Between 1996-97 and 2006-07, the total number of degrees earned by Black, Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander, and American Indian/Alaska Native students grew at a faster rate than the number earned by White students for each type of degree.

Enrollment in degree-granting institutions increased between academic years 1996-97 and 2006-07, with total postsecondary enrollment increasing from 14.4 to 17.8 million students, a 24 percent increase (see indicators 10 and 11). This growth was accompanied by increases in the number of degrees earned: during this period, the number of associate's degrees earned increased by 27 percent, bachelor's degrees by 30 percent, master's degrees by 44 percent, first-professional degrees by 14 percent, and doctoral degrees by 32 percent (see table A-24-1).

The number of degrees earned increased for all racial/ ethnic groups for each type of degree, but at varying rates. (In this indicator, the term "other racial/ethnic groups" refers to the group which comprises Blacks, Hispanics, Asians/Pacific Islanders, and American Indians/Alaska Natives.) For example, between 1996-97 and 2006-07, the number of associate's degrees earned by students in other racial/ethnic groups grew at a faster rate than the number earned by White students (70 vs. 14 percent increase, see table A-24-2). As a result, the percentage of all associate's degrees awarded to students in other racial/ethnic groups increased from 23 to 31 percent. The number of associate's degrees awarded to Hispanic students almost doubled during this period. Between 1996-97 and 2006-07, the number of bachelor's degrees awarded to students in other racial/ethnic groups increased by 62 percent (from 233,100 to 378,300 degrees), while the number awarded to White students increased by 22 percent (from 900,800 to 1.1 million). Students in other racial/ethnic groups were awarded 25 percent of all bachelor's degrees in 2006-07, compared with 20 percent of the bachelor's degrees awarded 10 years earlier. Between 1996-97 and 2006-07, the number of bachelor's degrees awarded to Hispanics increased by 84 percent (from 62,500 to 114,900 degrees).

For both Black and Hispanic students, the number of master's degrees earned more than doubled between 1996-97 and 2006-07, contributing to the increase in the share of degrees earned by students in other racial/ethnic groups. In 2006-07, students in other racial/ethnic groups earned 23 percent of all master's degrees, compared with 15 percent in 1996-97. For first-professional degrees, the majority of the increase was due to the increase in awards to students in other racial/ethnic groups. The number of first-professional degrees awarded to these students increased by 6,700 degrees, for a total of 23,500 degrees in 2006-07, while the number awarded to White students increased by 4,300, for a total of 64,500 degrees. The number of doctoral degrees awarded to Black students doubled between 1996-97 and 2006-07, contributing to the increase in the share of all doctoral degrees awarded to students in other racial/ethnic groups (from 13 to 16 percent). More than one-quarter of doctoral degrees were awarded to nonresident aliens in 2006-07.

For each type of degree, the number of degrees earned grew at a faster rate for females than for males between 1996-97 and 2006-07. In 1996-97, females earned 61 percent of associate's, 56 percent of bachelor's, and 57 percent of master's degrees (see table A-24-1). In 2006-07, the percentage of associate's and bachelor's degrees earned by females increased to 62 and 57 percent, respectively, and the percentage of master's degrees increased to 61 percent. Females have historically earned fewer first-professional and doctoral degrees than males—in 1996-97, for example, females earned 42 percent of first-professional degrees and 41 percent of doctoral degrees. In 2006-07, for the first time, females and males earned about the same number of these types of degrees.

In 2006-07, females of each racial/ethnic group generally earned more degrees than their male counterparts for each type of degree. For example, in 2006-07, Black females earned 69 percent of associate's, 66 percent of bachelor's, 71 percent of master's, 63 percent of first-professional, and 66 percent of doctoral degrees awarded to Black students (see table A-24-2). Females also earned more than 60 percent of associate's, bachelor's, and master's degrees awarded to Hispanic and American Indian/Alaska Native students. White females earned more degrees than White males for each type of degree, except first-professional. Of the postbaccalaureate degrees awarded to nonresident aliens, females earned 43 percent of master's degrees, 46 percent of first-professional degrees, and 35 percent of doctoral degrees, reflecting increased shares since 1996-97.

Technical Notes

Reported racial/ethnic distributions of students by type of degree, field of degree, and sex were used to estimate race/ethnicity for students whose race/ethnicity was not reported. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. Nonresident aliens are featured separately since information about their race/ethnicity is not available. For more information on race/ethnicity, see supplemental note 1.