Food Science
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OverviewSalary and DebtIs a Bachelor's EnoughCareersSchoolsRelated ProgramsGenderRace/Origin
Overview
Food science is a program that focuses on the application of biological, chemical, and physical principles to the study of converting raw agricultural products into processed forms suitable for direct human consumption, and the storage of such products. includes instruction in applicable aspects of the agricultural sciences, human physiology and nutrition, food chemistry, agricultural products processing, food additives, food preparation and packaging, food storage and shipment, and related aspects of human health and safety including toxicology and pathology.
Highlights
School with the highest reported median starting salary ($67K) with a Bachelor's Degree: Purdue University - Main Campus
Career with the highest median salary ($179K) where most workers have a Bachelor's Degree: Facilities Managers
Explore Pathways
Careers for program graduates
Food science majors work in these careers, which are sized by percentage of majors in the career (at least 1%) and colored by the predominant level of education.
Specialized ManagersAgricultural and food scientis...Specialized Physical Scientist...Industrial Production ManagersMarket Research Analysts and M...Wholesale and Manufacturing Sa...Dietitians and NutritionistsFirst-Line Supervisors of Prod...Postsecondary TeachersBusiness Operations Specialist...Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, ...PhysiciansElementary and Middle School S...First-Line Supervisors of Reta...Marketing ManagersChief executives and legislato...Accountants and AuditorsFirst-Line Supervisors of Non-...General and Operations Manager...Project Management SpecialistsRetail SalespersonsAgricultural and Food Science ...Food Service ManagersFirst-Line Supervisors of Offi...Registered NursesSales Managers
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Current completions
What level of degree do most graduates achieve, and do they match what your goals?
05001K2K2K0-1 Year Certificate1-2 Year CertificateAssociate's DegreeBachelor's DegreeMaster's DegreePost-master's CertResearch Doctorate
SOURCES:
Completions over time
Have completions for food science changed over time? Increasing completions may mean you'll likely have an easier time finding a school that offers this degree, with the opposite being true as well.
Show percentages
Number of graduates
05001,0001,5002,0002,500200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019
Research Doctorate
Post-master's Cert
Master's Degree
Postbaccalaureate Cert
Bachelor's Degree
Associate's Degree
1-2 Year Certificate
0-1 Year Certificate
Salary and Debt
How are students who recently completed a degree in food science doing?
Below is the distribution of starting salaries along with accumulated federal and private education loans across schools that offer a degree in the field food sciences, which includes food science.
Median starting salaries
$47K$0$20K$40K$60KBachelor's
Median cumulative loan amount
$23K$0$10K$20K$30KBachelor's
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Context: median salaries
How does the median (middle) salary for food science majors compare to the median salaries for other college majors?
$67K$0$20K$40K$60K$80K$100K
Distribution: food science majors' salaries by education level
What is the salary distribution for graduates with a bachelor's infood science by the level of their highest degree (Graduate degrees may not be in the same field as the bachelor’s)
$101K$61K$68K$74K$0$50K$100K$150KBachelor'sMaster'sDoctorateProfessional
We only include salary data when the survey error is less than 20%, so you may see only partial information for some categories.
Is a bachelor's degree all you need?
Education level of workers with a bachelor's in food science
Is a bachelor's degree going to be sufficient to make you competative in the job market? We can look at the education level of workers with a bachelors in this degree to see if there is a likely need for a graduate degree. You'll also want to check out the careers section on this page to where they are employed.
This chart shows the level of education of workers with a bachelor's degree in food science. The worker's graduate degree may have been completed in a different field.
Education level of workers
Bachelor's Degree
Master's Degree
Professional Degree
Doctorate
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Context: Graduate degrees in any field by undergraduate ACS degree
About 40% of food science majors chose to also earn a graduate degree (possibly of a different major). The percentage of food science majors who also earned a graduate degree is higher than about 69% of other fields.
40%0%20%40%60%80%100%
Context: Percentage salary boost obtained with a graduate degree
How important is a graduate degree for earning a higher salary? We can see the difference in salary of workers with a bachelors in this degree to workers with a bachelor’s AND a graduate degree.
21%64%11%0%20%40%60%80%Bachelor's to Master'sBachelor's to DoctorateBachelor's to Professional
Careers
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Careers for food science majors
Where do food science majors work, and how well do those jobs pay? A ** in the job title indicates that the Department of Education recommends this job for this program.
Not so much?
The top ten careers for workers with a bachelor's in food science
Take a minute to interact with this sankey diagram. Follow the top ten jobs held by food science graduates through to their most hired majors. Learn where it may easiest to find work. Expand the careers to explore other majors that might lead to the job that excites you the most. *For many majors, the top ten jobs don't even include half of graduates!*
Expand careers
Specialized ManagersAgricultural and foo...Specialized Physical...Industrial Productio...Market Research Anal...Wholesale and Manufa...Dietitians and Nutri...First-Line Superviso...Postsecondary Teache...Inspectors, Testers,...All othersThis degreeTop 10 Careers
What careers hire food science majors as one of their top 10?
To the left of this diagram, see all careers that hire food science majors as one of their top 10 majors, and on the right, see what proportion of openings for the jobs on the left are filled by food science majors.
Food ScienceAll other degreesAgricultural and food sci...Dietitians and Nutritioni...All other careersDegreeDegree in top 10 employed
Where can I complete this degree
Explore schools that offer food science degrees and certificates
You can use this table to find schools that offer this program based on location and program level offered. Each entry goes to a school page similar to this one with all our information about that school.
Understanding the columns

The school list includes a few facts about each school that give you an idea of the educational quality each school might offer:

  • Student-Faculty Ratio: A small number of students per full-time instructor suggests individual attention for each student and an up-to-date curriculum.

  • Satisfaction Rate: A high percentage of returning first-year students should correlate with satisfaction (schools call this their retention rate).

  • Repayment Rate: A high repayment rate means most alumni earn enough to make progress repaying loans within 7 years of leaving.

We also show the total enrollment for the school as measured by full-time-equivalent (FTE) students enrolled annually.

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Related Programs
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Careers for food science majors
food science is part of a larger collection of programs: Agriculture. Is there a different program that's close to food science that might be a better match for your interests? You can use this table to see a little about the programs that fall under this umbrella. If you click on any of the table headers, that will sort the table by that column, or click on a row and see Ididio's profile for that program.
Gender
Gender of recent graduates
Of all people with any degree in food science earned in the last academic year, 68% were women.
Gender
Men
Women
SOURCES:
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Completions over time
Have completions by gender changed over time, or at specific levels of education?
Award level
All levels
05001K2K2K3KNumber of graduates200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019
Women
Men
Context: Gender representation
How does the gender distribution in this major compare to all other majors?
57%43%0%20%40%60%80%100%WomenMen
Context: Percentage women
This major has a higher percentage of women than 67% other programs.
Distribution: salaries by gender
Does gender greatly influence your salary with this degree? The closer the bar are, the less discrepancy there is.
$76K$62K$0$50K$100K$150K$200K$250KWomenMen
Context: Salary inequity
For food science graduates, men have a 21% higher median salary than women, This is high: 62% of programs have graduates with lower salary inequities.
21%21%0%20%40%60%80%100%
Race/Origin
Race/Origin of recent graduates
Here is an overview of race/origin for all food science graduates from this last academic year. We found a higher percentage of international graduates in this program than in 91% of other programs.
Race/Origin
White
Black
Pacific Islander
Hispanic
Asian
American Indian
Multiracial
Not Reported
International
SOURCES:
Fewer details
Completions over time
Have completions by race/origin changed over time, or at specific levels of education?
Award level
All levels
05001K2K2K3KNumber of graduates200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019
International
Not Reported
Multiracial
American Indian
Asian
Hispanic
Pacific Islander
Black
White
Context: Percentage of Minority Graduates
Minority students comprise a lower percentage of graduates than in 41% of other programs.