Acquisition specialist education requirements

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

There are several educational requirements to become an acquisition specialist. Acquisition specialists usually study business, marketing, or management. 63% of acquisition specialists hold a bachelor's degree, and 15% hold an associate degree. We analyzed 2,098 real acquisition specialist resumes to see exactly what acquisition specialist education sections show.

The most common colleges for acquisition specialists are the University of Phoenix and the University of Phoenix.

There are also many online acquisition specialist courses to help get the education required to be an acquisition specialist.

What education do you need to become an acquisition specialist?

What degree do you need to be an acquisition specialist?

The most common degree for acquisition specialists is bachelor's degree, with 63% of acquisition specialists earning that degree. The second and third most common degree levels are associate degree degree at 15% and associate degree degree at 11%.

Bachelor's, 63%

Associate, 15%

Master's, 11%

High School Diploma, 6%

Other Degrees, 5%

What should I major in to become an acquisition specialist?

You should major in business to become an acquisition specialist. 35% of acquisition specialists major in business. Other common majors for an acquisition specialist include marketing and management.

Business, 35%

Marketing, 7%

Management, 7%

Finance, 5%

Other Majors, 46%

Most common colleges for acquisition specialists

Acquisition specialists often get their degrees at University of Phoenix, University of Maryland - College Park, and American University. Here are the most common colleges for acquisition specialists in the US based on their resumes.

Acquisition specialist common college	Percentages
University of Phoenix	14.29%
University of Maryland - College Park	8.37%
American University	6.90%
Strayer University	5.91%
DeVry University	5.42%

Show more common acquisition specialist colleges

Best majors for acquisition specialists

Rank	Major	Percentages
1	Business	34.8%
2	Marketing	7.1%
3	Management	6.6%
4	Finance	5.2%
5	Accounting	5.0%

Show more common acquisition specialist majors

Best colleges for acquisition specialists

The best colleges for acquisition specialists are University of Pennsylvania, Stanford University, and Northwestern University.

An acquisition specialist with advanced education typically earns a higher salary and has access to better jobs. That's why Zippia looked into the best colleges for acquisition specialists. We based this list on several metrics: admissions rate, retention rate, mean earnings of graduates, the ratio of working vs. non-working students ten years after admission, the average cost of attendance, and median debt for graduates who become acquisition specialists.

1. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-state tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

2. Bentley University

Waltham, MA • Private

In-state tuition

$49,880

Enrollment

4,177

3. SUNY Farmingdale

Farmingdale, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$8,306

Enrollment

9,394

4. New York University

New York, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$51,828

Enrollment

26,339

5. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

Minneapolis, MN • Private

In-state tuition

$14,760

Enrollment

31,451

6. SUNY College at Plattsburgh

Plattsburgh, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$8,369

Enrollment

5,229

7. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

8. Baylor University

Waco, TX • Private

In-state tuition

$45,542

Enrollment

14,159

9. SUNY College of Technology at Alfred

Alfred, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$8,570

Enrollment

3,721

10. Syracuse University

Syracuse, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$51,853

Enrollment

14,759

20 best online courses for acquisition specialists

Advertising disclosure

1. Mergers and Acquisitions

In a post-pandemic world, companies across the globe are constantly looking to expand and grow their businesses. Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) offers many ways to achieve this goal. Through this 6-course specialization in Mergers and Acquisitions, you will gain a well-rounded knowledge of key concepts that form the foundations of a successful M&A deal.\n\nThe courses in this specialization focus on types of M&A deals and complex organizational structures. Topics covered include:\n\nHow to...

2. Remote Sensing Image Acquisition, Analysis and Applications

Welcome to Remote Sensing Image Acquisition, Analysis and Applications, in which we explore the nature of imaging the earth's surface from space or from airborne vehicles. This course covers the fundamental nature of remote sensing and the platforms and sensor types used. It also provides an in-depth treatment of the computational algorithms employed in image understanding, ranging from the earliest historically important techniques to more recent approaches based on deep learning. It assumes...

3. Real Estate Acquisitions 101

4.7

(1,176)

How To Identify Commercial Properties, Run Due Diligence, Raise Capital, and Close Commercial Real Estate Transactions...

4. Mergers & Acquisitions - M & A, Valuation & Selling a Company

4.6

(2,802)

Mergers and Acquisitions - Step by Step M & A, Company Valuation, Negotiation Skills, Business Plans and Finance...

5. The Complete Mergers & Acquisitions Master Class!

4.3

(255)

Your Comprehensive Guide to become an Expert of M & A in a very dynamic globalized Business World, ACE THE DEAL!...

6. Advanced Financial Accounting: Acquisitions & Consolidations

4.1

(703)

Acquisitions, Consolidations, and Reporting. Master complex concepts and applications...

7. M & A for Management Consultants & Business Analysts

4.5

(311)

A practical guide on how to do analyses during mergers & acquisition projects...

8. Employer Branding for Talent Acquisition

4.2

(1,519)

HR is becoming marketing - learn how to accelerate your business and career by riding this trend...

9. Real Estate Asset Management 101

4.6

(1,625)

Real Estate Asset Management Training From Acquisition, To Ownership, Through Sale For Profitable Real Estate Investing...

10. Projects Cost Management, Estimating, Budgeting and Control.

4.1

(1,381)

Learn how to estimate costs for any project, how to determine budget and how to use Earned Value Management tools. 3 PDU...

11. Learn Federal Government Contracting From An Expert

(443)

A comprehensive guide to Register, Search Opportunities, GSA, Certifications, Accounting, Marketing& Bidding to the feds...

12. The Guide To Office & Industrial Real Estate Investing

4.9

(296)

How To Analyze Office and Industrial Real Estate Investments For Smarter Investing...

13. Lead Generation & Business Development with Dekker Fraser

4.4

(388)

Customer Acquisition, B2B Marketing, Sales Funnels, Business Development, Demand Generation, Sales Funnel Marketing...

14. Project Charter Specialist (Accredited) Project Management

4.6

(552)

What is Project Charter? Components? Template? Example? Document Project Charter? Project Charter Specialist Earn PDUs...

15. IT Project Budget & Cost Management

4.4

(290)

Project Management tips to manage a million dollar IT Project budget from start to finish...

16. The Complete Guide To Analyzing Single Family Rental Homes

4.8

(708)

How To Analyze and Evaluate Single Family Rental Property Acquisition Opportunities...

17. Product Management Marketing: Dekker's Product Marketing MBA

4.6

(2,007)

Be a Product Marketing Manager - Product Management : Product Manager MBA : Product to Market : Product Owner Launch GTM...

18. TESOL Teacher Training: Second Language Acquisition (SLA)

4.4

(445)

Putting Theory Into Practice in the ESL/EFL Classroom...

19. Construction Cost Estimating and Management

4.6

(642)

Learn the tools used by construction management professionals to ensure their projects finish under budget...

20. Brief Intro to Commercial Real Estate

4.5

Brooklyn, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$7,240

Cost of attendance

13,991

7. Purdue University

West Lafayette, IN • Private

In-state tuition

$9,992

Cost of attendance

22,430

8. SUNY Polytechnic Institute

Utica, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$8,238

Cost of attendance

21,567

9. USF Sarasota-Manatee

Sarasota, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$5,587

Cost of attendance

13,043

10. Brigham Young University

Provo, UT • Private

In-state tuition

$5,620

Cost of attendance

18,136

Top 10 hardest universities to get into for acquisition specialists

The hardest universities for acquisition specialists to get into are University of Pennsylvania, Stanford University, and Northwestern University.

Some great schools for acquisition specialists are hard to get into, but they also set your career up for greater success. The list below shows the most challenging universities to get into for acquisition specialists based on an institution's admissions rates, average SAT scores accepted, median ACT scores accepted, and mean earnings of students six years after admission.

1. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

Admissions rate

SAT average

1,492

2. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

Admissions rate

SAT average

1,497

3. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

Admissions rate

SAT average

1,508

4. New York University

New York, NY • Private

Admissions rate

20%

SAT average

1,419

5. Washington University in St Louis

Saint Louis, MO • Private

Admissions rate

15%

SAT average

1,506

6. Boston University

Boston, MA • Private

Admissions rate

22%

SAT average

1,420

7. Bentley University

Waltham, MA • Private

Admissions rate

43%

SAT average

1,338

8. Fordham University

Bronx, NY • Private

Admissions rate

46%

SAT average

1,354

9. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

Admissions rate

13%

SAT average

1,445

10. Villanova University

Villanova, PA • Private

Admissions rate

29%

Aberdeen, SD • Private

Admissions rate

97%

SAT average

1,050

Average acquisition specialist salary by education level

According to our data, acquisition specialists with a Master's degree earn the highest average salary, at $88,448 annually. Acquisition specialists with a Bachelor's degree earn an average annual salary of $75,863.

Acquisition specialist education level	Acquisition specialist salary
Master's Degree	$88,448
High School Diploma or Less	$60,594
Bachelor's Degree	$75,863
Some College/ Associate Degree	$58,341

Acquisition specialist education FAQs

What is the best college for Acquisition Specialists?

Have more questions? See all answers to common business and financial questions.

Search for acquisition specialist jobs

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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