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Digest of Education Statistics
2002 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 252. Bachelor's degrees conferred by degree-granting institutions, by discipline division: 1970-71 to 2000-01

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            Discipline division                 |1970-71 |1975-76 |1980-81 |1985-86 | 1989-90  | 1990-91  | 1991-92  | 1992-93  | 1993-94  | 1994-95  | 1995-96  | 1996-97  | 1997-98  | 1998-99  |1999-2000 | 2000-01
________________________________________________|________|________|________|________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________
                   1                            |   2    |   3    |   4    |   5    |    6     |    7     |    8     |    9     |    10    |    11    |    12    |    13    |    14    |    15    |    16    |    17
________________________________________________|________|________|________|________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________
     Total .....................................|839,730 |925,746 |935,140 |987,823 |1,051,344 |1,094,538 |1,136,553 |1,165,178 |1,169,275 |1,160,134 |1,164,792 |1,172,879 |1,184,406 |1,200,303 |1,237,875 |1,244,171
                                                |________|________|________|________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________
Agriculture and natural resources ..............| 12,672 | 19,402 | 21,886 | 16,823 |   12,900 |   13,124 |   15,124 |   16,778 |   18,070 |   19,841 |   21,431 |   22,602 |   23,284 |   23,930 |   24,247 |   23,382
Architecture and related programs ..............|  5,570 |  9,146 |  9,455 |  9,119 |    9,364 |    9,781 |    8,753 |    9,167 |    8,975 |    8,756 |    8,352 |    7,944 |    7,652 |    8,246 |    8,462 |    8,480
Area, ethnic, and cultural studies .............|  2,582 |  3,577 |  2,887 |  3,178 |    4,613 |    4,884 |    5,342 |    5,481 |    5,573 |    5,706 |    5,786 |    5,839 |    6,153 |    6,252 |    6,381 |    6,317
Biological sciences/life sciences ..............| 35,743 | 54,275 | 43,216 | 38,524 |   37,204 |   39,530 |   42,941 |   47,038 |   51,383 |   55,984 |   60,994 |   63,975 |   65,868 |   65,014 |   63,532 |   60,553
Business .......................................|114,729 |142,034 |198,983 |237,319 |  248,698 |  249,311 |  256,603 |  256,842 |  246,654 |  234,323 |  227,102 |  226,633 |  233,119 |  242,236 |  257,709 |  265,746
                                                |        |        |        |        |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |
Communications .................................| 10,324 | 20,045 | 29,428 | 41,666 |   50,114 |   51,650 |   54,257 |   53,874 |   51,164 |   48,104 |   47,320 |   47,230 |   49,385 |   51,384 |   55,760 |   58,013
Communications technologies ....................|    478 |  1,237 |  1,854 |  1,410 |    1,194 |    1,123 |      720 |      832 |      663 |      699 |      683 |      538 |      729 |      935 |    1,150 |    1,050
Computer and information sciences ..............|  2,388 |  5,652 | 15,121 | 41,889 |   27,257 |   25,083 |   24,557 |   24,200 |   24,200 |   24,404 |   24,098 |   24,768 |   26,852 |   29,345 |   36,195 |   41,954
Education ......................................|176,307 |154,437 |108,074 | 87,114 |  105,112 |  110,807 |  108,006 |  107,781 |  107,600 |  106,079 |  105,509 |  105,233 |  105,968 |  107,172 |  108,168 |  105,566
Engineering ....................................| 44,898 | 38,388 | 63,287 | 76,225 |   63,609 |   61,531 |   61,206 |   61,973 |   62,220 |   62,342 |   62,114 |   61,185 |   59,910 |   57,918 |   58,427 |   58,098
                                                |        |        |        |        |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |
Engineering-related technologies ...............|  5,148 |  7,943 | 11,713 | 19,435 |   17,713 |   17,119 |   16,335 |   16,078 |   16,005 |   15,812 |   15,323 |   13,972 |   14,000 |   13,986 |   14,128 |   14,189
English language and literature/letters ........| 64,342 | 42,006 | 32,254 | 34,552 |   47,519 |   51,841 |   54,951 |   56,133 |   53,924 |   51,901 |   50,698 |   49,345 |   49,708 |   50,535 |   50,920 |   51,419
Foreign languages and literatures...............| 20,536 | 16,484 | 11,273 | 10,984 |   12,386 |   13,133 |   13,903 |   14,387 |   14,378 |   13,775 |   13,952 |   13,674 |   14,451 |   14,962 |   14,968 |   15,146
Health professions and related sciences ........| 25,226 | 53,958 | 63,649 | 64,396 |   58,302 |   59,070 |   61,720 |   67,089 |   74,421 |   79,855 |   84,036 |   85,631 |   84,379 |   82,622 |   78,458 |   73,490
Home economics and vocational home economics ...| 11,167 | 17,409 | 18,370 | 14,889 |   14,491 |   14,892 |   14,898 |   15,100 |   15,522 |   15,345 |   15,803 |   16,571 |   17,296 |   17,689 |   17,779 |   17,777
                                                |        |        |        |        |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |
Law and legal studies ..........................|    545 |    531 |    776 |  1,197 |    1,592 |    1,758 |    2,144 |    2,056 |    2,171 |    2,032 |    2,052 |    2,038 |    2,017 |    1,901 |    1,925 |    1,958
Liberal arts and sciences,                      |        |        |        |        |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |
  general studies, and humanities ..............|  7,481 | 18,855 | 21,643 | 21,336 |   27,985 |   30,526 |   32,174 |   33,456 |   33,397 |   33,356 |   33,997 |   34,776 |   33,202 |   34,772 |   36,104 |   37,962
Library science ................................|  1,013 |    843 |    375 |    155 |       77 |       90 |       97 |       83 |       62 |       50 |       58 |       48 |       73 |       78 |      154 |       52
Mathematics ....................................| 24,937 | 16,329 | 11,433 | 17,147 |   15,176 |   15,310 |   14,783 |   14,812 |   14,396 |   13,723 |   13,143 |   12,820 |   12,328 |   12,539 |   12,070 |   11,674
Multi/interdisciplinary studies ................|  6,286 | 13,588 | 12,848 | 13,489 |   16,267 |   17,561 |   20,647 |   23,955 |   25,167 |   26,033 |   26,515 |   26,137 |   26,163 |   26,581 |   27,460 |   25,999
                                                |        |        |        |        |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |
Parks, recreation, leisure and fitness studies .|  1,621 |  5,182 |  5,729 |  4,620 |    4,582 |    4,315 |    8,446 |    9,859 |   11,470 |   12,889 |   13,983 |   15,401 |   16,781 |   18,064 |   19,111 |   19,565
Philosophy and religion ........................|  8,146 |  8,447 |  6,776 |  6,239 |    6,868 |    7,315 |    7,526 |    7,781 |    7,546 |    7,276 |    7,388 |    7,685 |    8,207 |    8,263 |    8,366 |    8,560
Physical sciences and science technologies......| 21,412 | 21,465 | 23,952 | 21,717 |   16,066 |   16,344 |   16,960 |   17,545 |   18,400 |   19,177 |   19,647 |   19,531 |   19,416 |   18,337 |   18,385 |   17,979
Precision production trades.....................|    --- |    --- |    --- |    400 |      528 |      460 |      378 |      388 |      420 |      353 |      401 |      326 |      407 |      386 |      393 |      347
Protective services ............................|  2,045 | 12,507 | 13,707 | 12,704 |   15,354 |   16,806 |   18,855 |   20,902 |   23,009 |   24,157 |   24,810 |   25,165 |   25,076 |   24,601 |   24,877 |   25,211
                                                |        |        |        |        |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |
Psychology .....................................| 38,187 | 50,278 | 41,068 | 40,628 |   53,952 |   58,655 |   63,513 |   66,728 |   69,259 |   72,083 |   73,291 |   74,191 |   73,972 |   73,536 |   74,060 |   73,534
Public administration and services .............|  5,466 | 15,440 | 16,707 | 11,887 |   13,908 |   14,350 |   15,987 |   16,775 |   17,815 |   18,586 |   19,849 |   20,649 |   20,408 |   20,287 |   20,185 |   19,447
R.O.T.C. and military technologies .............|    357 |    952 |     42 |    256 |      196 |      183 |      184 |       11 |       19 |       27 |        7 |        4 |        3 |        2 |        7 |       21
Social sciences and history.....................|155,324 |126,396 |100,513 | 93,840 |  118,083 |  125,107 |  133,974 |  135,703 |  133,680 |  128,154 |  126,479 |  124,891 |  125,040 |  124,658 |  127,101 |  128,036
Theological studies/religious vocations ........|  3,744 |  5,520 |  5,841 |  5,607 |    5,200 |    4,813 |    4,729 |    5,433 |    5,434 |    5,578 |    5,358 |    5,591 |    5,903 |    6,280 |    6,809 |    6,967
                                                |        |        |        |        |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |
Transportation and material moving workers .....|    662 |  1,282 |  1,801 |  1,837 |    2,387 |    2,622 |    3,598 |    3,930 |    3,923 |    3,698 |    3,561 |    3,547 |    3,206 |    3,383 |    3,395 |    3,748
Visual and performing arts .....................| 30,394 | 42,138 | 40,479 | 37,241 |   39,934 |   42,186 |   46,522 |   47,761 |   49,053 |   48,690 |   49,296 |   50,083 |   52,077 |   54,404 |   58,791 |   61,148
Not classified by field of study ...............|      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |    2,713 |   13,258 |    6,720 |    5,247 |    3,302 |    1,346 |    1,756 |    4,856 |    1,373 |        5 |    2,398 |      783
________________________________________________|________|________|________|________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________

---Not available.

NOTE: The new Classification of Instructional Programs was initiated in 1991-92. The figures for earlier years have been reclassified when necessary to make them conform to the new taxonomy. To facilitate trend comparisons, certain aggregations have been made of the degree fields as reported in the IPEDS "Completions" survey: "Agriculture and natural resources" includes Agricultural business and production, Agricultural sciences, and Conservation and renewable natural resources; "Business" includes Business management and administrative services, Marketing operations/marketing and distribution, and Consumer and personal services; and "Engineering-related technologies" includes Engineering-related technologies, Mechanics and repairers, and Construction trades. Data for 1998-99 were imputed using alternative procedures. (See Guide to Sources for details.)

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Higher Education General Information Survey (HEGIS), "Degrees and Other Formal Awards Conferred" surveys, and Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), "Completions" surveys. (This table was prepared November 2002.)


2002 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest