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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 253. Master'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 .....................................|230,509 |311,771 |295,739 |288,567 |324,301 |337,168 |352,838 |369,585 |387,070 |397,629 |406,301 |419,401 |430,164 |439,986 | 457,056 |468,476
                                                |________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|_________|________
Agriculture and natural resources ..............|  2,457 |  3,340 |  4,003 |  3,801 |  3,382 |  3,295 |  3,735 |  3,965 |  4,119 |  4,252 |  4,569 |  4,516 |  4,475 |  4,417 |   4,375 |  4,281
Architecture and related programs ..............|  1,705 |  3,215 |  3,153 |  3,260 |  3,499 |  3,490 |  3,640 |  3,808 |  3,943 |  3,923 |  3,993 |  4,034 |  4,347 |  4,172 |   4,268 |  4,302
Area, ethnic, and cultural studies .............|  1,032 |    995 |    804 |    945 |  1,212 |  1,263 |  1,385 |  1,523 |  1,633 |  1,639 |  1,713 |  1,651 |  1,617 |  1,500 |   1,591 |  1,601
Biological sciences/life sciences ..............|  5,728 |  6,582 |  5,978 |  5,013 |  4,869 |  4,765 |  4,785 |  4,756 |  5,196 |  5,393 |  6,157 |  6,466 |  6,261 |  6,192 |   6,198 |  6,344
Business .......................................| 25,977 | 42,054 | 57,391 | 66,689 | 76,676 | 78,255 | 84,642 | 89,615 | 93,437 | 93,809 | 93,982 | 97,619 |102,171 |108,085 | 112,258 |116,475
                                                |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |         |
Communications .................................|  1,770 |  2,961 |  2,896 |  3,500 |  4,063 |  4,123 |  4,180 |  4,754 |  5,005 |  5,142 |  5,080 |  5,227 |  5,611 |  5,293 |   5,169 |  5,218
Communications technologies ....................|     86 |    165 |    209 |    323 |    299 |    213 |    284 |    455 |    414 |    467 |    524 |    374 |    564 |    325 |     436 |    533
Computer and information sciences ..............|  1,588 |  2,603 |  4,218 |  8,070 |  9,677 |  9,324 |  9,530 | 10,163 | 10,416 | 10,326 | 10,151 | 10,098 | 11,246 | 12,250 |  14,264 | 16,038
Education ......................................| 87,666 |126,061 | 96,713 | 74,801 | 84,881 | 87,343 | 92,668 | 96,028 | 98,938 |101,242 |106,253 |110,087 |114,691 |119,427 | 124,240 |129,066
Engineering ....................................| 16,309 | 16,014 | 16,386 | 21,040 | 23,863 | 23,962 | 24,983 | 27,626 | 28,621 | 28,553 | 27,441 | 25,787 | 25,936 | 25,544 |  25,596 | 26,250
                                                |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |         |
Engineering-related technologies ...............|    134 |    328 |    323 |    617 |    909 |    996 |    994 |  1,100 |  1,133 |  1,117 |  1,125 |  1,040 |  1,152 |  1,014 |     926 |    858
English language and literature/letters ........| 10,686 |  8,809 |  5,929 |  5,518 |  6,567 |  7,026 |  7,450 |  7,790 |  7,885 |  7,845 |  7,893 |  7,722 |  7,795 |  7,478 |   7,230 |  6,941
Foreign languages and literatures...............|  5,217 |  4,190 |  2,690 |  2,494 |  2,760 |  2,800 |  2,926 |  3,198 |  3,288 |  3,136 |  3,124 |  3,077 |  2,927 |  2,860 |   2,780 |  2,801
Health professions and related sciences ........|  5,749 | 12,556 | 16,515 | 18,573 | 20,321 | 21,200 | 23,065 | 25,718 | 28,025 | 31,243 | 33,398 | 35,958 | 39,260 | 40,589 |  42,456 | 43,617
Home economics and vocational home economics ...|  1,452 |  2,179 |  2,570 |  2,294 |  2,100 |  2,019 |  2,412 |  2,479 |  2,421 |  2,864 |  2,917 |  2,888 |  2,914 |  2,880 |   2,830 |  2,801
                                                |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |         |
Law and legal studies ..........................|    955 |  1,442 |  1,832 |  1,924 |  1,888 |  2,057 |  2,369 |  2,197 |  2,432 |  2,511 |  2,751 |  2,886 |  3,228 |  3,308 |   3,750 |  3,829
Liberal arts and sciences,                      |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |         |
  general studies, and humanities ..............|    885 |  2,633 |  2,375 |  1,586 |  1,999 |  2,213 |  2,394 |  2,416 |  2,496 |  2,565 |  2,778 |  2,661 |  2,801 |  3,101 |   3,256 |  3,193
Library science ................................|  7,001 |  8,037 |  4,859 |  3,564 |  4,341 |  4,763 |  4,893 |  4,871 |  5,116 |  5,057 |  5,099 |  4,982 |  4,871 |  4,752 |   4,577 |  4,727
Mathematics ....................................|  5,695 |  4,315 |  3,074 |  3,607 |  4,146 |  4,041 |  4,011 |  4,067 |  4,100 |  4,181 |  4,031 |  3,783 |  3,643 |  3,466 |   3,412 |  3,373
Multi/interdisciplinary studies ................|    821 |  1,158 |  2,144 |  2,625 |  2,834 |  1,796 |  2,126 |  2,498 |  2,464 |  2,457 |  2,347 |  2,819 |  2,677 |  2,663 |   3,064 |  2,960
                                                |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |         |
Parks, recreation, leisure and fitness studies .|    218 |    571 |    643 |    570 |    529 |    483 |  1,358 |  1,434 |  1,625 |  1,755 |  1,751 |  1,966 |  2,024 |  2,076 |   2,478 |  2,487
Philosophy and religion ........................|  1,326 |  1,356 |  1,229 |  1,163 |  1,306 |  1,441 |  1,146 |  1,425 |  1,350 |  1,380 |  1,302 |  1,252 |  1,307 |  1,295 |   1,329 |  1,340
Physical sciences and science technologies......|  6,367 |  5,466 |  5,284 |  5,902 |  5,449 |  5,309 |  5,374 |  5,366 |  5,679 |  5,753 |  5,847 |  5,563 |  5,361 |  5,159 |   4,841 |  5,082
Precision production trades.....................|    --- |    --- |    --- |      0 |      3 |      0 |      0 |      2 |      2 |      5 |      8 |      3 |     15 |      7 |       5 |      2
Protective services ............................|    194 |  1,197 |  1,538 |  1,074 |  1,151 |  1,108 |  1,249 |  1,357 |  1,437 |  1,706 |  1,812 |  1,845 |  2,000 |  2,249 |   2,609 |  2,514
                                                |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |         |
Psychology .....................................|  5,717 | 10,167 | 10,223 |  9,845 | 10,730 | 11,349 | 10,215 | 10,957 | 12,181 | 13,921 | 13,792 | 14,353 | 13,747 | 14,247 |  14,465 | 15,196
Public administration and services .............|  7,785 | 15,209 | 17,803 | 15,692 | 17,399 | 17,905 | 19,243 | 20,634 | 21,833 | 23,501 | 24,229 | 24,781 | 25,144 | 24,925 |  25,594 | 25,268
R.O.T.C. and military technologies .............|      2 |      0 |     43 |     83 |      0 |      0 |      0 |    108 |    124 |    124 |    136 |    136 |      0 |      0 |       0 |      0
Social sciences and history.....................| 16,539 | 15,953 | 11,945 | 10,564 | 11,634 | 12,233 | 12,702 | 13,471 | 14,561 | 14,845 | 15,012 | 14,787 | 14,938 | 14,431 |  14,066 | 13,791
Theological studies/religious vocations ........|  2,710 |  3,290 |  4,220 |  4,556 |  4,959 |  4,810 |  5,185 |  4,985 |  4,956 |  5,240 |  5,107 |  4,975 |  4,692 |  4,727 |   5,576 |  4,900
                                                |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |         |
Transportation and material moving workers .....|     63 |    108 |    120 |    454 |    538 |    406 |    385 |    495 |    664 |    823 |    919 |    919 |    736 |    713 |     697 |    756
Visual and performing arts .....................|  6,675 |  8,817 |  8,629 |  8,420 |  8,481 |  8,657 |  9,353 |  9,440 |  9,925 | 10,277 | 10,280 | 10,627 | 11,145 | 10,753 |  10,918 | 11,404
Not classified by field of study ...............|      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |  1,836 |  8,523 |  4,156 |    884 |  1,651 |    577 |    780 |  4,519 |    868 |     88 |   1,802 |    528
________________________________________________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|_________|________

---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 September 2002.)


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