2020 Insurance Degree Guide

Insurance serves a vital function in businesses by assessing and protecting against risk. If you are interested in the field of Risk Management for Businesses, Insurance may be a good major for you.

There are different kinds of risk associated with business. Whether it be your employee getting hurt on the job, or inventory is damaged or stolen; these situations can all be elucidated by risk management. Risk management is a form of insurance, which will protect companies against injury and loss. If you pursue a degree in insurance you will learn handle risk and provide insurance and risk management for business, organizations, and individuals.

While studying this major, you will take various courses on health care financing, retirement plans, life and health insurance, risk management, employee benefits, and principle of insurance. This major is commonly offered as a Bachelor's degree.

Insurance Degrees Decreasing

In 2017-2018, insurance was the 197th most popular major nationwide with 2,316 degrees awarded. This 197 less than the prior year, a decrease of 8.5%.

The United States has 42 different schools where you can get a degree in insurance. Explore this or one of our many other custom insurance rankings further below.

What Are The Requirements For a Degree in Insurance

Strong people skills will help you achieve success in this major and a future career. You will be working directly with many different clients; in order to understand their needs and concerns it is important to be personable and trustworthy. Relationship building will be part of the job.

Mathematical skills are required to match and calculate prices, as well as to assess risk and the cost of possible damaging situations. If this is a field that interests you, prepare for it while still in high school. Take courses in business, accounting, economics, statistics and computer applications if they offered at your school.

Insurance Degree Program Entry Requirements

insurance degree applicants generally need have finished high school or their GED. Many schools may also have GPA and SAT/ACT score minimums that must be met. In addition to these basic insurance program qualifications, to serve in some insurance careers, special certification may be required outside of your degree.

Types of Insurance Degree

There are various different levels of insurance degrees. You can spend many years getting as high as a research / scholarship based doctorate's in insurance to something that takes less time like a first year certificate. Depending on the insurance degree you choose, obtaining your diploma can take anwhere from 1 to 4+ years.

Degree	Credit Requirements	Typical Program Length
Associate Degree	60-70 credits	2 years
Bachelor’s Degree	120 credits	4 years
Master’s Degree	50-70 credits	1-3 years
Doctorate	Program required coursework including thesis or dissertation	At least 4 years

A bachelor's degree is the most common level of education achieved by those in careers related to insurance, with approximately 42.0% of workers getting one. Find out other typical degree levels for insurance workers below.

Level of Education	Percentage of Workers
Bachelor’s Degree	42.2%
Doctoral Degree	16.8%
High School Diploma	10.7%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	8.5%
Some College Courses	7.9%

59.6% of insurance workers have at least a bachelor's. View the chart below to get an idea of what degree level most of those in insurance careers have.

The education level required is different depending on the insurance career you are seeking.

Career Opportunities for A Degree In Insurance Graduate

Insurance is necessary for everyone; therefore graduates with a degree in Insurance will have many opportunities within this field. One quickly growing field is that of Insurance Sales Agents. These agents are professionals who assist individuals and companies to choose which insurance policies match their needs, in terms of their lives, property, and health.

Another popular field is to become an Actuary. Actuaries determine how likely various events are going to occur. They take that information and create different plans to fit individuals and companies. Additional career options include Insurance Underwriters, Personal Financial Advisors, Claims Adjuster, Examiners, and Investigators.

Growth Projected for Insurance Careers

Want a job when you graduate with your insurance degree? Insurance careers are expected to grow 5.7% between 2016 and 2026.

The following options are some of the most in-demand careers related to insurance.

Occupation Name	Projected Jobs	Expected Growth
Insurance Sales Agents	551,200	9.9%
Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators	306,700	-1.4%
Business Professors	123,000	18.0%
Insurance Underwriters	98,600	-5.3%
Auto Damage Insurance Appraisers	18,500	5.1%

How Much Money Do People With a Insurance Degree Make?

Recently graduated insurance students earned an average of $57,694 in 2017-2018. Earnings can range from as low as $42,800 to as high as $92,400. As you might expect, salaries for insurance graduates vary depending on the level of education that was acquired.

High Paying Careers for Insurance Majors

Salaries for insurance graduates can vary widely by the occupation you choose as well. The following table shows the top 5 highest paying careers insurance grads often go into.

Occupation Name	Median Average Salary
Business Professors	$103,330
Insurance Underwriters	$76,880
Insurance Sales Agents	$67,890
Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators	$67,540
Auto Damage Insurance Appraisers	$65,510

Getting Your Insurance Degree

With over 131 different insurance degree programs to choose from, finding the best fit for you can be a challenge. Fortunately you have come to the right place. We have analyzed all of these schools to come up with hundreds of unbiased insurance school rankings to help you with this.

Study Areas in Insurance

One of 21 majors within the Business, Management & Marketing area of study, Insurance has other similar majors worth exploring.

Most Popular Related Majors

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Business Administration & Management	399,810
Accounting	107,851
General Business/Commerce	58,413
Finance & Financial Management	56,960
Marketing	49,179

View All Insurance Related Majors >

References

• National Center for Education Statistics

• O*NET Online

• Image Credit: By Nick Youngson under License