Clinical data associate education requirements

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

There are several educational requirements to become a clinical data associate. Clinical data associates usually study biology, business, or psychology. 72% of clinical data associates hold a bachelor's degree, and 12% hold an master's degree. We analyzed 523 real clinical data associate resumes to see exactly what clinical data associate education sections show.

The most common colleges for clinical data associates are the University of Phoenix and the University of Phoenix.

There are also many online clinical data associate courses to help get the education required to be a clinical data associate.

What education do you need to become a clinical data associate?

What degree do you need to be a clinical data associate?

The most common degree for clinical data associates is bachelor's degree, with 72% of clinical data associates earning that degree. The second and third most common degree levels are master's degree degree at 12% and master's degree degree at 11%.

Bachelor's, 72%

Master's, 12%

Associate, 11%

Diploma, 1%

Other Degrees, 4%

What should I major in to become a clinical data associate?

You should major in biology to become a clinical data associate. 19% of clinical data associates major in biology. Other common majors for a clinical data associate include business and psychology.

Biology, 19%

Business, 17%

Psychology, 15%

Health Care Administration, 9%

Other Majors, 40%

Most common colleges for clinical data associates

Clinical data associates often get their degrees at University of Phoenix, Southern Connecticut State University, and University of California - Davis. Here are the most common colleges for clinical data associates in the US based on their resumes.

Clinical data associate common college	Percentages
University of Phoenix	16.46%
Southern Connecticut State University	7.59%
University of California - Davis	6.33%
North Carolina Central University	6.33%
Temple University	5.06%

Show more common clinical data associate colleges

Best majors for clinical data associates

Rank	Major	Percentages
1	Biology	19.2%
2	Business	16.7%
3	Psychology	14.5%
4	Health Care Administration	8.5%
5	Sociology	4.7%

Show more common clinical data associate majors

Best colleges for clinical data associates

The best colleges for clinical data associates are Stanford University, University of Pennsylvania, and Northwestern University.

A clinical data associate with advanced education typically earns a higher salary and has access to better jobs. That's why Zippia looked into the best colleges for clinical data associates. 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 clinical data associates.

1. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-state tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

2. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

3. California State University - Bakersfield

Bakersfield, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$7,309

Enrollment

9,142

4. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$56,225

Enrollment

19,548

5. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, MI • Private

In-state tuition

$15,262

Enrollment

30,079

6. SUNY Stony Brook

Stony Brook, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$9,625

Enrollment

17,407

7. New York University

New York, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$51,828

Enrollment

26,339

8. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-state tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

9. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

Minneapolis, MN • Private

In-state tuition

$14,760

Enrollment

31,451

10. Georgetown University

Washington, DC • Private

In-state tuition

$54,104

Enrollment

7,089

20 best online courses for clinical data associates

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3. Basic of Clinical Data Management

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Understand key concepts, principles and terminology related to Data Quality...

14. Statistics / Data Analysis: Survey Data and Likert Scales

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How to Process Survey Data and Analyze Likert Scales In SPSS...

15. Statistical Data Analysis with SAS

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Understanding the Data Flow in SAS: Learn SAS Programming from Data Importing, Management, Manipulation to Data Analysis...

16. 4x1 Data Management/Governance/Security/Ethics Masterclass

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Learn GCS for Data Lake, Big Query for Data Warehouse, GCP Dataproc and Databricks for Big Data Pipelines...

18. Data Quality Masterclass - The Complete Course

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Learn Data Quality Management from A to Z. This complete guide covers all Data Quality Principles, Techniques and more...

19. Data Science:Data Mining & Natural Language Processing in R

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Harness the Power of Machine Learning in R for Data/Text Mining, & Natural Language Processing with Practical Examples...

20. Data Science for Professionals

4.2

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It's time to leave spreadsheets behind.....

Top 10 most affordable universities for clinical data associates

The most affordable schools for clinical data associates are University of Florida, california state university - bakersfield, and hunter college of the city university of new york.

If the best universities for clinical data associates are out of your price range, check out these affordable schools. After factoring in in-state tuition and fees, the average cost of attendance, admissions rate, average net price, and mean earnings after six years, we found that these are the most affordable schools for clinical data associates.

1. University of Florida

Gainesville, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$6,381

Cost of attendance

21,034

2. California State University - Bakersfield

Bakersfield, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$7,309

Cost of attendance

16,714

3. Hunter College of the City University of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$7,182

Cost of attendance

13,998

4. SUNY Farmingdale

Farmingdale, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$8,306

Cost of attendance

16,091

5. Baruch College of the City University of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$7,262

Cost of attendance

14,046

6. University of South Florida

Tampa, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$6,410

Cost of attendance

20,456

7. California State University - Long Beach

Long Beach, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,798

Cost of attendance

18,306

8. California State University - Dominguez Hills

Carson, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,942

Cost of attendance

14,469

9. California State University - Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,749

Cost of attendance

14,823

10. Florida International University

Miami, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$6,556

Cost of attendance

19,434

Top 10 hardest universities to get into for clinical data associates

The hardest universities for clinical data associates to get into are Stanford University, University of Pennsylvania, and Northwestern University.

Some great schools for clinical data associates 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 clinical data associates 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. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

Admissions rate

SAT average

1,497

2. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

Admissions rate

SAT average

1,492

3. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

Admissions rate

SAT average

1,508

4. Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY • Private

Admissions rate

SAT average

1,512

5. Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD • Private

Admissions rate

11%

SAT average

1,513

6. Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN • Private

Admissions rate

10%

SAT average

1,514

7. Georgetown University

Washington, DC • Private

Admissions rate

15%

SAT average

1,456

8. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

Admissions rate

13%

SAT average

1,445

9. Northeastern University

Boston, MA • Private

Admissions rate

19%

SAT average

1,466

10. New York University

New York, NY • Private

Admissions rate

20%

SAT average

1,419

Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for clinical data associates

The easiest schools for clinical data associates to get into are D'Youville College, barry university, and mount saint mary's university.

Some schools are much easier to get into. If you want to start your career as a clinical data associate without much hassle, check out the list of schools where you will be accepted in no time. We compiled admissions rates, average SAT scores, average ACT scores, and average salary of students six years after graduation to uncover which were the easiest schools to get into for clinical data associates.

1. D'Youville College

Buffalo, NY • Private

Admissions rate

100%

SAT average

1,072

2. Barry University

Miami, FL • Private

Admissions rate

91%

SAT average

1,006

3. Mount Saint Mary's University

Los Angeles, CA • Private

Admissions rate

84%

SAT average

1,031

4. Gwynedd Mercy University

Gwynedd Valley, PA • Private

Admissions rate

92%

SAT average

1,031

5. Felician University

Lodi, NJ • Private

Admissions rate

81%

SAT average

999

6. AdventHealth University

Orlando, FL • Private

Admissions rate

87%

SAT average

1,016

7. Oklahoma Wesleyan University

Bartlesville, OK • Private

Admissions rate

68%

SAT average

964

8. Notre Dame College

Cleveland, OH • Private

Admissions rate

90%

SAT average

994

9. Our Lady of the Lake University

San Antonio, TX • Private

Admissions rate

93%

SAT average

1,002

10. Ottawa University

Ottawa, KS • Private

Admissions rate

78%

SAT average

1,024

Average clinical data associate salary by education level

Clinical data associates with a Doctorate degree earn more than those without, at $136,899 annually. With a Master's degree, clinical data associates earn a median annual income of $111,614 compared to $95,614 for clinical data associates with an Bachelor's degree.

Clinical data associate education level	Clinical data associate salary
Master's Degree	$111,614
Bachelor's Degree	$95,614
Doctorate Degree	$136,899

Clinical data associate education FAQs

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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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