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Digest of Education Statistics
2018 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 318.20. Bachelor's, master's, and doctor's degrees conferred by postsecondary institutions, by field of study: Selected years, 1970-71 through 2016-17
Degree and year Number of degrees conferred Percentage distribution of degrees conferred
Total degrees Humani-ties1 Social and behavioral sciences2 Natural sciences and mathe-matics3 Computer sciences and engi-neering4 Educa-tion Business Other fields
5
Total degrees Humani-ties1 Social and behavioral sciences2 Natural sciences and mathe-matics3 Computer sciences and engi-neering4 Educa-tion Busi-ness Other fields5
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
Bachelor's
    degrees
                               
1970-71 839,730 143,549 193,511 81,916 52,570 176,307 115,396 76,481 100.0 17.1 23.0 9.8 6.3 21.0 13.7 9.1
1975-76 925,746 150,736 176,674 91,596 52,328 154,437 143,171 156,804 100.0 16.3 19.1 9.9 5.7 16.7 15.5 16.9
1980-81 935,140 134,139 141,581 78,092 90,476 108,074 200,521 182,257 100.0 14.3 15.1 8.4 9.7 11.6 21.4 19.5
1985-86 987,823 132,891 134,468 76,228 139,459 87,147 236,700 180,930 100.0 13.5 13.6 7.7 14.1 8.8 24.0 18.3
1990-91 1,094,538 172,485 183,762 70,209 104,910 110,807 249,165 203,200 100.0 15.8 16.8 6.4 9.6 10.1 22.8 18.6
                                 
1995-96 1,164,792 193,404 199,895 93,443 102,503 105,384 226,623 243,540 100.0 16.6 17.2 8.0 8.8 9.0 19.5 20.9
2000-01 1,244,171 214,107 201,681 89,772 117,011 105,458 263,515 252,627 100.0 17.2 16.2 7.2 9.4 8.5 21.2 20.3
2005-06 1,485,104 261,666 249,600 105,883 129,108 107,235 318,043 313,569 100.0 17.6 16.8 7.1 8.7 7.2 21.4 21.1
2010-11 1,716,053 288,446 278,075 131,871 136,163 104,008 365,133 412,357 100.0 16.8 16.2 7.7 7.9 6.1 21.3 24.0
2013-14 1,870,150 291,799 290,444 154,951 164,247 98,838 358,132 511,739 100.0 15.6 15.5 8.3 8.8 5.3 19.1 27.4
                                 
2014-15 1,894,969 280,956 284,544 161,800 174,691 91,596 363,741 537,641 100.0 14.8 15.0 8.5 9.2 4.8 19.2 28.4
2015-16 1,920,750 274,513 278,658 167,055 188,350 87,221 371,690 553,263 100.0 14.3 14.5 8.7 9.8 4.5 19.4 28.8
2016-17 1,956,032 270,643 275,960 172,100 205,181 85,118 381,353 565,677 100.0 13.8 14.1 8.8 10.5 4.4 19.5 28.9
                                 
Master's
    degrees
                               
1970-71 235,564 34,510 22,256 17,152 18,535 87,666 26,490 28,955 100.0 14.6 9.4 7.3 7.9 37.2 11.2 12.3
1975-76 317,477 37,079 26,120 15,742 19,403 126,061 42,592 50,480 100.0 11.7 8.2 5.0 6.1 39.7 13.4 15.9
1980-81 302,637 35,130 22,168 13,579 21,434 96,713 57,888 55,725 100.0 11.6 7.3 4.5 7.1 32.0 19.1 18.4
1985-86 295,850 34,834 20,409 14,055 30,216 74,816 66,676 54,844 100.0 11.8 6.9 4.8 10.2 25.3 22.5 18.5
1990-91 342,863 35,984 23,582 13,664 34,774 87,352 78,255 69,252 100.0 10.5 6.9 4.0 10.1 25.5 22.8 20.2
                                 
1995-96 412,180 40,795 30,164 16,154 39,422 104,936 93,554 87,155 100.0 9.9 7.3 3.9 9.6 25.5 22.7 21.1
2000-01 473,502 40,625 30,330 15,360 44,098 127,829 115,602 99,658 100.0 8.6 6.4 3.2 9.3 27.0 24.4 21.0
2005-06 599,862 49,590 37,143 19,575 50,581 174,622 146,396 121,955 100.0 8.3 6.2 3.3 8.4 29.1 24.4 20.3
2010-11 730,922 57,160 46,147 23,576 62,695 185,127 187,178 169,039 100.0 7.8 6.3 3.2 8.6 25.3 25.6 23.1
2013-14 754,582 59,834 49,423 28,221 71,857 154,655 189,364 201,228 100.0 7.9 6.5 3.7 9.5 20.5 25.1 26.7
                                 
2014-15 758,804 59,181 47,305 29,344 82,916 146,581 185,236 208,241 100.0 7.8 6.2 3.9 10.9 19.3 24.4 27.4
2015-16 785,757 59,067 47,506 31,299 97,843 145,792 186,835 217,415 100.0 7.5 6.0 4.0 12.5 18.6 23.8 27.7
2016-17 804,684 57,839 47,557 32,513 106,799 145,680 187,404 226,892 100.0 7.2 5.9 4.0 13.3 18.1 23.3 28.2
                                 
Doctor's
    degrees6
                               
1970-71 64,998 4,402 5,804 9,126 3,816 6,041 774 35,035 100.0 6.8 8.9 14.0 5.9 9.3 1.2 53.9
1975-76 91,007 5,461 7,314 7,591 3,118 7,202 906 59,415 100.0 6.0 8.0 8.3 3.4 7.9 1.0 65.3
1980-81 98,016 4,827 6,698 7,473 2,860 7,279 808 68,071 100.0 4.9 6.8 7.6 2.9 7.4 0.8 69.4
1985-86 100,280 4,648 6,548 7,668 3,800 6,610 923 70,083 100.0 4.6 6.5 7.6 3.8 6.6 0.9 69.9
1990-91 105,547 4,858 6,944 9,378 6,006 6,189 1,185 70,987 100.0 4.6 6.6 8.9 5.7 5.9 1.1 67.3
                                 
1995-96 115,507 6,356 7,901 10,997 7,223 6,246 1,366 75,418 100.0 5.5 6.8 9.5 6.3 5.4 1.2 65.3
2000-01 119,585 6,466 9,021 10,190 6,315 6,284 1,180 80,129 100.0 5.4 7.5 8.5 5.3 5.3 1.0 67.0
2005-06 138,056 6,628 8,835 12,097 8,734 7,584 1,711 92,467 100.0 4.8 6.4 8.8 6.3 5.5 1.2 67.0
2010-11 163,827 8,359 10,241 14,574 10,013 9,642 2,286 108,712 100.0 5.1 6.3 8.9 6.1 5.9 1.4 66.4
2013-14 177,587 8,397 11,358 15,971 12,099 10,929 3,039 115,794 100.0 4.7 6.4 9.0 6.8 6.2 1.7 65.2
                                 
2014-15 178,548 8,391 11,411 15,677 12,360 11,772 3,116 115,821 100.0 4.7 6.4 8.8 6.9 6.6 1.7 64.9
2015-16 178,134 8,324 11,246 15,851 12,387 11,838 3,325 115,163 100.0 4.7 6.3 8.9 7.0 6.6 1.9 64.6
2016-17 181,352 8,119 11,408 16,039 12,505 12,687 3,329 117,265 100.0 4.5 6.3 8.8 6.9 7.0 1.8 64.7
1 Includes degrees in Area, ethnic, cultural, gender, and group studies; English language and literature/letters; Foreign languages, literatures, and linguistics; Liberal arts and sciences, general studies, and humanities; Multi/interdisciplinary studies; Philosophy and religious studies; Theology and religious vocations; and Visual and performing arts.
2 Includes Psychology; Social sciences; and History.
3 Includes Biological and biomedical sciences; Mathematics and statistics; and Physical sciences and science technologies.
4 Includes Computer and information sciences; Engineering; and Engineering technologies.
5 Includes Agriculture and natural resources; Architecture and related services; Communication, journalism, and related programs; Communications technologies; Family and consumer sciences/human sciences; Health professions and related programs; Homeland security, law enforcement, and firefighting; Legal professions and studies; Library science; Military technologies and applied sciences; Parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies; Precision production; Public administration and social services; Transportation and materials moving; and Not classified by field of study.
6 Includes Ph.D., Ed.D., and comparable degrees at the doctoral level. Includes most degrees that were classified as first-professional prior to 2010-11, such as M.D., D.D.S., and law degrees.
NOTE: Data are for postsecondary institutions participating in Title IV federal financial aid programs. 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 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS): "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. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Some data have been revised from previously published figures.
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:91-96); and IPEDS Fall 2001 through Fall 2017, Completions component. (This table was prepared August 2018.)

2018 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest