Degree to Occupation Map
Occupations related to a human resources degree
NCES and BLS publish a crosswalk relating instructional programs to occupations. This page lists every occupation that crosswalk relates to human resources, with the BLS typical entry education, 2025 median wage and projected growth for each, and links to the RoleSprint page covering the role where one exists.
What occupations does the official crosswalk relate to a human resources degree?
The CIP 2020-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk published by NCES and BLS relates 7 CIP 2020 programs in human resources to 12 occupations. That maps a field of study to lines of work; it is not a statement that a human resources degree qualifies someone for any of them, and the crosswalk carries no figure for how many graduates enter each. Across the 12 with a published 2025 BLS wage the median is $88,075, ranging from $50,610 for Human Resources Assistants, Except Payroll and Timekeeping to $149,280 for Human Resources Managers. BLS typical entry-level education splits 1 at associate's degree, 8 at bachelor's degree, 1 at master's degree, 2 at doctoral or professional degree: 9 at or below a bachelor's degree and 3 above it. Training and Development Specialists is projected to grow fastest at +10.8% over 2025-35. The highest-paid are Human Resources Managers ($149,280), Compensation and Benefits Managers ($149,230) and Training and Development Managers ($133,000).
- Related occupations
- 12, from 7 CIP 2020 programs in human resources (a further 1 related occupation has no BLS or O*NET row on this site and are not listed)
- What the mapping means
- NCES states only that it "crosswalks 2020 CIP Codes to 2018 SOC Codes". It relates a program to an occupation. It does not establish qualification, hiring, or how many graduates take that path.
- BLS typical entry-level education
- Associate's degree: 1; Bachelor's degree: 8; Master's degree: 1; Doctoral or professional degree: 2
- Median wage across these occupations
- $88,075 (2025); 12 of 12 have a published BLS wage
- Next step
- 5 of the 12 occupations have a dedicated RoleSprint page covering what the role requires and how the work is performed.
Source and method
2020 CIP / 2018 SOC Crosswalk, National Center for Education Statistics and Bureau of Labor Statistics, and BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2. Verified 2026-09-06. Program-to-occupation relationships are reproduced from the NCES/BLS crosswalk exactly as published; RoleSprint groups CIP programs into the field of study a person would search for and lists the union of their related occupations, showing every member CIP code. Wage, typical entry education and outlook are reproduced from BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2 for the matching SOC code. Working-condition figures are O*NET 30.3 means. No relationship strength, employment share or qualification judgement is published, because no source supplies one.
What this list is, and what it is not
The crosswalk's own description of itself is one sentence: “This file crosswalks 2020 CIP Codes to 2018 SOC Codes in ascending order by CIP Code.” It relates a field of study to lines of work.
It does not say a human resources degree qualifies anyone for these occupations, that graduates usually enter them, or what share do: the crosswalk publishes no such figure. The wage and education columns come from a separate source, BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, and describe the occupation rather than the degree. Typical entry education is what BLS observes most often among people already doing the work; it is not a rule about who may be hired.
The 12 related occupations
Ordered by BLS median wage, highest first. 12 of 12 have a published wage.
| Occupation | BLS typical entry-level education | Median wage | Outlook |
|---|---|---|---|
Human Resources Managers SOC 11-3121 Contact with others 4.7 · Time pressure 3.9 · Sitting 4.2 · Outdoors, all weather 1.6 of 5 | Bachelor's degree At or below bachelor's | $149,280 2025 median | +5.5% 2025-35 · 16.8 openings/yr |
Compensation and Benefits Managers SOC 11-3111 Contact with others 4.4 · Time pressure 3.6 · Sitting 4.9 · Outdoors, all weather 1.1 of 5 | Bachelor's degree At or below bachelor's | $149,230 2025 median | +1.1% 2025-35 · 1.6 openings/yr |
Training and Development Managers SOC 11-3131 Contact with others 4.5 · Time pressure 3.6 · Sitting 4.4 · Outdoors, all weather 1.3 of 5 | Bachelor's degree At or below bachelor's | $133,000 2025 median | +6.4% 2025-35 · 4.1 openings/yr |
Law Teachers, Postsecondary SOC 25-1112 Contact with others 4.5 · Time pressure 3.5 · Sitting 3.7 · Outdoors, all weather 1.1 of 5 | Doctoral or professional degree Above bachelor's | $128,500 2025 median | +2.6% 2025-35 · 1.8 openings/yr |
Business Teachers, Postsecondary SOC 25-1011 Contact with others 4.1 · Time pressure 3.7 · Sitting 3.8 · Outdoors, all weather 1.2 of 5 | Doctoral or professional degree Above bachelor's | $99,080 2025 median | +5.9% 2025-35 · 7.6 openings/yr |
Labor Relations Specialists SOC 13-1075 Contact with others 4.5 · Time pressure 3.7 · Sitting 4.1 · Outdoors, all weather 1.4 of 5 | Bachelor's degree At or below bachelor's | $95,420 2025 median | +2.1% 2025-35 · 4.8 openings/yr |
Compliance Officers SOC 13-1041 Contact with others 4.8 · Time pressure 3.5 · Sitting 3.8 · Outdoors, all weather 3.5 of 5 | Bachelor's degree At or below bachelor's | $80,730 2025 median | +3.8% 2025-35 · 32.7 openings/yr |
Compensation, Benefits, and Job Analysis Specialists SOC 13-1141 Contact with others 4.4 · Time pressure 3.9 · Sitting 4.7 · Outdoors, all weather 1.2 of 5 | Bachelor's degree At or below bachelor's | $78,210 2025 median | +6% 2025-35 · 9 openings/yr |
Human Resources Specialists SOC 13-1071 Contact with others 4.8 · Time pressure 3.8 · Sitting 4.2 · Outdoors, all weather 1.5 of 5 | Bachelor's degree At or below bachelor's | $75,940 2025 median | +6.4% 2025-35 · 73.7 openings/yr |
Training and Development Specialists SOC 13-1151 Contact with others 4.6 · Time pressure 3.7 · Sitting 3.9 · Outdoors, all weather 1.5 of 5 | Bachelor's degree At or below bachelor's | $69,280 2025 median | +10.8% 2025-35 · 46 openings/yr |
Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors SOC 21-1012 Contact with others 4.9 · Time pressure 3.8 · Sitting 4.3 · Outdoors, all weather 1.3 of 5 | Master's degree Above bachelor's | $64,330 2025 median | +2.9% 2025-35 · 27.8 openings/yr |
Human Resources Assistants, Except Payroll and Timekeeping SOC 43-4161 Contact with others 4.9 · Time pressure 4.3 · Sitting 4.3 · Outdoors, all weather 1.1 of 5 | Associate's degree At or below bachelor's | $50,610 2025 median | -6.2% 2025-35 · 7.9 openings/yr |
The crosswalk relates 1 further occupation to this field (21-1019) for which BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2 publishes no line item on this site. They are counted here rather than listed, because there would be nothing to show beside the name.
BLS typical entry-level education for these occupations
9 of the 12 have a BLS typical entry-level education at or below a bachelor's degree; 3 are above it. "Typical" is BLS's word: it describes the workers already in the occupation.
- Associate's degree
- 1
- Bachelor's degree
- 8
- Master's degree
- 1
- Doctoral or professional degree
- 2
This is BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2's description of the education most workers in each occupation typically hold when they enter it. It is not a list of requirements, and it says nothing about licences, certifications or experience, which BLS records separately and this page does not show.
Which programs this covers
“Human resources” groups 7 CIP 2020 instructional programs. The occupation list above is the union of everything the crosswalk relates to them.
- 52.1001 Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General
- 52.1002 Labor and Industrial Relations
- 52.1003 Organizational Behavior Studies
- 52.1004 Labor Studies
- 52.1005 Human Resources Development
- 52.1006 Executive/Career Coaching
- 52.1099 Human Resources Management and Services, Other
Grouping is RoleSprint's, and it is printed here so it can be checked. CIP's own grain is finer than the phrase anyone searches; the alternative is one page per code, which would put near-identical lists in front of the same question. How this map is built.
Working out which of these is realistic
A related occupation is a starting point, not a verdict. Three different questions decide whether one is worth pursuing, and each has its own page.
Program-to-occupation relationships from the 2020 CIP / 2018 SOC Crosswalk, National Center for Education Statistics and Bureau of Labor Statistics. Wage, typical entry education and outlook from BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2. Working-condition figures from the O*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license; O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA and RoleSprint has modified some of this information.
What to do next
A crosswalk relates a field of study to lines of work. Whether one specific opening is worth your time depends on what you can actually show, which is a different question and the one RoleSprint answers.