Anthropology is not classified as a STEM major in most cases. The standard anthropology degree (CIP code 45.0201) does not appear on the Department of Homeland Security’s official STEM Designated Degree Program List. However, specific subfields of anthropology do carry STEM designation, and the distinction matters more than most students realize.
Which Anthropology Subfields Qualify as STEM
The DHS maintains a list of degree programs that officially count as STEM, organized by Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) codes. Under the Social Sciences series (code 45), only a handful of anthropology-adjacent programs make the cut. Archaeology (CIP code 45.0301) is explicitly listed. So are research methodology and quantitative methods (45.0102), demography and population studies (45.0501), and geographic information science (45.0702).
General anthropology, cultural anthropology, and linguistic anthropology are absent from that list. These subfields rely primarily on qualitative research methods, ethnographic fieldwork, and interpretive analysis. They sit comfortably within the social sciences and humanities rather than the natural or computational sciences that define STEM.
Biological (or physical) anthropology occupies a gray zone. The discipline uses cell biology, molecular genetics, skeletal anatomy, and laboratory analysis. It functions like a natural science in practice. Whether it qualifies as STEM depends on how an individual university classifies the degree program and which CIP code it assigns. Some programs in biological anthropology, forensic anthropology, or bioarchaeology may be coded under biological sciences (CIP series 26) rather than social sciences, which would place them on the STEM list. You need to check your specific program’s CIP code with your university’s registrar.
Why the Classification Varies by University
Universities have some flexibility in how they assign CIP codes to their degree programs. A biological anthropology program housed in a biology department might carry a different code than one housed in a social sciences department, even if the coursework is similar. Some schools have intentionally restructured their anthropology programs or created new degree tracks specifically to qualify for STEM designation.
This means two students studying nearly identical material at different universities could have different STEM statuses on paper. If STEM designation matters to you, whether for funding, visa purposes, or career positioning, confirm your program’s exact CIP code before enrolling. The registrar’s office or your department advisor can tell you.
What STEM Designation Means for International Students
For international students on F-1 visas, this classification has real financial and career consequences. Students who graduate from a STEM-designated program can apply for a 24-month extension of their Optional Practical Training (OPT), giving them up to 36 total months of work authorization in the United States after graduation. Students in non-STEM programs get only 12 months.
To qualify for the STEM OPT extension, you need a bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree from an accredited, SEVP-certified institution, and the degree must carry a STEM-designated CIP code. Your employer must also be enrolled in E-Verify. One useful detail: if you previously earned a STEM degree from a U.S. institution and are currently on OPT based on a non-STEM degree, you may still be eligible for the extension based on that earlier STEM degree, as long as your job is directly related to it.
For a student deciding between a general anthropology program and an archaeology or biological anthropology track with STEM designation, this difference could mean an extra two years of work eligibility in the U.S.
How Federal Agencies Treat Anthropology
The picture gets more nuanced when you look beyond DHS. The National Science Foundation funds anthropological research across all four traditional subfields, including cultural anthropology. The NSF’s Cultural Anthropology Program explicitly supports “basic scientific research” that generates and tests theory about human culture and society. It sits within the Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences. The NSF also funds archaeology through a dedicated program that supports laboratory techniques like isotopic analysis, radiocarbon dating, and trace element studies.
So federal science agencies treat anthropology as a science for research funding purposes, even when the degree itself doesn’t carry STEM designation for immigration or education policy. The American Anthropological Association describes the field as drawing on “the social and biological sciences as well as the humanities and physical sciences.” Anthropology, as a discipline, deliberately straddles the line between science and the humanities. The STEM question depends less on the field’s nature and more on which bureaucratic system is doing the classifying.
Career Outlook Regardless of STEM Status
The median annual wage for anthropologists and archaeologists was $64,910 in May 2024, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The range is wide: the lowest 10 percent earned under $44,510, while the highest 10 percent earned above $104,510. Federal government positions paid the most at a median of $89,460, followed by engineering services at $63,410 and social science research organizations at $60,940. Academic positions at colleges and universities came in at $57,010.
Many anthropology graduates don’t work under the title “anthropologist.” The research, analytical, and cross-cultural skills transfer into user experience research, public health, market research, data analysis, international development, and consulting. Students in quantitative or technical subfields, particularly those with GIS skills, statistical training, or lab experience, tend to have stronger overlap with employers seeking STEM graduates. If your anthropology program emphasized qualitative methods, you may find that additional coursework in statistics, data science, or programming significantly broadens your job prospects.
How to Check Your Program’s Status
The most reliable step is straightforward: ask your university’s registrar for the six-digit CIP code assigned to your specific degree program. Then check that code against the DHS STEM Designated Degree Program List, which is publicly available and updated periodically. If your program’s code appears on the list, your degree qualifies as STEM for all federal purposes, including OPT extensions. If it doesn’t, no amount of scientific coursework within the program changes the designation.
Students who haven’t yet enrolled have more options. Look for programs explicitly marketed with STEM CIP codes, or consider degree tracks in archaeological science, biological anthropology, or forensic anthropology that are more likely to carry qualifying codes. Some universities offer dual-degree or certificate options that pair a traditional anthropology education with a STEM-designated credential.