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Major · Construction Trades

Run the site — the management track inside the trades

Building/Construction Site Management/Manager programs teach you to supervise, manage, and inspect construction sites — site safety, personnel, scheduling, documentation, and bid strategy. About 782 credentials are awarded annually across 70 colleges, the largest of the management-focused construction majors. Programs run at both associate's and bachelor's level.

Schools offering
70
Annual completions
782
Typical degree level
Associate's + Bachelor's
Median earnings (5yr)
$71k

About this major

Building/Construction Site Management/Manager programs prepare you to supervise construction sites — site safety, personnel management, scheduling, resource and cost control, bid strategies, and communication with owners, architects, and trades. The CIP definition covers applicable law and regulations, construction insurance and bonding, labor relations, and documentation. Unlike the craft-focused construction trades majors, this one is management-oriented: you learn to coordinate the work of carpenters, electricians, plumbers, and specialty trades rather than perform that work yourself. Programs typically include estimating software, scheduling tools (P6, MS Project), and construction document systems.

The major fits students who like operational coordination and want their daily work to be making things happen through other people and systems. Comfort with communication across many stakeholder types — tradespeople, owners, inspectors, architects — is central. Strong organizational skills and numeracy help, since scheduling and budget control are core responsibilities. Students who have worked on a construction site previously (summer jobs, family business, military service construction roles) often find the material clicks quickly because they know the work being managed.

About 782 credentials are awarded annually across 70 colleges — the largest of the management-focused construction majors in this concentration. Programs run at both associate's ($64,921 five-year median earnings) and bachelor's ($87,475 five-year median) levels, with top programs including The University of Texas at San Antonio (88 completions), Utah Valley University (82), and Rowan University (53). BLS destinations include first-line supervisor of construction trades at a $78,690 median (5.3% projected growth) and, for bachelor's completers, facilities manager at $104,690 (3.8% growth).

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
First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers $79k +5.3% High school diploma or equivalent
Facilities managers $105k +3.8% Bachelor's degree
Manufactured building and mobile home installers $41k +5.9% High school diploma or equivalent
Section 4 · Earnings

Earnings at a glance

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

Median 5-year earnings

$71k

Associate's vs Bachelor's — early-career earnings

Associate's

$65k

Bachelor's

$87k

Who this major is for

You may thrive here if you like operational and people-side work more than doing the craft yourself, you're comfortable communicating across tradespeople, engineers, and owners, you want a construction career that transitions off the tools over time, you're drawn to a major where the bachelor's-vs-associate's decision has a real $22,600 wage gap behind it (bachelor's $87,475 vs associate's $64,921 at five years), or you already know you're interested in the industry but not in any one specific trade. Students who enjoy running group projects or logistics tend to map naturally to the work.

Think twice if you want the craft and hands-on work itself — this major points you toward supervision and management from day one, and the jobs it feeds (first-line supervisor at $78,690, facilities manager at $104,690) are coordination roles, not tool-carrying roles. Think twice also if you want a four-year construction management degree from a large program: the related Construction Management, General major produces 3,428 completions annually at more four-year institutions and may be a better fit for that route. If the craft side is what draws you, Building Construction Technology/Technician (419 completions) is a closer mix of trades and technology without the management emphasis.

Section 6 · Where to study

Top colleges for Building/Construction Site Management/Manager

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

College Location Assoc. Bach. Total
The University of Texas at San Antonio San Antonio, TX 0 88 88
Utah Valley University Orem, UT 11 71 82
Rowan University Glassboro, NJ 0 53 53
Washtenaw Community College Ann Arbor, MI 51 0 51
Mesa Community College Mesa, AZ 38 0 38
State Technical College of Missouri Linn, MO 28 0 28
Fullerton College Fullerton, CA 27 0 27
Santa Fe College Gainesville, FL 27 0 27
Ivy Tech Community College Indianapolis, IN 26 0 26
Gwinnett Technical College Lawrenceville, GA 22 0 22
Section 7 · Explore sideways

Related majors to explore

Building Construction Technology/Technician

419 completions/yr

Building/Property Maintenance

237 completions/yr

Building/Construction Finishing, Management, and Inspection, Other

213 completions/yr

Building/Home/Construction Inspection/Inspector

77 completions/yr

Insulator

17 completions/yr

Painting/Painter and Wall Coverer

11 completions/yr

Carpet, Floor, and Tile Worker

8 completions/yr

Concrete Finishing/Concrete Finisher

6 completions/yr
Section 9 · Frequently asked

Common questions

What do construction management majors study?
Coursework moves from construction fundamentals into site safety, personnel supervision, labor relations, construction documentation, scheduling, resource and cost control, bid strategies, and communication skills. Programs also cover construction insurance and bonding, applicable law and regulations, and accident management. The emphasis is management, not trades craft — you're learning how to coordinate the work of carpenters, electricians, and plumbers rather than do their work yourself. Many programs include internship or capstone placement with a general contractor.
Is a bachelor's worth it, or is the associate's enough?
This is one of the few construction majors where both degree levels are offered, and the choice matters. Associate's completers in this data report five-year median earnings of about $64,900; bachelor's completers report $87,500 — a $22,600 gap that pays for the extra two years in under four years of earning, assuming you don't also take on debt for the bachelor's. The bachelor's track opens up the facilities manager destination (BLS $104,690 median, listed as bachelor's-typical entry education). If your goal is estimating, project management, or management at larger GCs, the bachelor's path is well-supported by the earnings data.
What jobs do graduates actually get?
The primary destination is first-line supervisor of construction trades and extraction workers, at a BLS median wage of $78,690 with 5.3% projected growth. A bachelor's-track destination is facilities manager at $104,690 with 3.8% growth, which BLS lists as requiring a bachelor's degree. Graduates work for general contractors, specialty contractors, construction management firms, and increasingly as owner's representatives. The major also feeds into assistant project manager roles, construction estimating, and scheduling specialist positions — all of which advance from the coursework you've already done.
How competitive is the job market?
The 5.3% projected growth for construction supervisors is slightly above the economy-wide average, and the underlying construction industry has durable long-term demand from housing, infrastructure, and commercial development. The 782 annual completions for this major are meaningful but not oversupplied — the number is distributed across associate's and bachelor's tracks, and the industry absorbs graduates through multiple channels including promotion from the trades. The competitive threat comes less from other new graduates than from experienced tradespeople who move into supervision without a formal management credential.
Should I consider this over a general construction management major?
The related major Construction Management, General (not in this concentration) produces about 3,428 completions annually — much larger and more oriented toward four-year construction management degrees. Building/Construction Site Management at 782 completions sits closer to the trades side, with more program options at the associate's level. If you're sure you want to go straight to a four-year degree in construction management and target larger GCs, the general construction management track has more scale. If you want flexibility to start at the associate's level or prefer a program with closer ties to trade instruction, this major fits better.