(NCES 97-415) Ordering information
Public institutions awarded the majority of degrees at all degree levels, except for first-professional degrees. Public institutions awarded 83.7 percent of associate's degrees, about two-thirds of bachelor's and doctor's degrees, and 56.4 percent of master's degrees. However, public institutions awarded only 39.4 percent of first-professional degrees (Table A-1).
The majority of degrees at the master's degree level and below were awarded to women. At the doctoral degree level only 39.4 percent were awarded to women and at the first professional level 40.8 percent of the degrees were awarded to women (Figure 1 and Table A-1).
Three-quarters of all degrees awarded in 1995 were awarded to white students, 17.2 percent were awarded to minority students and 7.8 percent were awarded to non-resident aliens or individuals whose race/ethnicity was unknown or unreported. These percentages, however, varied considerably by the level of the degree. For example, non-resident aliens received 12.3 percent of all master's degrees awarded and 25 percent of all doctor's degrees (Table A-1).
The share of degrees awarded to minorities was highest at the associate's degree level (19.7 percent) and dropped at each successive degree level through the doctor's degree; the minority shares at these levels were 17.6 percent of bachelor's degrees, 13.3 percent of master's degrees, and 11.7 percent of doctor's degrees. This drop was even more precipitous when blacks, Hispanics and American Indians are examined separately from Asian/Pacific Islanders. Blacks, Hispanics, and American Indians received 16 percent of all associate's degrees in 1995, but only 12.5 percent of bachelor's degrees, 9.3 percent of master's degrees and 6 percent of doctor's degrees. Asian/Pacific Islanders, on the other hand, had a higher share of degrees at higher degree levels increasing from 3.7 percent of associate's degrees to 5.7 percent of doctor's degrees (Figure 1 and Table A-1).
Over 19 percent of first-professional degrees were awarded to minorities. Of these, 43.3 percent were awarded Asian/Pacific Islanders, 32.1 percent were awarded to blacks, and 21.8 percent were awarded to Hispanics (Figure 1 and Table A-1).
The total number of degrees awarded between 1993-94 and 1994-95 increased by .5 percent (Table A-1) although the number of associate's, master's and doctor's degrees awarded between these two years increased at a faster rate (a 1.7 percent increase in associate's degrees, 2.7 percent increase in master's degrees, and 2.9 percent increase in doctor's degrees). The number of first-professional degrees increased by .5 percent, while the number of bachelor's degrees awarded dropped by .8 percent.
At all degree levels, the number of degrees awarded to minorities increased between 1993-94 and 1994-95. Over all degrees, blacks had the smallest percentage increase (4.5 percent), while Asian/Pacific Islanders had the largest percentage increase (9.6 percent) (Table A-1).
The total number of degrees awarded to whites decreased by 1.4 percent during this same period with decreases at the associate's, bachelor's, and first-pofessional levels. The number of master's and doctor's degrees awarded to whites increased by 1.3 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively between 1993-94 and 1994-95 (Table A-1).
About 85 percent of all associate's degrees were awarded by 2-year schools, while the rest were awarded by 4-year institutions. Of the associates's degrees awarded by 2-year institutions in the 50 states and the District of Columbia, one-third were awarded in liberal/general studies and humanities, a field which generally permits transfers to 4-year institutions. Another one-third were awarded in two occupational programs, business management/administrative services (16.5 percent) and the health professions/related sciences (17.6 percent). In 4-year schools, liberal/general studies/humanties comprised 20.3 percent of associate's degrees awarded, while the health professions/related sciences and business management/administrative services comprised 22.2 percent and 17.8 percent of associate's degrees, respectively.
Almost one-fifth (19.7 percent) of all bachelor's degrees were awarded in business management/administrative services. Another 11 percent were awarded in the social sciences and history, while 9.1 percent were awarded in education. Bachelor's degress in math and the physical sciences comprised only 2.8 percent of all bachelor's degrees awarded.
Almost one-half of all master's degrees were awarded in education (25.5 percent) or business management/administrative services (23.4 percent). The next largest fields of study at the master's level were the health professions (7.9 percent of all master's degrees) and engineering (7.2 percent).
At the doctoral level, business management and the health professions accounted for only about 7.8 percent of the doctor's degrees awarded in 1994-95. On the other hand, the physical and biological sciences accounted for 20.5 percent of the doctor's degrees (10.1 and 10.5 percent, respectively). The single field accounting for the highest percentage of doctor's degrees was education (15.5 percent), followed closely by engineering (13.7 percent).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Associate's Degrees Bachelor's Degrees Master's Degrees ------------------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- 1993-94 * 1994-95 1993-94 1994-95 1993-94 1994-95 ----------------- ----------------- ------------------- ------------------- ----------------- ---------------- Percent Percent Percent Number Percent Number Percent change Number Percent Number Percent change Number Percent Number Percent change -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- All institutions 530,632 100.0 539,691 100.0 1.7 1,169,275 100.0 1,160,134 100.0 -0.8 387,070 100.0 397,629 100.0 2.7 Public 444,373 83.7 451,539 83.7 1.6 789,148 67.5 776,670 66.9 -1.6 221,428 57.2 224,152 56.4 1.2 Private 86,259 16.3 88,152 16.3 2.2 380,127 32.5 383,464 33.1 0.9 165,642 42.8 173,477 43.6 4.7 Men 215,261 40.6 218,352 40.5 1.4 532,422 45.5 526,131 45.4 -1.2 176,085 45.5 178,598 44.9 1.4 Women 315,371 59.4 321,339 59.5 1.9 636,853 54.5 634,003 54.6 -0.4 210,985 54.5 219,031 55.1 3.8 White, non-Hispanic 410,187 77.3 408,087 75.6 -0.5 918,076 78.5 892,729 77.0 -2.8 273,897 70.8 277,412 69.8 1.3 Black, non-Hispanic 44,577 8.4 45,887 8.5 2.9 82,183 7.0 85,161 7.3 3.6 20,892 5.4 22,907 5.8 9.6 Hispanic 31,439 5.9 35,048 6.5 11.5 49,227 4.2 52,898 4.6 7.5 11,319 2.9 12,212 3.1 7.9 Asian or Pacific Islander 18,051 3.4 20,164 3.7 11.7 54,496 4.7 59,034 5.1 8.3 14,541 3.8 15,884 4.0 9.2 Amer. Indian/Alaskan Native 4,780 0.9 5,351 1.0 11.9 6,064 0.5 6,454 0.6 6.4 1,618 0.4 1,542 0.4 -4.7 Race/ethnicity unknown 10,656 2.0 13,192 2.4 23.8 23,602 2.0 26,602 2.3 12.7 17,730 4.6 18,930 4.8 6.8 Nonresident Alien 9,977 1.9 9,847 1.8 -1.3 34,178 2.9 36,946 3.2 8.1 46,505 12.0 48,745 12.3 4.8 Unreported** 965 0.2 2,115 0.4 119.2 1,449 0.1 310 0.0 -78.6 568 0.1 (3) 0.0 -100.5 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Table A-1.--Degrees conferred by institutions of higher education, by level of degree, control of institution, race/ethnicity and sex of recipient: 50 states and the District, continued -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Doctor's Degrees First-professional Degrees Total Degrees ----------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------ ----------------------------------------------------- 1993-94 * 1994-95 1993-94 1994-95 1993-94 1994-95 ---------------- ---------------- ---------------- ---------------- ------------------- ------------------ Percent Percent Percent Number Percent Number Percent change Number Percent Number Percent change Number Percent Number Percent change -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- All institutions 43,185 100.0 44,446 100.0 2.9 75,418 100.0 75,800 100.0 0.5 2,205,580 100.0 2,217,700 100.0 0.5 Public 28,524 66.1 28,917 65.1 1.4 29,842 39.6 29,871 39.4 0.1 1,513,315 68.6 1,511,149 68.1 -0.1 Private 14,661 33.9 15,529 34.9 5.9 45,576 60.4 45,929 60.6 0.8 692,265 31.4 706,551 31.9 2.1 Men 26,552 61.5 26,916 60.6 1.4 44,707 59.3 44,853 59.2 0.3 995,027 45.1 994,850 44.9 0.0 Women 16,633 38.5 17,530 39.4 5.4 30,711 40.7 30,947 40.8 0.8 1,210,553 54.9 1,222,850 55.1 1.0 White, non-Hispanic 26,137 60.5 26,616 59.9 1.8 58,475 77.5 58,235 76.8 -0.4 1,686,772 76.5 1,663,079 75.0 -1.4 Black, non-Hispanic 1,344 3.1 1,606 3.6 19.5 4,328 5.7 4,657 6.1 7.6 153,324 7.0 160,218 7.2 4.5 Hispanic 870 2.0 943 2.1 8.4 3,044 4.0 3,165 4.2 4.0 95,899 4.3 104,266 4.7 8.7 Asian or Pacific Islander 1,943 4.5 2,555 5.7 31.5 5,758 7.6 6,275 8.3 9.0 94,789 4.3 103,912 4.7 9.6 Amer. Indian/Alaskan Native 132 0.3 129 0.3 -2.3 362 0.5 404 0.5 11.6 12,956 0.6 13,880 0.6 7.1 Race/ethnicity unknown 1,158 2.7 1,467 3.3 26.7 2,014 2.7 1,453 1.9 -27.9 55,160 2.5 61,644 2.8 11.8 Nonresident Alien 11,530 26.7 11,130 25.0 -3.5 1,437 1.9 1,611 2.1 12.1 103,627 4.7 108,279 4.9 4.5 Unreported** 71 0.2 0 0.0 -100.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0.0 3,053 0.1 2,422 0.1 -20.7 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------* Associate's degrees for 1993-94 adjusted from previously published data.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, , Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, "Completions" survey, 1993-94 and 1994-95 and "Consolidated" survey 1994 and 1995.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Associate's Degree Bachelor's Degree Master's Degrees ------------------ -------------------- ------------------ Percent Percent Percent Number of total Number of total Number of total ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- All institutions 539,691 24.3 1,160,134 52.3 397,629 17.9 Public 451,539 29.9 776,670 51.4 224,152 14.8 Private 88,152 12.5 383,464 54.3 173,477 24.6 Men 218,352 21.9 526,131 52.9 178,598 18.0 Women 321,339 26.3 634,003 51.8 219,031 17.9 White, non-Hispanic 408,087 24.5 892,729 53.7 277,412 16.7 Black, non-Hispanic 45,887 28.6 85,161 53.2 22,907 14.3 Hispanic 35,048 33.6 52,898 50.7 12,212 11.7 Asian or Pacific Islander 20,164 19.4 59,034 56.8 15,884 15.3 Amer. Indian/Alaskan Native 5,351 38.6 6,454 46.5 1,542 11.1 Race/ethnicity unknown 13,192 21.4 26,602 43.2 18,930 30.7 Nonresident Alien 9,847 9.1 36,946 34.1 48,745 45.0 Unreported* 2,115 87.3 310 12.8 (3) -0.1 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Table A-2.--Number and percent distribution of degrees conferred by institutions of higher education, by level of degree, control of institution, race/ethnicity and sex of recipient: 50 states and the District of Columbia, 1994-95, continued ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Doctor's Degrees First-professional Total Degrees ----------------- ------------------ -------------------- Percent Percent Percent Number of total Number of total Number of total ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- All institutions 44,446 2.0 75,800 3.4 2,217,700 100.0 Public 28,917 1.9 29,871 2.0 1,511,149 100.0 Private 15,529 2.2 45,929 6.5 706,551 100.0 Men 26,916 2.7 44,853 4.5 994,850 100.0 Women 17,530 1.4 30,947 2.5 1,222,850 100.0 White, non-Hispanic 26,616 1.6 58,235 3.5 1,663,079 100.0 Black, non-Hispanic 1,606 1.0 4,657 2.9 160,218 100.0 Hispanic 943 0.9 3,165 3.0 104,266 100.0 Asian Amer./Pacific Islander 2,555 2.5 6,275 6.0 103,912 100.0 Amer. Indian/Alaskan Native 129 0.9 404 2.9 13,880 100.0 Race/ethnicity unknown 1,467 2.4 1,453 2.4 61,644 100.0 Nonresident Alien 11,130 10.3 1,611 1.5 108,279 100.0 Unreported* 0 0.0 0 0.0 2,422 100.0 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------* Includes data for institutions that could not report degrees by race/ethnicity and for which data were master's degrees resulted from the number of degrees by race/ethnicity being greater than the total number of degrees reported.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, , Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, "Completions" survey 1994-95 and "Consolidated" survey 1995.
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