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Digest of Education Statistics: 2008
Digest of Education Statistics: 2008

NCES 2009-020
March 2009


Table 273. Doctor's degrees conferred by degree-granting institutions, by field of study: Selected years, 1970–71 through 2006–07
Field of study 1970–71 1975–76 1980–81 1985–86 1990–91 1995–96 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
Total 32,107 34,064 32,958 33,653 39,294 44,652 46,010 44,077 44,808 44,904 44,160 46,042 48,378 52,631 56,067 60,616
Agriculture and natural resources 1,086 928 1,067 1,158 1,185 1,259 1,290 1,231 1,168 1,127 1,148 1,229 1,185 1,173 1,194 1,272
Architecture and related services 36 82 93 73 135 141 131 123 129 153 183 152 173 179 201 178
Area, ethnic, cultural, and gender studies 143 186 161 156 159 183 176 187 205 216 212 186 209 189 226 233
Biological and biomedical sciences 3,595 3,313 3,591 3,352 4,034 5,035 5,236 5,024 5,180 4,953 4,823 5,003 5,242 5,578 5,775 6,354
Business 774 906 808 923 1,185 1,366 1,290 1,201 1,194 1,180 1,156 1,252 1,481 1,498 1,711 2,029
                                 
Communication, journalism, and related programs 145 196 171 212 259 338 354 347 347 368 374 394 418 465 461 479
Communications technologies 0 8 11 6 13 7 5 5 10 2 9 4 8 3 3 1
Computer and information sciences 128 244 252 344 676 869 858 801 779 768 752 816 909 1,119 1,416 1,595
Education 6,041 7,202 7,279 6,610 6,189 6,246 6,261 6,394 6,409 6,284 6,549 6,832 7,088 7,681 7,584 8,261
Engineering 3,687 2,872 2,598 3,444 5,316 6,381 5,996 5,432 5,390 5,542 5,187 5,276 5,923 6,547 7,396 8,062
                                 
Engineering technologies 1 2 10 12 14 50 42 29 31 62 58 57 58 54 75 61
English language and literature/letters 1,554 1,514 1,040 895 1,056 1,395 1,489 1,407 1,470 1,330 1,291 1,246 1,207 1,212 1,254 1,178
Family and consumer sciences/human sciences 123 178 247 307 229 375 386 323 327 354 311 376 329 331 340 337
Foreign languages, literatures, and linguistics 1,084 1,245 931 768 889 1,020 1,118 1,049 1,086 1,078 1,003 1,042 1,031 1,027 1,074 1,059
Health professions and related clinical sciences 518 617 868 1,139 1,534 1,651 1,975 1,920 2,053 2,242 2,913 3,329 4,361 5,868 7,128 8,355
                                 
Legal professions and studies 20 76 60 54 90 91 66 58 74 286 79 105 119 98 129 143
Liberal arts and sciences, general studies, and humanities 32 162 121 90 70 75 87 78 83 102 113 78 95 109 84 77
Library science 39 71 71 62 56 53 48 55 68 58 45 62 47 42 44 52
Mathematics and statistics 1,199 856 728 742 978 1,158 1,215 1,090 1,075 997 923 1,007 1,060 1,176 1,293 1,351
Multi/interdisciplinary studies 109 190 285 405 424 764 843 754 792 784 765 899 876 983 987 1,093
                                 
Parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies 2 15 42 39 28 104 129 137 134 177 151 199 222 207 194 218
Philosophy and religious studies 555 556 411 480 464 550 590 584 598 600 610 662 595 586 578 637
Physical sciences and science technologies 4,324 3,388 3,105 3,521 4,248 4,512 4,520 4,142 3,963 3,911 3,760 3,858 3,815 4,114 4,489 4,846
Psychology 2,144 3,157 3,576 3,593 3,932 4,141 4,541 4,695 4,731 5,091 4,759 4,835 4,827 5,106 4,921 5,153
Public administration and social services 174 292 362 382 430 499 499 532 537 574 571 599 649 673 704 726
                                 
Security and protective services 1 9 21 21 28 38 39 48 52 44 49 72 54 94 80 85
Social sciences and history 3,660 4,157 3,122 2,955 3,012 3,760 4,127 3,855 4,095 3,930 3,902 3,850 3,811 3,819 3,914 3,844
Theology and religious vocations 312 1,022 1,273 1,185 1,076 1,517 1,451 1,440 1,630 1,461 1,350 1,329 1,304 1,422 1,429 1,573
Transportation and materials moving 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Visual and performing arts 621 620 654 722 838 1,067 1,163 1,130 1,127 1,167 1,114 1,293 1,282 1,278 1,383 1,364
                                 
Not classified by field of study 0 0 0 0 747 7 85 6 71 63 0 0 0 0 0 0
NOTE: Includes Ph.D., E.D., and comparable degrees at the doctoral level. Excludes first-professional degrees such as M.D., D.D.S., and law degrees. 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 2006–07 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, "Completions Survey" (IPEDS-C:91–99), and Fall 2000 through Fall 2007. (This table was prepared September 2008.)