited inline with every statistic.
Back to Online Health Science Degrees: Programs & Careers (2026)