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Digest of Education Statistics: 2004
Digest of Education Statistics: 2004

NCES 2006-005
October 2005


Table 251. Master's degrees conferred by degree-granting institutions, by discipline division: Selected years, 1970-71 to 2002-03

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Discipline division                               |1970-71 |1975-76 |1980-81 |1985-86 |1990-91 |1992-93 |1993-94 |1994-95 |1995-96 |1996-97 |1997-98 |1998-99 |1999-2000 |2000-01 | 2001-02 | 2002-03
                                                  |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |    \1\ |          |        |         |
__________________________________________________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|__________|________|_________|_________
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| 337,168| 369,585| 387,070| 397,629| 406,301| 419,401| 430,164| 439,986|   457,056| 468,476|  482,118|  512,645
                                                  |________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|__________|________|_________|_________
Agriculture and natural resources ................|   2,457|   3,340|   4,003|   3,801|   3,295|   3,959|   4,110|   4,234|   4,551|   4,505|   4,464|   4,404|     4,360|   4,272|    4,503|    4,492
Architecture and related services ................|   1,705|   3,215|   3,153|   3,260|   3,490|   3,808|   3,943|   3,923|   3,993|   4,034|   4,347|   4,172|     4,268|   4,302|    4,566|    4,925
Area, ethnic, cultural, and gender studies .......|   1,032|     993|     802|     915|   1,233|   1,482|   1,573|   1,585|   1,652|   1,547|   1,528|   1,438|     1,544|   1,555|    1,541|    1,509
Biological and biomedical sciences ...............|   5,623|   6,453|   5,759|   5,043|   4,796|   4,974|   5,390|   5,824|   6,544|   6,925|   6,788|   6,913|     6,781|   6,955|    6,937|    6,990
Business .........................................|  26,490|  42,592|  57,888|  66,676|  78,255|  89,425|  93,285|  93,540|  93,554|  97,204| 101,652| 107,477|   111,532| 115,602|  119,725|  127,545
                                                  |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |          |        |         |
Communication, journalism, and related programs ..|   1,770|   2,961|   2,896|   3,500|   4,123|   4,754|   5,005|   5,142|   5,080|   5,227|   5,611|   5,293|     5,169|   5,218|    5,510|    6,053
Communications technologies ......................|      86|     165|     209|     308|     204|     425|     383|     417|     481|     325|     486|     263|       356|     427|      470|      442
Computer and information sciences ................|   1,588|   2,603|   4,218|   8,070|   9,324|  10,353|  10,568|  10,595|  10,579|  10,513|  11,765|  12,858|    14,990|  16,911|   17,173|   19,503
Education ........................................|  87,666| 126,061|  96,713|  74,816|  87,352|  94,497|  97,427|  99,835| 104,936| 108,720| 113,374| 118,048|   123,045| 127,829|  135,189|  147,448
Engineering ......................................|  16,813|  16,472|  16,893|  21,529|  24,454|  27,370|  28,293|  28,137|  26,892|  25,168|  25,146|  24,734|    24,850|  25,259|   24,908|   28,337
                                                  |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |          |        |         |
Engineering technologies .........................|     134|     328|     323|     617|     996|   1,779|   1,879|   1,894|   2,054|   1,938|   2,181|   2,004|     1,876|   2,013|    2,149|    2,332
English language and literature/letters ..........|  10,441|   8,599|   5,742|   5,335|   6,784|   7,537|   7,611|   7,612|   7,657|   7,487|   7,587|   7,288|     7,022|   6,763|    7,097|    7,413
Family and consumer sciences/human sciences ......|   1,452|   2,179|   2,570|   2,011|   1,541|   1,612|   1,559|   1,702|   1,712|   1,846|   1,838|   1,736|     1,882|   1,838|    1,683|    1,610
Foreign languages, literatures, and linguistics ..|   5,480|   4,432|   2,934|   2,690|   3,049|   3,513|   3,612|   3,439|   3,443|   3,361|   3,181|   3,106|     3,037|   3,035|    3,075|    3,049
Health professions and related clinical sciences .|   5,330|  12,164|  16,176|  18,603|  21,354|  26,190|  28,442|  31,770|  33,920|  36,162|  39,567|  40,707|    42,593|  43,623|   43,560|   42,715
                                                  |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |          |        |         |
Legal professions and studies ....................|     955|   1,442|   1,832|   1,924|   2,057|   2,197|   2,432|   2,511|   2,751|   2,886|   3,228|   3,308|     3,750|   3,829|    4,053|    4,126
Liberal arts and sciences,                        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |          |        |         |
  general studies, and humanities ................|     885|   2,633|   2,375|   1,586|   2,213|   2,416|   2,496|   2,565|   2,778|   2,661|   2,801|   3,101|     3,256|   3,193|    2,754|    3,312
Library science ..................................|   7,001|   8,037|   4,859|   3,564|   4,763|   4,871|   5,116|   5,057|   5,099|   4,982|   4,871|   4,752|     4,577|   4,727|    5,113|    5,314
Mathematics and statistics .......................|   5,191|   3,857|   2,567|   3,131|   3,549|   3,644|   3,682|   3,820|   3,651|   3,504|   3,409|   3,286|     3,208|   3,209|    3,350|    3,626
Military technologies ............................|       2|       0|      43|      83|       0|     108|     124|     124|     136|     136|       0|       0|         0|       0|        0|        0
                                                  |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |          |        |         |
Multi/interdisciplinary studies ..................|     926|   1,287|   2,363|   2,890|   2,117|   2,794|   2,821|   2,787|   2,762|   3,333|   3,067|   3,073|     3,487|   3,475|    3,708|    3,780
Parks, recreation, leisure and fitness studies ...|     218|     571|     643|     570|     483|   1,341|   1,559|   1,684|   1,684|   1,873|   1,917|   2,011|     2,322|   2,354|    2,580|    2,978
Philosophy and religious studies .................|   1,326|   1,358|   1,231|   1,193|   1,471|   1,466|   1,410|   1,434|   1,363|   1,356|   1,396|   1,357|     1,376|   1,386|    1,371|    1,578
Physical sciences and science technologies .......|   6,336|   5,428|   5,246|   5,860|   5,281|   5,346|   5,648|   5,716|   5,807|   5,526|   5,328|   5,124|     4,810|   5,049|    5,012|    5,109
Precision production .............................|       0|       0|       0|       0|       0|       2|       2|       5|       8|       3|      10|       7|         5|       2|        2|        3
                                                  |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |          |        |         |
Psychology .......................................|   5,717|  10,167|  10,223|   9,845|  11,349|  12,518|  13,723|  15,378|  15,152|  15,769|  15,142|  15,688|    15,740|  16,539|   16,357|   17,123
Public administration and social services ........|   7,785|  15,209|  17,803|  15,692|  17,905|  20,634|  21,833|  23,501|  24,229|  24,781|  25,144|  24,925|    25,594|  25,268|   25,448|   25,894
Security and protective services .................|     194|   1,197|   1,538|   1,074|   1,108|   1,357|   1,437|   1,706|   1,812|   1,845|   2,000|   2,249|     2,609|   2,514|    2,935|    2,955
Social sciences and history ......................|  16,539|  15,953|  11,945|  10,564|  12,233|  13,471|  14,561|  14,845|  15,012|  14,787|  14,938|  14,431|    14,066|  13,791|   14,112|   14,634
Theology and religious vocations .................|   2,692|   3,258|   4,163|   4,543|   4,803|   4,923|   4,906|   5,170|   5,030|   4,932|   4,649|   4,679|     5,534|   4,850|    4,909|    5,099
                                                  |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |          |        |         |
Transportation and materials moving ..............|       0|       0|       0|     454|     406|     495|     664|     823|     919|     919|     736|     713|       697|     756|      709|      765
Visual and performing arts .......................|   6,675|   8,817|   8,629|   8,420|   8,657|   9,440|   9,925|  10,277|  10,280|  10,627|  11,145|  10,753|    10,918|  11,404|   11,595|   11,986
Not classified by field of study .................|       0|       0|       0|       0|   8,523|     884|   1,651|     577|     780|   4,519|     868|      88|     1,802|     528|       24|        0
__________________________________________________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|__________|________|_________|_________

\1\Data were imputed using alternative procedures. (See Guide to Sources for details.)

NOTE: The new Classification of Instructional Programs was initiated in 2002-03. 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 Agriculture, agriculture operations and related sciences and Natural resources and conservation; "Business" includes Business, management, marketing, and related support services and Personal and culinary services; and "Engineering technologies" includes Engineering technologies/technicians, Construction trades, and Mechanic and repair technologies/technicians.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Higher Education General Information Survey (HEGIS), "Degrees and Other Formal Awards Conferred" surveys, 1970-71 through 1985-86; and 1990-91 through 2002-03 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, "Completions Survey" (IPEDS-C91-99), and Fall 2000 through Fall 2003. (This table was prepared April 2005.)