undergradly.
Major · Area, Ethnic, Cultural, Gender & Group Studies

An interdisciplinary catchall for regional programs not named elsewhere

Area Studies, Other (CIP 05.0199) is a catchall code for region-focused programs that do not fit a named CIP like Asian Studies, Latin American Studies, or Near and Middle Eastern Studies. About 451 degrees are awarded annually across 84 colleges, and program content varies considerably by institution.

Schools offering
84
Annual completions
451
Typical degree level
Associate's + Bachelor's
Median earnings (5yr)
$59k

About this major

Area Studies, Other carries CIP code 05.0199, defined as any instructional program in specifically defined area studies not listed above. The federal taxonomy gives no example because the point of the code is to absorb regional concentrations that don't fit a named sibling — Mediterranean Studies, Caspian Studies, transatlantic or Global South tracks, comparative regional programs, or a custom interdisciplinary regional design. Specific program content varies considerably by institution. At one school it may be a Mediterranean civilizations track anchored in classical languages; at another, a transnational regional studies program crossing two named regions; at a third, a single-country program too small to populate a dedicated CIP.

The major typically rewards students who like reading across disciplines, working in at least one non-English language, and tracing how history, politics, and culture move through a region rather than a single nation. Strong writing and synthesis matter, but the load-bearing skill is regional language fluency — programs that produce competitive graduates push students to B2 or C1 in the area's working language by senior year, often through study abroad, a Critical Language Scholarship, or a FLAS Fellowship. Students who already know they want a single named region — East Asian, Latin American, Middle Eastern — are usually better served by the named CIP, since the transcript reads cleaner to recruiters and graduate admissions.

On the scale and destination side, 84 colleges grant degrees under this code, producing 451 completions per year. University of Washington-Seattle leads with 98 graduates, followed by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (71), University of Missouri-Columbia (55), Virginia Commonwealth University (33), and Duke University (29); William & Mary (15), Utah State (24), and University of South Carolina-Columbia (22) round out the top issuers, with Santa Rosa Junior College and Chabot College present at the associate level (7 each). The packet lists only one direct occupational destination: area, ethnic, and cultural studies teachers, postsecondary, at $84,290 median wage and a doctoral typical-entry requirement. Five-year median earnings sit at $58,529 for the bachelor's track, with no associate's earnings reported.

Section 3 · Careers

Where this major leads

Occupations most often associated with this major, from the federal BLS+O*NET crosswalk. Job-growth projections and median wages are national.

Occupation Median wage Job growth Typical education
Area, ethnic, and cultural studies teachers, postsecondary $84k +2.4% Doctoral or professional degree
Section 4 · Earnings

Earnings at a glance

Median graduate earnings from the federal College Scorecard, 5 and 10 years out.

Median 5-year earnings

$59k

Who this major is for

You may thrive here if you read across disciplines and want to trace how history, politics, and culture move through a region rather than commit to a single nation, if you're committed to building B2- or C1-level fluency in at least one non-English language by senior year and willing to push through study abroad or a Critical Language Scholarship to get there, if you're considering a master's at a school of international affairs (SAIS, Fletcher, Georgetown SFS, Columbia SIPA, Princeton SPIA, Harvard Kennedy, MIIS Monterey) or the Foreign Service Officer track with FSOT exam prep, if your target school's 05.0199 program has a defensible regional focus and a course list you can articulate to recruiters, and if the $58,529 bachelor's five-year median is an acceptable starting point given graduate study is the typical follow-on.

Think twice if you already know the specific region you want — Asian Studies/Civilization (433 completions), East Asian Studies (220), Latin American Studies (130), Near and Middle Eastern Studies (97), or African Studies (80) will read more cleanly on a transcript than the 05.0199 catchall, and the graduate-school destinations from those tracks are better-mapped. Reconsider also if you want the major to map directly to a named occupation: the only career destination tracked in the packet is postsecondary teaching at $84,290, which requires a doctorate, and there is no bachelor's-level occupational match. Students hoping for a clear job pipeline straight out of undergrad should stack this major with a second skill — economics, computer science, finance, public health, or business — or plan explicitly for a master's in international affairs, the Foreign Service exam track, or a Critical Language Scholarship plus fieldwork before graduate school.

Section 6 · Where to study

Top colleges for Area Studies, Other

Ranked by annual completions at the associate's or bachelor's level — a proxy for program scale.

College Location Assoc. Bach. Total
University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA 0 98 98
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC 0 71 71
University of Missouri-Columbia Columbia, MO 0 55 55
Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA 0 33 33
Duke University Durham, NC 0 29 29
Utah State University Logan, UT 0 24 24
University of South Carolina-Columbia Columbia, SC 0 22 22
William & Mary Williamsburg, VA 0 15 15
Santa Rosa Junior College Santa Rosa, CA 7 0 7
Chabot College Hayward, CA 7 0 7
Section 7 · Explore sideways

Related majors to explore

Multi-/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other

22,721 completions/yr

American/United States Studies/Civilization

721 completions/yr

Asian Studies/Civilization

433 completions/yr

East Asian Studies

220 completions/yr

Latin American Studies

130 completions/yr

Near and Middle Eastern Studies

97 completions/yr

African Studies

80 completions/yr

French Studies

52 completions/yr
Section 9 · Frequently asked

Common questions

What does an Area Studies, Other major actually cover day-to-day?
The CIP definition is deliberately broad: any instructional program in specifically defined area studies not listed above. In practice, the major is organized around a region — sometimes a sub-region, a transnational zone like the Mediterranean or the Black Sea, or a thematic regional focus that doesn't fit a named CIP. Expect a mix of history, political science, anthropology, literature, and at least one regional language. Strong programs require B2- or C1-level fluency in the area's working language by graduation.
How does this compare to named area-studies CIPs like Asian Studies or Latin American Studies?
The named siblings inside CIP family 05.01 are more focused: American/United States Studies (05.0102) carries 721 annual completions, Asian Studies/Civilization (05.0103) 433, East Asian Studies (05.0104) 220, Latin American Studies (05.0107) 130, Near and Middle Eastern Studies (05.0108) 97, African Studies (05.0101) 80, and French Studies (05.0124) 52. The 05.0199 code, with 451 completions across 84 colleges, is what schools use when a program defines its own region — say, Mediterranean Studies, Black Sea Studies, Global South Studies, or a custom transnational track — that doesn't map onto a named CIP. A named code usually reads cleaner on transcripts and graduate applications; the Other code signals an institutionally designed region.
What kinds of jobs do graduates actually end up in?
The packet lists only one direct occupational match: area, ethnic, and cultural studies teachers, postsecondary, at $84,290 median wage and a doctoral typical-entry credential. That is not a bachelor's-level destination. In practice, bachelor's completers move into research-assistant roles at think tanks (Brookings, RAND, CSIS, Carnegie Endowment, CFR), program coordinator slots at NGOs and INGOs (CARE, IRC, Mercy Corps), entry-level analyst roles at the State Department or USAID via internships and the Pathways program, language-localization and translation work, regional-affairs slots at multinationals, and ESL/EFL teaching abroad. Wages at 22 typically run $40-55K. The bigger arc — Foreign Service Officer, intelligence-community analyst, NGO country director, international-bank regional analyst — usually requires a master's from SAIS, Fletcher, Georgetown SFS, Columbia SIPA, Princeton SPIA, Harvard Kennedy, or MIIS Monterey, after which mid-career compensation lands $70-110K and senior tracks reach $130-180K over a 10-15 year arc.
Is the bachelor's a standalone credential or a graduate-school launching pad?
Mostly a launching pad. The packet's $58,529 five-year median sits modestly above many liberal-arts averages but below most STEM and business benchmarks, and the only career destination tracked in the packet requires a doctorate. The conventional path is bachelor's plus two years of fieldwork or a Critical Language Scholarship plus a two-year MA at a school of international affairs. The Foreign Service Officer track itself runs FSOT exam, FSOA assessment, conditional offer, then medical and security clearance — language bonus points for Arabic, Mandarin, Russian, Farsi, Korean, and other critical languages can be the difference between a register call and the cutoff. If you want the bachelor's to do the career mapping for you, this is not the right code.
How much does language fluency actually matter for ROI?
Almost everything. Area Studies, Other compensation outcomes split sharply on whether a graduate builds credible B2- or C1-level fluency in the region's working language. Without it, the degree reads as humanities-generalist and competes with English-major graduates for the same entry-level roles. With it, the graduate qualifies for State Department language-bonus points (worth up to 17 of 100 register points on the FSOT track), translation and localization roles that pay 15-30 percent above generalist analyst slots, and regional-affairs positions at multinationals where the language premium is real. FLAS Fellowship support — federal Title VI funding for less-commonly-taught languages — is worth applying for early. Critical-language priorities include Arabic, Mandarin, Farsi, Russian, Korean, Portuguese, Hindi-Urdu, and Swahili.
Should I worry about machine translation and AI displacing this field?
Partially. Machine translation has closed most of the gap on routine document translation, and large language models handle competent first-pass summary of regional press. The durable lanes are high-context cultural translation where ambiguity matters, regional-policy analysis that depends on relationships and on-the-ground source networks, fieldwork-driven research, and language pedagogy. The fragile lanes are routine localization, generalist briefings, and entry-level desk-research roles where AI is a serviceable substitute. The honest read is to stack this major with a second skill — economics, computer science, finance, public health, or business — so the regional knowledge translates into employment outside the small area-studies-only labor market.
Why does this CIP exist if the named area-studies codes already do?
Mostly administrative. Universities use 05.0199 when a program defines a region the federal taxonomy doesn't name — Mediterranean Studies, Caspian Studies, Global South or Transatlantic tracks, comparative regional programs, or a custom interdisciplinary regional concentration. The 451 national completions across 84 colleges are thin and reflect classification choices more than a single small-cohort design. Top issuers in the packet are flagship publics — University of Washington-Seattle (98), University of North Carolina Chapel Hill (71), University of Missouri-Columbia (55), Virginia Commonwealth University (33), and Duke (29) — followed by William & Mary, Utah State, and South Carolina-Columbia. The transcript label depends on what the institution chose to call its program.