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Market Development Specialist Education Requirements

Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read

There are several educational requirements to become a market development specialist. Market development specialists usually study business, marketing, or communication. 78% of market development specialists hold a bachelor's degree, and 13% hold an master's degree. We analyzed 515 real market development specialist resumes to see exactly what market development specialist education sections show.

The most common colleges for market development specialists are the Canisius College and the Canisius College.

There are also many online market development specialist courses to help get the education required to be a market development specialist.

What education do you need to become a market development specialist?

What degree do you need to be a market development specialist?

The most common degree for market development specialists is bachelor's degree, with 78% of market development specialists earning that degree. The second and third most common degree levels are master's degree degree at 13% and master's degree degree at 7%.
  • Bachelor's, 78%
  • Master's, 13%
  • Associate, 7%
  • Doctorate, 1%
  • Other Degrees, 1%

What should I major in to become a market development specialist?

You should major in business to become a market development specialist. 29% of market development specialists major in business. Other common majors for a market development specialist include marketing and communication.

Most common colleges for market development specialists

Market development specialists often get their degrees at Canisius College, New York University, and SUNY Buffalo State. Here are the most common colleges for market development specialists in the US based on their resumes.
Market Development Specialist Common CollegePercentages
Canisius College14.44%
New York University10.00%
SUNY Buffalo State7.78%
Niagara University7.78%
Temple University4.44%

Best majors for market development specialists

RankMajorPercentages
1Business29.5%
2Marketing13.1%
3Communication6.7%
4Management5.4%
5Economics4.5%

Best colleges for market development specialists

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

A market development 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 market development 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 market development specialists.

1. University of Georgia

Athens, GA • Private

In-State Tuition

$11,830

Enrollment

29,474

2. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

3. University of Wisconsin - Madison

Madison, WI • Private

In-State Tuition

$10,555

Enrollment

30,360

4. University of Maryland - College Park

College Park, MD • Private

In-State Tuition

$10,595

Enrollment

30,184

5. Ball State University

Muncie, IN • Private

In-State Tuition

$9,896

Enrollment

15,529

6. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-State Tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

7. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

Minneapolis, MN • Private

In-State Tuition

$14,760

Enrollment

31,451

8. University of Nebraska - Lincoln

Lincoln, NE • Private

In-State Tuition

$9,242

Enrollment

20,592

9. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

10. Purdue University

West Lafayette, IN • Private

In-State Tuition

$9,992

Enrollment

33,495

20 best online courses for market development specialists

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1. Data Analysis Immersive (Full-time)

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2. Data Analytics (Part Time)

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Use Python, SQL and Statistics to advance your programming skills and refine your ability to work with messy, complex datasets...

4. Marketing Analytics

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Gain an in-depth understanding of Google Analytics and marketing analytics. Analyze data and build models with Excel, Data Studio, and create informative data visualizations with Tableau...

5. Salesforce Sales Development Representative

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If you’ve always wanted a rewarding career, the tech sales industry may be the path for you. If you’re an ambitious problem-solver who likes to win, you’ll find tech sales not only fulfilling, but lucrative as well. As the tech industry continuously introduces innovative services and products, tech sales roles have become more crucial than ever. SDRs are in the front lines of the tech biz, connecting with customers and clients, and coming up with the smartest solutions for their problems. Sales...

6. HubSpot Sales Representative

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Whether you're completely new to sales and looking to start a new career, or you want to grow in your current sales role, this five-course career training program from the inbound sales experts at HubSpot can help you reach your career goals.\n\nYou’ll start by learning the basics of sales enablement and how sales and marketing teams can collaborate to create and keep relationships with their targeted buyers. You’ll develop data-driven sales goals and influential content to enable you to...

7. Sales Fire: B2B Sales & Business Development for Startups

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8. The Complete Sales Skills Master Class - Sales Marketing B2B

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9. Digital Marketing (Part Time)

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Build confidence and capability to apply modern marketing strategies on the job. Drive growth with multichannel campaigns powered by data and customer insight. This course is offered in person and live online, in a remote classroom setting...

10. Intro to Data Analytics

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Discover if data is a career fit for you Regardless of your industry or role, fluency in the language of data analytics will allow you to contribute to data driven decision making. In this free, two-hour livestream, you’ll learn to understand, analyze, and interpret data so you too can join the data conversation. We’ll cover how to ask the right questions of your data and basic analytic functionality. Then you’ll apply your new found data analytic skills to a real-world dataset, allowing you...

11. Data Structures and Algorithms

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Get hands-on practice with over 80 data structures and algorithm exercises and guidance from a dedicated mentor to help prepare you for interviews and on-the-job scenarios...

12. Data Visualization

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You will start by building data visualizations and dashboards, considering your audiences to be as effective as possible. Then, you’ll move into drafting presentations using storytelling techniques, visualizations, and animations to provide data-driven recommendations...

13. Sales and Marketing For Online Businesses

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4
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A Beginners Guide To Sales & Marketing For Your Online Business And Ventures...

14. Business Development & B2B Sales for Startups- Sales Valley

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The Complete Startup Playbook for Business Development & B2B Sales to learn Lead Generation, Pitching, & Closing Deals...

15. Digital Marketing

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Gain real-world experience running live campaigns as you learn from top experts in the field. Launch your career with a 360-degree understanding of digital marketing...

16. Intro to Data Analysis

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Start your data science journey right with this hands-on introduction to the discipline of data analysis. In this course you'll learn the 5 key stages of the data analysis process and apply them to real data sets using Python libraries NumPy, pandas, and Matplotlib...

17. Business Mind - Mastering Business Development

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Master in Practice the Product, Sales and Marketing Perspective of Business Development...

18. Product Marketing Launch Plan: Product GTM with Dekker, MBA

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Product Management Marketing Strategy, Marketing Plan, Product Marketing Manager, Product Manager Marketing Plan...

19. Data Visualization

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Discover how data visualization can communicate insights far more effectively than text or tables. In this course, you’ll learn how to build data visualizations programmatically using Python, and how you can use visualization to both discover and convey trends in your data...

20. Experimental Design & Recommendations

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Learn two of the most in-demand skills in the entire field of data science! By the end of this course, you’ll know how to generate personalized recommendations based on user data, as well as run statistically valid tests that produce clean, interpretable results...

Top 10 most affordable universities for market development specialists

The most affordable schools for market development specialists are SUNY Farmingdale, fashion institute of technology, and baruch college of the city university of new york.

If the best universities for market development 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 market development specialists.

1. SUNY Farmingdale

Farmingdale, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$8,306

Cost of Attendance

16,091

2. Fashion Institute of Technology

New York, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$5,740

Cost of Attendance

17,864

3. Baruch College of the City University of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$7,262

Cost of Attendance

14,046

4. University of Florida

Gainesville, FL • Private

In-State Tuition

$6,381

Cost of Attendance

21,034

5. Florida State University

Tallahassee, FL • Private

In-State Tuition

$5,656

Cost of Attendance

21,623

6. California State University - Bakersfield

Bakersfield, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$7,309

Cost of Attendance

16,714

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. Brigham Young University

Provo, UT • Private

In-State Tuition

$5,620

Cost of Attendance

18,136

10. California State University - Fresno

Fresno, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$6,587

Cost of Attendance

16,915

Top 10 hardest universities to get into for market development specialists

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

Some great schools for market development 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 market development 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. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

Admissions Rate

8%

SAT Average

1,508

2. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

Admissions Rate

8%

SAT Average

1,492

3. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

Admissions Rate

4%

SAT Average

1,497

4. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

Admissions Rate

13%

SAT Average

1,445

5. Boston University

Boston, MA • Private

Admissions Rate

22%

SAT Average

1,420

6. Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN • Private

Admissions Rate

10%

SAT Average

1,514

7. Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD • Private

Admissions Rate

11%

SAT Average

1,513

8. Villanova University

Villanova, PA • Private

Admissions Rate

29%

SAT Average

1,407

9. Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, PA • Private

Admissions Rate

17%

SAT Average

1,507

10. Washington University in St Louis

Saint Louis, MO • Private

Admissions Rate

15%

SAT Average

1,506

Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for market development specialists

The easiest schools for market development specialists to get into are Oklahoma Wesleyan University, lim college, and university of the incarnate word.

Some schools are much easier to get into. If you want to start your career as a market development 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 market development specialists.

1. Oklahoma Wesleyan University

Bartlesville, OK • Private

Admissions Rate

68%

SAT Average

964

2. LIM College

New York, NY • Private

Admissions Rate

83%

SAT Average

1,061

3. University of the Incarnate Word

San Antonio, TX • Private

Admissions Rate

88%

SAT Average

1,044

4. Notre Dame College

Cleveland, OH • Private

Admissions Rate

90%

SAT Average

994

5. Kean University

Union, NJ • Private

Admissions Rate

86%

SAT Average

991

6. Holy Names University

Oakland, CA • Private

Admissions Rate

70%

SAT Average

849

7. Ursuline College

Pepper Pike, OH • Private

Admissions Rate

90%

SAT Average

1,102

8. Iona College

New Rochelle, NY • Private

Admissions Rate

88%

SAT Average

1,089

9. San Francisco State University

San Francisco, CA • Private

Admissions Rate

72%

SAT Average

1,054

10. Gwynedd Mercy University

Gwynedd Valley, PA • Private

Admissions Rate

92%

SAT Average

1,031

Average market development specialist salary by education level

Market development specialists with a Doctorate degree earn more than those without, at $70,268 annually. With a Master's degree, market development specialists earn a median annual income of $69,563 compared to $60,353 for market development specialists with an Bachelor's degree.
Market Development Specialist education levelMarket Development Specialist salary
Master's Degree$69,563
Bachelor's Degree$60,353
Doctorate Degree$70,268

Market Development Specialist Education FAQs

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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
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.

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