Skip Navigation
Digest of Education Statistics
2011 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 286. Bachelor's degrees conferred by degree-granting institutions, by field of study: Selected years, 1970-71 through 2009-10
Field of study 1970-71 1975-76 1980-81 1985-86 1990-91 1995-96 1998-99 1999-2000 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
Total 839,730 925,746 935,140 987,823 1,094,538 1,164,792 1,202,239 1,237,875 1,244,171 1,291,900 1,348,811 1,399,542 1,439,264 1,485,242 1,524,092 1,563,069 1,601,368 1,650,014
Agriculture and natural resources 12,672 19,402 21,886 16,823 13,124 21,425 24,179 24,238 23,370 23,331 23,348 22,835 23,002 23,053 23,133 24,113 24,988 26,336
Architecture and related services 5,570 9,146 9,455 9,119 9,781 8,352 8,245 8,462 8,480 8,808 9,056 8,838 9,237 9,515 9,717 9,805 10,119 10,051
Area, ethnic, cultural, gender, and group studies 2,579 3,577 2,887 3,021 4,776 5,633 6,016 6,212 6,160 6,390 6,634 7,181 7,569 7,879 8,194 8,454 8,772 8,621
Biological and biomedical sciences 35,705 54,154 43,078 38,395 39,482 61,014 65,310 63,630 60,576 60,309 61,294 62,624 65,915 70,607 76,832 79,829 82,825 86,400
Business 115,396 143,171 200,521 236,700 249,165 226,623 239,924 256,070 263,515 278,217 293,391 307,149 311,574 318,042 327,531 335,254 347,985 358,293
                                     
Communication, journalism, and related programs 10,324 20,045 29,428 41,666 51,650 47,320 51,321 55,760 58,013 62,791 67,895 70,968 72,715 73,955 74,783 76,382 78,009 81,266
Communications technologies 478 1,237 1,854 1,479 1,397 853 1,076 1,298 1,178 1,245 1,933 2,034 2,523 2,981 3,637 4,666 5,100 4,782
Computer and information sciences 2,388 5,652 15,121 42,337 25,159 24,506 30,552 37,788 44,142 50,365 57,433 59,488 54,111 47,480 42,170 38,476 37,994 39,589
Education 176,307 154,437 108,074 87,147 110,807 105,384 107,372 108,034 105,458 106,295 105,845 106,278 105,451 107,238 105,641 102,582 101,708 101,265
Engineering 45,034 38,733 63,642 77,391 62,448 62,168 58,310 58,726 58,209 59,536 62,567 63,410 64,707 66,841 66,874 68,431 68,911 72,654
                                     
Engineering technologies 5,148 7,943 11,713 19,731 17,303 15,829 14,486 14,597 14,660 15,052 14,664 14,669 14,837 14,565 14,980 15,177 15,503 16,075
English language and literature/letters 63,914 41,452 31,922 34,083 51,064 49,928 49,877 50,106 50,569 52,375 53,699 53,984 54,379 55,096 55,122 55,038 55,462 53,231
Family and consumer sciences/human sciences 11,167 17,409 18,370 13,847 13,920 14,353 16,188 16,321 16,421 16,938 17,929 19,172 20,074 20,775 21,400 21,870 21,905 21,818
Foreign languages, literatures, and linguistics 20,988 17,068 11,638 11,550 13,937 14,832 15,835 15,886 16,128 16,258 16,912 17,754 18,386 19,410 20,275 20,977 21,158 21,516
Health professions and related programs 25,223 53,885 63,665 65,309 59,875 86,087 84,989 80,863 75,933 72,887 71,261 73,934 80,685 91,973 101,810 111,478 120,488 129,634
                                     
Homeland security, law enforcement, and
   firefighting
2,045 12,507 13,707 12,704 16,806 24,810 24,689 24,877 25,211 25,536 26,200 28,175 30,723 35,319 39,206 40,235 41,800 43,667
Legal professions and studies 545 531 776 1,223 1,827 2,123 1,970 1,969 1,991 2,003 2,474 2,841 3,161 3,302 3,596 3,771 3,822 3,886
Liberal arts and sciences, general studies,
   and humanities
7,481 18,855 21,643 21,336 30,526 33,997 34,722 36,104 37,962 39,333 40,480 42,106 43,751 44,898 44,255 46,940 47,096 46,953
Library science 1,013 843 375 155 90 58 59 154 52 74 99 72 76 76 82 68 78 85
Mathematics and statistics 24,801 15,984 11,078 16,122 14,393 12,713 12,011 11,418 11,171 11,950 12,505 13,327 14,351 14,770 14,954 15,192 15,496 16,030
                                     
Military technologies and applied sciences 357 952 42 255 183 7 2 7 21 3 6 10 40 33 168 39 55 56
Multi/interdisciplinary studies 6,324 13,709 12,986 13,754 17,774 26,885 27,074 27,936 26,478 28,049 27,449 28,047 28,939 30,583 32,111 34,174 35,375 37,648
Parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies 1,621 5,182 5,729 4,623 4,315 12,974 16,529 17,571 17,948 18,885 21,432 22,164 22,888 25,490 27,430 29,931 31,667 33,318
Philosophy and religious studies 8,149 8,447 6,776 6,396 7,423 7,541 8,536 8,535 8,717 9,473 10,344 11,152 11,584 11,985 11,969 12,257 12,444 12,504
Physical sciences and science technologies 21,410 21,458 23,936 21,711 16,334 19,716 18,448 18,427 18,025 17,890 18,038 18,131 19,104 20,522 21,291 22,179 22,688 23,379
                                     
Precision production 0 0 0 2 2 12 43 33 31 47 42 61 64 55 23 33 29 29
Psychology 38,187 50,278 41,068 40,628 58,655 73,416 73,747 74,194 73,645 76,775 78,650 82,098 85,614 88,134 90,039 92,587 94,271 97,216
Public administration and social services 5,466 15,440 16,707 11,887 14,350 19,849 20,323 20,185 19,447 19,392 19,900 20,552 21,769 21,986 23,147 23,493 23,851 25,414
Social sciences and history 155,324 126,396 100,513 93,840 125,107 126,479 124,815 127,101 128,036 132,874 143,256 150,357 156,892 161,485 164,183 167,363 168,500 172,780
Theology and religious vocations 3,720 5,490 5,808 5,510 4,799 5,292 6,232 6,789 6,945 7,762 7,962 8,126 9,284 8,548 8,696 8,992 8,940 8,718
                                     
Transportation and materials moving 0 225 263 1,838 2,622 3,561 3,445 3,395 3,748 4,020 4,631 4,824 4,904 5,349 5,657 5,203 5,189 4,998
Visual and performing arts 30,394 42,138 40,479 37,241 42,186 49,296 54,446 58,791 61,148 66,773 71,482 77,181 80,955 83,297 85,186 87,703 89,140 91,802
Not classified by field of study 0 0 0 0 13,258 1,756 1,468 2,398 783 264 0 0 0 0 0 377 0 0
NOTE: Data through 1990-91 are for institutions of higher education, while later data are for degree-granting institutions. Degree-granting institutions grant associate’s or higher degrees and participate in Title IV federal financial aid programs. The degree-granting classification is very similar to the earlier higher education classification, but it includes more 2-year colleges and excludes a few higher education institutions that did not grant degrees. (See Appendix A: Guide to Sources for details.) The new Classification of Instructional Programs was initiated in 2009-10. 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 and engineering-related fields, 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; Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), "Completions Survey" (IPEDS-C:91-99); and IPEDS Fall 2000 through Fall 2010, Completions component. (This table was prepared May 2011.)

                        All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest