Business Administration Jobs
| 9 Min Read
New Mexico Highlands University (NMHU) offers an online Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS) in General Business program built for working adults who already hold technical, vocational or associate-level credentials and want to qualify for a broader range of career paths. Business administration jobs span nearly every industry, from finance and marketing to operations and human resources.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the median annual wage across business and financial occupations was $82,660 in May 2025, well above the median for all occupations. The field is projected to grow faster than average through 2035 with about 886,600 openings expected each year. Please note that all salary information in this article is based on national figures and current as of September 2026. Actual salaries will vary based on experience, job location, industry and other factors.
This guide outlines how to narrow a broad field down to the roles that fit you best, what those roles look like at each career stage and how a general business curriculum builds the skills they require. For a wider look at everything a business degree can prepare you to do, see NMHU’s companion article about what you can do with a business degree.
How Do You Choose the Business Administration Job That’s Right for You?
When narrowing down which business administration job feels right for you, look at the role’s daily activities to decide whether you would enjoy the work. Apple co-founder Steve Jobs framed it this way: “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work.”
Business administration jobs share a common purpose of keeping an organization running, but the day-to-day work varies widely across functions such as finance, marketing, operations and human resources. Matching a role to the type of problems you enjoy solving tends to shape long-term satisfaction more than the job title alone.
Earning potential is another key deciding factor. Workers with a bachelor’s degree earned median weekly wages of $1,578 in 2025 compared with $1,135 for workers with an associate degree, according to BLS, a gap of about 39% that compounds over a career. Business administration roles also tend to offer room to grow through raises, promotions and lateral moves into higher-paying specialties as experience builds, which makes an early-career choice less permanent than it might feel at the time.
What Business Administration Jobs Fit Each Career Stage?
Business administration jobs generally fall into three career stages: entry-level roles that build broad operational experience, mid-career roles with more ownership over a specific function and leadership or independent paths for those with more experience. The career stages outlined below highlight roles NMHU’s online BAS in General Business program page identifies as potential paths for its graduates.
Roles to Target Early in Your Career
Early-career business administration jobs tend to reward professionals with strong organizational and writing skills who are comfortable working within established processes. Two roles illustrate that pattern well:
- HR coordinator:Supports recruiting, onboarding and benefits administration for a human resources team, ensuring hiring processes and employee records are on track. BLS classifies this work under human resources specialists and reported a median annual wage of $75,940 in 2025. BLS projects 6% job growth for HR coordinators through 2035, with about 73,700 openings expected each year.
- Business analyst: Reviews workflows, budgets and reports to find where a business can run more efficiently, then documents recommendations for managers. The Occupational Information Network (O*NET), a U.S. Department of Labor database, groups this work under management analysts and gives the career a Bright Outlook designation. These professionals earned a median annual wage of $101,860 in 2025, per BLS, and employment in the field is projected to grow 10% through 2035, with about 94,100 job openings expected each year.
Both roles reward the kind of process and data fluency a general business curriculum builds. They also give professionals early exposure to how a company’s finances and operations connect, which lays a strong foundation for further specialization.
Roles to Grow Into With Experience
A few years of experience in an entry-level role typically opens the door to positions with more ownership over a specific function or project. These roles reward judgment built on the fundamentals rather than years of tenure, which keeps them within reach for a motivated graduate:
- Marketing manager: Plans campaigns, sets budgets and directs a team responsible for a brand’s message across channels. In 2025, BLS reported a median annual wage of $165,780 for marketing managers. Employment for these professionals is projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, faster than the average for all occupations, with about 36,300 openings projected each year.
- Project manager: Coordinates timelines, budgets and cross-functional teams to keep an initiative on track from start to finish. BLS classifies this work under project management specialists and reported a median annual wage of $102,320 in 2025. BLS projects 7% job growth for project managers through 2035, with about 76,500 openings expected each year.
Demand for project-focused roles is climbing quickly. In its Global Project Management Talent Gap report, published in May 2025, the Project Management Institute (PMI) projects that global demand for project talent could grow 64% between 2025 and 2035, creating a possible worldwide shortfall of up to 30 million project professionals by then, a gap that favors graduates who arrive with structured project management training already in hand.
Leadership and Independent Career Paths
With enough experience, many business administration graduates move into broader leadership roles or strike out on their own. Both directions reward the ability to make sound decisions across a business’s finances, operations and people at once, rather than within a single function:
- Operations manager: Oversees the daily functioning of a department or company, from staffing and budgets to process improvement. BLS reported a median annual wage of $105,770 for general and operations managers in 2025, with employment projected to grow by 5% through 2035 and about 285,000 openings expected each year.
- Small business owner: Runs an independent venture, taking on responsibility for everything from budgeting to hiring rather than working inside someone else’s structure. Earnings vary widely based on industry and performance. According to 2026 data from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), U.S. small businesses employ 62.3 million people, 45.9% of private sector workers, and economic activity from small businesses makes up 43.5% of the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Both paths depend on the broad management judgment a general business degree program builds, whether those skills are applied within a large organization or a business you start yourself. NMHU’s guide to business models for entrepreneurs breaks down how to think through that second path if founding a company is the direction you have in mind.
How the BAS in General Business Curriculum Prepares You for These Roles
NMHU’s online BAS in General Business program equips graduates with the skills and knowledge they need to progress through the career stages described above through core coursework paired with a customizable set of electives. Core coursework includes Principles of Management, Principles of Marketing, Business Law I, Budget Management for Leaders, Leadership Ethics, Entrepreneurship and a Strategic Thinking for Decision Making capstone that asks students to apply everything they have learned to an actual business problem rather than a textbook exercise. That combination, in addition to the program’s required economics and business-communication courses, gives every graduate a working foundation in operations, marketing, finance and ethical decision-making regardless of the roles they eventually pursue.
Students then choose nine electives from sixteen options, allowing them to focus their coursework on their chosen career path. Electives such as Human Resource Management and Personnel Practices and the Law build toward HR roles, Business Analytics in Decision Making and Project Management support the analyst and project-management paths, and Strategic Brand Marketing and Advertising build toward marketing management. Students drawn to the entrepreneurial path can add the Entrepreneurial Forum elective on top of the required Entrepreneurship course for a fuller grounding in starting and running a business.
Explore New Mexico Highlands University’s online Bachelor of Applied Science in General Business program to start developing the business skills these roles require.
Frequently Asked Questions About Business Administration Jobs
What degree do you need for a business administration job?
Most business administration jobs are open to candidates with a bachelor’s degree, and BLS data shows a bachelor’s degree carries a median weekly wage roughly 39% higher than an associate degree.
Which business administration job pays the most?
Among the roles covered above, marketing manager carries the highest reported wage, with BLS reporting a median annual wage of $165,780 in 2025.
How long does it take to complete NMHU’s online BAS in General Business?
Students who already meet the program’s 30-credit-hour admission requirement can complete the remaining 60 program credit hours in as few as 21 months through NMHU’s 8-week terms and five annual start dates.
Do you need a specific concentration to work in business administration?
No; NMHU’s online BAS in General Business program pairs a shared core curriculum with nine electives chosen from sixteen options, letting students build toward HR, marketing, analytics, project management or entrepreneurship without committing to a formal concentration.
Can prior college credit count toward the program?
Yes; the program requires at least 30 credit hours of prior technical, vocational or associate-level coursework for admission and builds on that foundation with 60 additional program credit hours.
About New Mexico Highlands University’s Online BAS in General Business Program
Adults who already hold at least 30 credit hours of technical, vocational or associate-level coursework can finish their BAS in General Business degree 100% online at New Mexico Highlands University without starting their education over. The program requires 60 credit hours within the 120-credit-hour bachelor’s degree, and a student moving straight through can finish in as few as 21 months thanks to 8-week online terms and five start dates every year.
New Mexico Highlands University has operated out of Las Vegas, New Mexico, since 1893, and it holds federal recognition as a Hispanic-Serving Institution and a founding role in the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities dating back to 1987. Faculty work closely with students at a 15:1 ratio, and 89% of them hold terminal degrees in their fields. Niche has also named NMHU the most diverse college in New Mexico, reflecting a student body that draws from a wide range of backgrounds.