Careers for Human Development and Family Studies (HDFS) Majors

We have compiled common career paths that HDFS students pursue.

Listed here, they are grouped into several broad categories.

• Social work, counseling, and psychology
• Teaching and education
• Advocacy and non-profit work
• Business careers
• Health careers
• Research

Click on any of the career paths and you will find the following information:

1. Information from national sources to help you learn about careers in this area including average salaries, job opportunities, the rate of growth in the field, and job details.
2. Courses of interest.
3. Hands-on opportunities for-credit.
4. Hands-on opportunities in the community.

While career guidance tends to be organized around what people do in their jobs (e.g. teach), many students enter the major because they want to work with a particular population, such as young children, at-risk adolescents, or new parents. But they don’t know what kinds of jobs they can have working with this population. Read our General Guidance on Career Planning to help you think about how your skills map onto different kinds of careers.

Graduate Study

Several careers require graduate work. For information about Masters and Ph.D. programs, see that website for more information. If you are interested in graduate work, you will need to plan your undergraduate courses carefully.