By far, the most popular undergraduate field of study was business. Over one-quarter (28 percent) of 1992-93 college graduates who did not attend graduate school by 1997 had majored in a business-related field. Following business, 15 and 13 percent, respectively, had majored in social sciences or humanities and arts. Nearly 1 in 10 had majored in education (9 percent), while approximately 7 percent had majored in engineering or architectural.¹

Consistent with historically gender-dominated fields, men were more likely to major in engineering (13 versus 2 percent), computer science (4 versus 2 percent), and business (32 versus 24 percent), while women were more likely to major in education (13 versus 4 percent), nursing (6 versus 1 percent), and other health fields (4 versus 2 percent).

Business fields tended to attract older college graduates: more than one-third of graduates age 30 or older when receiving their bachelor's degree had majored in business (35 percent), compared with just over one-quarter (27 percent) of those 23 or younger. Asian/Pacific Islander college graduates were more likely than black, non-Hispanic graduates to favor engineering as a major. To further illustrate racial/ethnic group differences in undergraduate major, a report based on the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) institutional survey in 1992 also showed that black, non-Hispanic graduates were more likely than others to complete degrees in business management and were less likely to earn degrees in education or health.