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Digest of Education Statistics: 2006
Digest of Education Statistics: 2006

NCES 2007-017
July 2007


Table 254. Bachelor's degrees conferred by degree-granting institutions, by discipline division: Selected years, 1970–71 through 2004–05
Discipline division 1970–71 1975–76 1980–81 1985–86 1990–91 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
Total 839,730 925,746 935,140 987,823 1,094,538 1,169,275 1,160,134 1,164,792 1,184,406 1,200,303 1,237,875 1,244,171 1,291,900 1,348,503 1,399,542 1,439,264
Agriculture and natural resources 12,672 19,402 21,886 16,823 13,124 18,056 19,832 21,425 23,276 23,916 24,238 23,370 23,331 23,294 22,835 23,002
Architecture and related services 5,570 9,146 9,455 9,119 9,781 8,975 8,756 8,352 7,652 8,246 8,462 8,480 8,808 9,054 8,838 9,237
Area, ethnic, cultural, and gender studies 2,579 3,577 2,887 3,021 4,776 5,435 5,511 5,633 5,976 6,009 6,212 6,160 6,390 6,629 7,181 7,569
Biological and biomedical sciences 35,683 54,085 43,003 38,320 39,377 51,157 55,790 60,750 65,583 64,608 63,005 59,865 59,415 60,072 61,509 64,611
Business 115,396 143,171 200,521 236,700 249,165 246,265 233,895 226,623 232,079 240,947 256,070 263,515 278,217 293,545 307,149 311,574
                                 
Communication, journalism, and related programs 10,324 20,045 29,428 41,666 51,650 51,164 48,104 47,320 49,385 51,384 55,760 58,013 62,791 67,859 70,968 72,715
Communications technologies 478 1,237 1,854 1,479 1,397 869 865 853 878 1,076 1,298 1,178 1,245 1,933 2,034 2,523
Computer and information sciences 2,388 5,652 15,121 42,337 25,159 24,527 24,737 24,506 27,829 30,574 37,788 44,142 50,365 57,439 59,488 54,111
Education 176,307 154,437 108,074 87,147 110,807 107,440 105,929 105,384 105,833 107,086 108,034 105,458 106,295 105,790 106,278 105,451
Engineering 45,034 38,733 63,642 77,391 62,448 62,247 62,331 62,257 60,252 58,260 58,822 58,315 59,627 62,611 63,558 64,906
                                 
Engineering technologies 5,148 7,943 11,713 19,731 17,303 16,415 16,238 15,829 14,397 14,405 14,597 14,660 15,052 14,656 14,669 14,837
English language and literature/letters 63,914 41,452 31,922 34,083 51,064 53,150 51,170 49,928 49,016 49,800 50,106 50,569 52,375 53,670 53,984 54,379
Family and consumer sciences/human sciences 11,167 17,409 18,370 13,847 13,920 14,432 14,081 14,353 15,654 16,059 16,321 16,421 16,938 18,166 19,172 20,074
Foreign languages, literatures, and linguistics 20,988 17,068 11,638 11,550 13,937 15,242 14,558 14,832 15,279 15,821 15,886 16,128 16,258 16,901 17,754 18,386
Health professions and related clinical sciences 25,223 53,885 63,665 65,309 59,875 75,890 81,596 86,087 86,843 85,214 80,863 75,933 72,887 71,223 73,934 80,685
                                 
Legal professions and studies 545 531 776 1,223 1,827 2,233 2,127 2,123 2,079 1,960 1,969 1,991 2,003 2,466 2,841 3,161
Liberal arts and sciences, general studies, and humanities 7,481 18,855 21,643 21,336 30,526 33,397 33,356 33,997 33,202 34,772 36,104 37,962 39,333 40,221 42,106 43,751
Library science 1,013 843 375 155 90 62 50 58 73 78 154 52 74 99 72 76
Mathematics and statistics 24,801 15,984 11,078 16,122 14,393 14,171 13,494 12,713 11,795 11,966 11,418 11,171 11,950 12,493 13,327 14,351
Military technologies 357 952 42 255 183 19 27 7 3 2 7 21 3 6 10 40
                                 
Multi/interdisciplinary studies 6,346 13,778 13,061 13,829 17,879 25,652 26,598 27,149 26,960 27,545 28,561 27,189 28,943 28,757 29,162 30,243
Parks, recreation, leisure and fitness studies 1,621 5,182 5,729 4,623 4,315 10,821 12,037 12,974 15,422 16,532 17,571 17,948 18,885 21,428 22,164 22,888
Philosophy and religious studies 8,149 8,447 6,776 6,396 7,423 7,684 7,471 7,541 8,384 8,506 8,535 8,717 9,473 10,344 11,152 11,584
Physical sciences and science technologies 21,410 21,458 23,936 21,711 16,334 18,392 19,161 19,627 19,362 18,285 18,331 17,919 17,799 17,940 17,983 18,905
Precision production 0 0 0 2 2 2 1 12 52 43 33 31 47 42 61 64
                                 
Psychology 38,187 50,278 41,068 40,628 58,655 69,419 72,233 73,416 74,107 73,636 74,194 73,645 76,775 78,613 82,098 85,614
Public administration and social services 5,466 15,440 16,707 11,887 14,350 17,815 18,586 19,849 20,408 20,287 20,185 19,447 19,392 19,878 20,552 21,769
Security and protective services 2,045 12,507 13,707 12,704 16,806 23,009 24,157 24,810 25,076 24,601 24,877 25,211 25,536 26,189 28,175 30,723
Social sciences and history 155,324 126,396 100,513 93,840 125,107 133,680 128,154 126,479 125,040 124,658 127,101 128,036 132,874 143,218 150,357 156,892
Theology and religious vocations 3,720 5,490 5,808 5,510 4,799 5,377 5,555 5,292 5,855 6,235 6,789 6,945 7,762 7,926 8,126 9,284
                                 
Transportation and materials moving 0 225 263 1,838 2,622 3,923 3,698 3,561 3,206 3,383 3,395 3,748 4,020 4,567 4,824 4,904
Visual and performing arts 30,394 42,138 40,479 37,241 42,186 49,053 48,690 49,296 52,077 54,404 58,791 61,148 66,773 71,474 77,181 80,955
Not classified by field of study 0 0 0 0 13,258 3,302 1,346 1,756 1,373 5 2,398 783 264 0 0 0
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 2004–05 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, "Completions Survey" (IPEDS-C:91–99), and Fall 2000 through Fall 2005. (This table was prepared July 2006.)