Fast Facts: Most popular majors (37)

Most popular majors

Question:
What are the most popular majors for postsecondary students?

Response:

Postsecondary institutions within the United States¹ conferred approximately 3.0 million undergraduate degrees in 2019–20. These included approximately 1.0 million associate’s degrees and approximately 2.0 million bachelor’s degrees. At both levels, business and health professions and related programs were among the most common fields of study in which degrees were conferred for all racial/ethnic groups.

Number of bachelor’s degrees conferred by postsecondary institutions in selected fields of study: 2009–10 through 2019–20

The data in this figure is described in the surrounding text.

¹ “Business” is defined as business, management, marketing, and related support services, as well as personal and culinary services.
NOTE: Data are for the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The fields shown are the six programs in which the largest number of bachelor’s degrees were conferred in 2019–20. Data are for postsecondary institutions participating in Title IV federal financial aid programs. Data in this figure are based on the 2020 Classification of Instructional Programs. Some data have been revised from previously published figures.

Postsecondary institutions conferred about 2.0 million bachelor’s degrees in 2019–20. More than half (58 percent) were concentrated in six fields of study. In the most prevalent field of study, business, 19 percent (387,900 degrees) were conferred. Business was the most common field of study for bachelor’s degrees conferred in 2019–20 within each racial/ethnic group and for nonresident alien students.² Thirteen percent (257,300 degrees) were conferred in health professions and related programs, and 8 percent (161,200 degrees) were conferred in social sciences and history. Six percent each were conferred in engineering (128,300 degrees), biological and biomedical sciences (126,600 degrees), and psychology (120,000 degrees). The next largest percentages of bachelor’s degrees conferred in 2019–20 were in the following fields: computer and information sciences and support services (5 percent, or 97,000 degrees); visual and performing arts (5 percent, or 92,300 degrees); and communication, journalism, and related programs (5 percent, or 91,800 degrees).

Between 2009–10 and 2019–20, the total number of bachelor’s degrees conferred increased by 24 percent, from approximately 1.6 million degrees to approximately 2.0 million degrees. This pattern differed among the three most common bachelor’s degree fields. Between 2009–10 and 2019–20, the number of bachelor’s degrees conferred in business increased by 8 percent, from 358,100 to 387,900 degrees. The number of bachelor’s degrees conferred in health professions and related programs increased by 98 percent between 2009–10 and 2019–20, from 129,600 to 257,300 degrees. The number of bachelor’s degrees conferred in social sciences and history decreased by 7 percent between 2009–10 and 2019–20, from 172,800 to 161,200 degrees. Among other fields in which more than 10,000 bachelor’s degrees were conferred in 2019–20, the number of degrees conferred more than doubled between 2009–10 and 2019–20 in computer and information sciences (from 39,600 to 97,000 degrees, an increase of 145 percent).

Percentage distribution of bachelor’s degrees conferred by postsecondary institutions in selected fields of study, by sex: 2019–20

¹ “Business” is defined as business, management, marketing, and related support services, as well as culinary, entertainment, and personal services.
NOTE: Data are for the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The fields shown are the six programs in which the largest number of bachelor’s degrees were conferred in 2019–20. Data are for postsecondary institutions participating in Title IV federal financial aid programs. Data in this figure are based on the 2020 Classification of Instructional Programs. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.

In 2019–20, females earned 58 percent (1.2 million degrees) and males earned 42 percent (861,300 degrees) of all bachelor’s degrees conferred. Of the six fields in which the most bachelor’s degrees were conferred in 2019–20, females earned the majority of degrees in four: health professions and related programs (85 percent), psychology (79 percent), biological and biomedical sciences (64 percent), and social sciences and history (52 percent). Males earned the majority of degrees conferred in engineering (76 percent) and business (54 percent).

¹ Data in this Fast Fact represent the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
² In the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), racial/ethnic data were not collected for nonresident alien students, and their data were compiled as a separate group.

SOURCE: National Center for Education Statistics. (2022). Undergraduate Degree Fields. Condition of Education. U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved June 23, 2022, from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cta.

Related Tables and Figures: (Listed by Release Date)

Other Resources: (Listed by Release Date)