Here’s everything about tech majors which require the least math:
Degrees in the field of IT and engineering technology degrees are technical areas of study that tend to require a lot less math than the average STEM major.
Bioinformatics and management science are two scientific fields that also require a lot less math.
Even so, many of these majors require introductory calculus.
So if you want to learn all about which tech majors require the least amount of math, then this article is for you.
Let’s dig right into it!
What Are Tech Majors?
This question is bigger than it might seem because there are a lot of different ways to look at tech majors.
What would you include as a tech major?
Is it anything regarded as a STEM degree?
Is it narrower than that?
Does it include any major with an emphasis on technology?
As an example, a degree in stage management is usually run through a school of fine arts, but modern stage management includes sound controls, lighting systems, and a whole lot of other technology.
Is that a tech major?
You can see why there’s a lot of room for interpretation, so I’ll break down what I am going to include as tech majors.
First, I am including all of STEM in this discussion.
Even though STEM degrees vary in how much they get into technology, they are all technical degree programs.
That’s why they’re in the STEM category.
On top of that, there are a lot of STEM-adjacent majors that might not technically be included in the STEM path.
I’m going to be including some of those too (such as graphic design).
I don’t have an exhaustive list of every non-STEM major that I went over to bring you an answer to your question.
Instead, if you see something that seems a little out of place, this is the reasoning.
So, to clarify, all science and engineering majors are on the table.
All technology majors are too, which includes IT categories across the board.
You might also see some technology-adjacent majors in this discussion.
That’s the whole list.
What Kind of Math Are We Talking About?
There’s a second issue that we should discuss before we get to the majors themselves.
When you ask about the least math requirements, what specifically does that mean?
Are you talking about the fewest number of math credit hours, or are you talking about the easiest math requirements?
In terms of credit hours, that’s going to vary wildly from one school to the next.
Just about every degree in existence will require at least college algebra, and a lot of math-light majors will make you take a little more math beyond algebra.
So, even in majors with the least math, you will see some math classes.
In my breakdown, I’m really using calculus as the deciding factor.
Degrees that don’t require any calculus are what I am considering the ones that need the least math.
If a degree does require calculus, then I’m comparing how many calculus classes are involved.
For reference, your standard set of undergraduate calculus classes includes Calc I, Calc II, Calc II, and Ordinary Differential Equations.
Beyond that list, you might also find requirements for linear algebra, complex variables, and calculus-based statistics.
These are the primary “advanced math” classes that show up in undergraduate studies (although more exist).
For my assessment, I considered any major that stops with Calc I as the most advanced math topic.
Some of the majors I’m listing don’t require Calc I, but since we are discussing tech majors, a lot of them do.
What IT Majors Require the Least Math? (3 Majors)
With all of that in mind, we can start getting into specific majors.
I’ll save science and engineering for later.
I want to start with tech majors that are specifically rooted in the study of technology.
I’m summarizing them as IT degrees, but I included technology-adjacent majors in this category too.
If you have looked into degree programs for IT, you might not be surprised to see it now.
IT is definitely a technical field, but it usually doesn’t have the same emphasis on math that you would see in most engineering and hard sciences.
That said, a lot of IT degrees do get into calculus and statistics, so I looked for degree programs that minimize the need for those classes and applications.
The degrees below might include some advanced math classes, but you’ll see less here than in a lot of other tech fields.
#1 IT Degree
A general IT degree is one that covers a wide berth of topics.
You will learn networking, troubleshooting, administration, and a whole lot more.
It’s the degree that is meant to set you up for any number of careers in IT, with the potential to specialize in just about any branch of the industry.
Even though IT degrees cover a lot of ground, you won’t be drowned in math classes.
Sure, you’ll need to get through some basic math classes (which is true for any degree), but general IT is not steeped in calculus.
Many degrees don’t require any calculus.
Those that do rarely go beyond Calc I (introductory calculus).
If you like technical topics that don’t involve heaps and heaps of math, an IT degree might be the right way to go.
#2 Graphic Design
It might be controversial to even include graphic design among tech majors, and that’s fair.
Graphic design is as much an art as it is a technical topic.
But, to do modern graphic design, you are going to have to work heavily with computers, and you’ll need some technical knowledge to make it all work.
So, I’ve decided to include this major.
That said, graphic design is the least technical major that I’m going to be discussing today.
As I already mentioned, it is a very artistic field of study, and as such, it is as light on math as you might guess.
Once again, you’ll find that graphic design has basic math requirements, but you don’t need to get into calculus at all for this degree.
#3 Systems and Network administration
This is a bit more specialized when it comes to IT degrees.
As opposed to a general IT degree, a major in systems and network administration is specifically focused on these two topics.
You might skip help desk areas of study in favor of a deeper look at networking and networking management.
Despite the fact that this is a very technical degree, it still isn’t super mathematical.
There is some math involved with networking, but it really does live in the areas of algebra and arithmetic.
Higher levels of calculus aren’t necessary for the vast majority of network administration positions, and the degree programs reflect this.
Depending on the school where you study this, you might have to take introductory calculus, but that’s usually as far as math goes on this topic.
And, there are degree programs that stop before any calculus.
What Science Majors Require the Least Math? (3 Degrees)
Now, we’re getting into degrees that are in the fields of science.
These degrees usually start with B.S., and as such, the math requirements are usually a lot steeper.
Majors like chemistry, physics, and certain fields of biology have tons of math requirements.
But, I was able to find some science majors that don’t require tons of math.
#1 Bioinformatics
Not all colleges offer bioinformatics as an undergraduate field of study, but those that do keep the math requirements fairly low.
For those unfamiliar, bioinformatics is the study of how to use technology in biology.
That might sound a little vague, but that’s because this field covers a lot of specific topics.
So, as an example, a bioinformatics specialist might source, install, and run the software used in biology research.
This person would not necessarily design the biology study, but they would be instrumental in its execution.
Because bioinformatics focuses on technology applications, you don’t need as much math to do it.
You’ll find that even graduate students in this field rarely have to go beyond introductory calculus, and for an undergrad degree, calculus is often left off the list of requirements.
#2 Computer Science
Computer science might surprise a lot of people here, so I’m going to take a moment to expand on a few ideas.
First, some would contest that computer science isn’t exactly a science.
It’s a scholastic study that looks at computers and how they might work, but it doesn’t always revolve around the scientific method.
There is merit to that.
Depending on what specific topic you are studying, computer science ranges from being a standard hard science to being applied math to being its own field that really doesn’t fit into other classifications.
As a computer science major, you will be exposed to all of that.
You’ll look at the more “scientific” aspects of CS.
You’ll also spend time just plain programming.
You’ll do a lot of other things too, and because all of that is wrapped up in this degree, it seems reasonable to list it as a science.
Another point of contention is that some computer scientists are busy working on the hardest math problems known to humanity.
In fact, a lot of computer science was developed for the purpose of expanding our ability to approach math problems.
So, don’t computer scientists need a lot of math?
It really depends on your area of emphasis.
Most programmers don’t need much math, and computer scientists who go into cognitive research often require even less.
But, if you want to push the boundaries of computation, you might do incredibly challenging math—especially in areas like neural networks and quantum computing.
The point is that you can get a computer science degree without going past introductory calculus.
For a tech field, that’s actually pretty low in terms of math requirements.
#3 Management Science
Management science is an interesting field, especially when you compare it to better-known, traditional sciences.
This is a more specific degree, but it is an undergraduate path of study.
Management science is all about using the scientific method to take a deep look at management techniques and strategies.
This deep look involves categorizing, analyzing, and testing the various approaches to management to try to figure out what works best and under which circumstances.
Considering how many different applications of management exist in the world, it might not surprise you to learn that this is an in-demand field of study with a lot of opportunities.
But, it doesn’t require tons and tons of math.
The bulk of management science research isn’t steeped in math at all, but there are branches that take an optimization or data science approach.
If you go with the data science approach, you’ll have to learn some advanced math.
If you stick to non-mathematical research, you won’t be doing any advanced math at all.
It really depends on your areas of focus, and because of that, you can get a management science degree without taking any advanced math classes at all (depending on the degree program).
What Engineering Majors Require the Least Math? (3 Areas)
For the most part, engineering majors require a lot of math.
Your standard engineering majors, like electrical, mechanical, and civil, require all of the calculus classes I listed back at the beginning of this whole thing (including ordinary differential equations).
But, there are degree programs run through schools of engineering that aren’t so mathematical.
They are engineering technology degrees, and there are a ton of them.
In general, engineering tech degrees require less math than their engineering counterparts, but a few floats to the top in terms of minimal math.
Before we get into that, here’s a little more about what engineering technology degrees are all about.
Instead of teaching students how to design things (which is the primary focus of engineering), engineering technology students learn about technology and its applications within fields of engineering.
So, engineering tech students might learn a lot about CAD software, but they wouldn’t necessarily need to derive the equations used within that software.
With that said, these are the engineering tech degrees that don’t require tons of math.
#1 Industrial
I am going to have to repeat this a few times for emphasis, but this is not about industrial engineering.
It’s engineering tech in the field of industrial engineering.
So, this major does not lead you to a career as an industrial engineer.
Those jobs require a lot of mathematical optimization, and so they involve a lot of calculus.
But, when you’re doing engineering tech, industrial engineering is about as math-light as it gets.
Many aspects of industrial engineering relate to organizing resources, and in engineering tech, that is covered by things like SAP software.
Your real focus is going to be on technology tools that help gather, store, and organize the large amounts of data that industrial engineers need, and most of those tools don’t need a lot of math for you to understand or operate them.
#2 Environmental
Environmental engineering tech is another area where you just don’t need much math.
Aspects of environmental engineering are incredibly mathematical, with some of the most challenging math problems you can find anywhere.
As for the technology that is studied by engineering tech students, it’s a completely different story.
You can understand a lot of the technology and how it is applied with minimal advanced math.
For example, this engineering tech degree in renewable energy only requires introductory calculus, and it’s one of the more mathematical areas of study for environmental engineering tech.
Other aspects of environmental engineering technology are even less math-focused, so it’s possible to find degree programs that don’t even require introductory calculus.
#3 Architectural
Lastly, we come to architectural engineering technology majors.
As an engineering field, architectural engineering is already in the lighter half in terms of math, so it’s not surprising that the associated tech degree is also easier in terms of math.
That’s because this tech degree is less about tools that design structures (although those are included).
Instead, it’s more focused on the tools that enable a building to achieve its goals.
As an example, if you want a more energy-efficient commercial building, an architectural engineering tech expert would look into roof treatments for alternative cooling systems to see which provides the best efficiency.
None of this requires a mathematically rigorous approach. You can compare the expected values for each technology and make assessments without doing much of your own math.
In this way, architectural engineering tech is more about staying versed in emerging technologies than it is about raw analysis or design.
