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Clinical research specialist education requirements
Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read
There are several educational requirements to become a clinical research specialist. Clinical research specialists usually study biology, psychology, or nursing. 64% of clinical research specialists hold a bachelor's degree, and 15% hold an master's degree. We analyzed 750 real clinical research specialist resumes to see exactly what clinical research specialist education sections show.
The most common colleges for clinical research specialists are the University of Maryland - College Park and the University of Maryland - College Park.
There are also many online clinical research specialist courses to help get the education required to be a clinical research specialist.
There are certain clinical research specialist certifications that you should consider. These clinical research specialist certifications include Certified Clinical Research Professional (CCRP) and Certified Clinical Research Coordinator (CCRC).
What education do you need to become a clinical research specialist?
What degree do you need to be a clinical research specialist?
- Bachelor's, 64%
- Master's, 15%
- Associate, 8%
- Doctorate, 8%
- Other Degrees, 5%
What should I major in to become a clinical research specialist?
- Biology, 16%
- Psychology, 15%
- Nursing, 13%
- Business, 8%
- Other Majors, 48%
Most common colleges for clinical research specialists
| Clinical research specialist common college | Percentages |
|---|---|
| University of Maryland - College Park | 8.74% |
| Benedictine University | 6.80% |
| University of Arizona | 6.80% |
| University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | 6.80% |
| Boston University | 5.83% |
Best majors for clinical research specialists
| Rank | Major | Percentages |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Biology | 15.9% |
| 2 | Psychology | 14.7% |
| 3 | Nursing | 13.5% |
| 4 | Business | 8.4% |
| 5 | Medicine | 8.0% |
Best colleges for clinical research specialists
The best colleges for clinical research specialists are University of Pennsylvania, Stanford University, and Northwestern University.
A clinical research 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 clinical research 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 clinical research specialists.
1. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
In-state tuition
$55,584
Enrollment
10,764
2. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$56,225
Enrollment
19,548
3. SUNY at Binghamton
Vestal, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$9,808
Enrollment
13,990
4. San Diego State University
San Diego, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$7,488
Enrollment
30,018
5. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$51,354
Enrollment
7,083
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. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Minneapolis, MN • Private
In-state tuition
$14,760
Enrollment
31,451
9. Duke University
Durham, NC • Private
In-state tuition
$55,695
Enrollment
6,596
10. SUNY at Buffalo
Buffalo, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$10,099
Enrollment
21,404
20 best online courses for clinical research specialists
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1. Clinical Trials Data Management and Quality Assurance
In this course, you’ll learn to collect and care for the data gathered during your trial and how to prevent mistakes and errors through quality assurance practices. Clinical trials generate an enormous amount of data, so you and your team must plan carefully by choosing the right collection instruments, systems, and measures to protect the integrity of your trial data. You’ll learn how to assemble, clean, and de-identify your datasets. Finally, you’ll learn to find and correct deficiencies...
2. Making Data Science Work for Clinical Reporting
This course is aimed to demonstate how principles and methods from data science can be applied in clinical reporting. By the end of the course, learners will understand what requirements there are in reporting clinical trials, and how they impact on how data science is used. The learner will see how they can work efficiently and effectively while still ensuring that they meet the needed standards...
3. Good Clinical Practice ICH GCP for Clinical Research
Certification on ICH GCP E6 R2 Good Clinical Practice for Clinical Research The Only Complete Course You Can Find Online...
4. Basic of Clinical Data Management
Clinical Data Management...
5. Clinical Trials Operations
This specialization is designed for individuals and teams that will be running or interacting with clinical trials. In four courses, learners will develop insights and build the skills they need to design, manage, and monitor clinical trials as well as analyze, document, and communicate the results. Learners will also learn best practices regarding ethics, safety, participant recruitment, regulatory compliance, and reporting standards. The core principles and skills of the specialization will...
6. Understanding Clinical Research: Behind the Statistics
If you’ve ever skipped over the results section of a medical paper because terms like “confidence interval” or “p-value” go over your head, then you’re in the right place. You may be a clinical practitioner reading research articles to keep up-to-date with developments in your field or a medical student wondering how to approach your own research. Greater confidence in understanding statistical analysis and the results can benefit both working professionals and those undertaking research...
7. Good Clinical Practice for Clinical Research Professionals
The Complete, Certified ICH GCP (R2 & R3) Course for Investigators, Study Coordinators, Sponsors, Monitors and Study staff...
8. The Beginners Course for Clinical Research
The Essentials of Clinical Trials - Clinical Research for Beginners...
9. Clinical Data Science
Are you interested in how to use data generated by doctors, nurses, and the healthcare system to improve the care of future patients? If so, you may be a future clinical data scientist!\n\nThis specialization provides learners with hands on experience in use of electronic health records and informatics tools to perform clinical data science. This series of six courses is designed to augment learner’s existing skills in statistics and programming to provide examples of specific challenges,...
10. Clinical Trials Analysis, Monitoring, and Presentation
In this course, you’ll learn more advanced operational skills that you and your team need to run a successful clinical trial. You’ll learn about the computation of sample size and how to develop a sample size calculation that’s suitable for your trial design and outcome measures. You’ll also learn to use statistical methods to monitor your trial for safety, integrity, and efficacy. Next, you’ll learn how to report the results from your clinical trials through both journal articles and data...
11. Certificate Course in Clinical Research (CCCR)
A Clinical Research Course-ICH-GCP E6(R2), Clinical Trials, Essential Documents, Sponsor, Investigator, Pharmaceuticals...
12. The Simplest Guide to Clinical Trials Data Analysis with SAS
Step into the world of Pharmaceutical industry Clinical Trials Clinical Research Biostatistics Clinical SAS SAS...
13. Introduction to Clinical Data Science
This course will prepare you to complete all parts of the Clinical Data Science Specialization. In this course you will learn how clinical data are generated, the format of these data, and the ethical and legal restrictions on these data. You will also learn enough SQL and R programming skills to be able to complete the entire Specialization - even if you are a beginner programmer. While you are taking this course you will have access to an actual clinical data set and a free, online...
14. Design and Conduct of Clinical Trials
In this course, you’ll learn how to design and carry out clinical trials. Each design choice has implications for the quality and validity of your results. This course provides you and your team with essential skills to evaluate options, make good design choices, and implement them within your trial. You’ll learn to control for bias, randomize participants, mask treatments and outcomes, identify errors, develop and test hypotheses, and define appropriate outcomes. Finally, a trial without...
15. Clinical Research for beginners
The Art of Publishing - Master Pub Med, Study design, Biostatistics, Journal choice, Manuscript writing & Referencing...
16. Good Clinical Practice (GCP)
Key features of the GCP guideline, roles and responsibilities involved and the requirements of essential documentation...
17. Predictive Modeling and Transforming Clinical Practice
This course teaches you the fundamentals of transforming clinical practice using predictive models. This course examines specific challenges and methods of clinical implementation, that clinical data scientists must be aware of when developing their predictive models...
18. Clinical Natural Language Processing
This course teaches you the fundamentals of clinical natural language processing (NLP). In this course you will learn the basic linguistic principals underlying NLP, as well as how to write regular expressions and handle text data in R. You will also learn practical techniques for text processing to be able to extract information from clinical notes. Finally, you will have a chance to put your skills to the test with a real-world practical application where you develop text processing...
19. Clinical Kidney, Pancreas and Islet Transplantation
Kidney transplantation is a major advance of modern medicine which provides high-quality of life for patients with end-stage renal disease. What used to be an experimental, risky, and very limited treatment option more than 50 years ago is now routinely performed in many countries worldwide. The number of renal transplants is expected to rise sharply in the next decade since the proportion of patients with end stage renal disease is increasing. Are you interested in clinical kidney, pancreas...
20. Informed Clinical Decision Making using Deep Learning
This specialisation is for learners with experience in programming that are interested in expanding their skills in applying deep learning in Electronic Health Records and with a focus on how to translate their models into Clinical Decision Support Systems.\n\nThe main areas that would explore are:\n\nData mining of Clinical Databases: Ethics, MIMIC III database, International Classification of Disease System and definition of common clinical outcomes. Deep learning in Electronic Health...
Top 10 most affordable universities for clinical research specialists
The most affordable schools for clinical research specialists are SUNY Farmingdale, university of florida, and california state university - bakersfield.
If the best universities for clinical research specialists 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 research specialists.
1. SUNY Farmingdale
Farmingdale, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$8,306
Cost of attendance
16,091
2. University of Florida
Gainesville, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$6,381
Cost of attendance
21,034
3. California State University - Bakersfield
Bakersfield, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$7,309
Cost of attendance
16,714
4. California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,798
Cost of attendance
18,306
5. California State University - Dominguez Hills
Carson, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,942
Cost of attendance
14,469
6. California State University - Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,749
Cost of attendance
14,823
7. Brigham Young University
Provo, UT • Private
In-state tuition
$5,620
Cost of attendance
18,136
8. Florida International University
Miami, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$6,556
Cost of attendance
19,434
9. Lehman College of the City University of New York
Bronx, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$7,210
Cost of attendance
14,359
10. Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$5,656
Cost of attendance
21,623
Top 10 hardest universities to get into for clinical research specialists
The hardest universities for clinical research specialists to get into are University of Pennsylvania, Stanford University, and Northwestern University.
Some great schools for clinical research 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 clinical research 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
8%
SAT average
1,492
2. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
Admissions rate
4%
SAT average
1,497
3. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
Admissions rate
8%
SAT average
1,508
4. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
Admissions rate
13%
SAT average
1,445
5. Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN • Private
Admissions rate
10%
SAT average
1,514
6. New York University
New York, NY • Private
Admissions rate
20%
SAT average
1,419
7. Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD • Private
Admissions rate
11%
SAT average
1,513
8. Duke University
Durham, NC • Private
Admissions rate
9%
SAT average
1,516
9. Yale University
New Haven, CT • Private
Admissions rate
6%
SAT average
1,517
10. George Washington University, The
Washington, DC • Private
Admissions rate
42%
SAT average
1,380
Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for clinical research specialists
The easiest schools for clinical research specialists to get into are D'Youville College, curry college, and barry university.
Some schools are much easier to get into. If you want to start your career as a clinical research specialist 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 research specialists.
1. D'Youville College
Buffalo, NY • Private
Admissions rate
100%
SAT average
1,072
2. Curry College
Milton, MA • Private
Admissions rate
93%
SAT average
1,026
3. Barry University
Miami, FL • Private
Admissions rate
91%
SAT average
1,006
4. Felician University
Lodi, NJ • Private
Admissions rate
81%
SAT average
999
5. Oklahoma Wesleyan University
Bartlesville, OK • Private
Admissions rate
68%
SAT average
964
6. University of the Incarnate Word
San Antonio, TX • Private
Admissions rate
88%
SAT average
1,044
7. Notre Dame College
Cleveland, OH • Private
Admissions rate
90%
SAT average
994
8. Holy Names University
Oakland, CA • Private
Admissions rate
70%
SAT average
849
9. Saint Joseph's College of Maine
Standish, ME • Private
Admissions rate
84%
SAT average
1,069
10. Ursuline College
Pepper Pike, OH • Private
Admissions rate
90%
SAT average
1,102
Average clinical research specialist salary by education level
| Clinical research specialist education level | Clinical research specialist salary |
|---|---|
| Master's Degree | $73,866 |
| High School Diploma or Less | $54,061 |
| Bachelor's Degree | $66,640 |
| Doctorate Degree | $78,482 |
| Some College/ Associate Degree | $56,655 |
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Updated January 8, 2025
Updated January 8, 2025