Degrees Conferred

Community colleges confer the majority of associate’s degrees awarded in the United States. In 2005–06, community colleges conferred 498,229 associate’s degrees, accounting for 70 percent of all associate’s degrees awarded that year (see figure 6). Forty-three percent of associate’s degrees conferred by public institutions were in liberal arts and sciences, general studies, and humanities, followed by 18 percent in health professions or clinical sciences and 12 percent in business (U.S. Department of Education 2008b, table 267).