In 2019–20, over two-thirds of the approximately 1.0 million associate’s degrees conferred by postsecondary institutions within the United States were concentrated in three fields of study: liberal arts and sciences, general studies, and humanities (402,700 degrees); health professions and related programs (172,200 degrees); and business (112,100 degrees). Of the 2.0 million bachelor’s degrees conferred in 2019–20, some 58 percent were concentrated in six fields of study: business (387,900 degrees); health professions and related programs (257,300 degrees); social sciences and history (161,200 degrees); engineering (128,300 degrees); biological and biomedical sciences (126,600 degrees); and psychology (120,000 degrees).
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. Female students earned the majority of both associate’s and 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.
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1 In order to be consistent with the definition of “business” for bachelor’s degree data, “business” is defined as business, management, marketing, and related support services, as well as culinary, entertainment, and personal services.
2 Includes engineering technologies and engineering-related fields; construction trades; and mechanic and repair technologies/technicians.
3 Multi/interdisciplinary studies are instructional programs that derive from two or more distinct programs to provide a cross-cutting focus on a subject concentration that is not subsumed under a single discipline or occupational field. Examples include biological and physical sciences, peace studies and conflict resolution, systems science and theory, and mathematics and computer science.
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 associate’s degrees were conferred in 2019–20. Data are for postsecondary institutions participating in Title IV federal financial aid programs. Degree counts are limited to degree-granting institutions. Data in this figure are based on the 2020 Classification of Instructional Programs. Some data have been revised from previously published figures.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), Fall 2010 through Fall 2020, Completions component. See Digest of Education Statistics 2021, table 321.10.
NOTE: Data are for the 50 states and the District of Columbia. STEM fields include biological and biomedical sciences, computer and information sciences, engineering and engineering technologies, mathematics and statistics, and physical sciences and science technologies. Data are for postsecondary institutions participating in Title IV federal financial aid programs. Degree counts are limited to degree-granting institutions. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. Race/ethnicity categories exclude nonresident aliens. Although rounded numbers are displayed, the figures are based on unrounded data.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), Fall 2020, Completions component. See Digest of Education Statistics 2021, tables 318.45 and 321.30.
1 In order to be consistent with the definition of “business” for bachelor’s degree data, “business” is defined as business, management, marketing, and related support services, as well as culinary, entertainment, and personal services.
2 Multi/interdisciplinary studies are instructional programs that derive from two or more distinct programs to provide a cross-cutting focus on a subject concentration that is not subsumed under a single discipline or occupational field. Examples include biological and physical sciences, peace studies and conflict resolution, systems science and theory, and mathematics and computer science.
3 Includes engineering technologies and engineering-related fields; construction trades; and mechanic and repair technologies/technicians.
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 associate’s degrees were conferred in 2019–20. Data are for postsecondary institutions participating in Title IV federal financial aid programs. Degree counts are limited to degree-granting institutions. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Although rounded numbers are displayed, the figures are based on unrounded data.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), Fall 2020, Completions component. See Digest of Education Statistics 2021, table 321.10.
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. Some data have been revised from previously published figures.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), Fall 2010 through Fall 2020, Completions component. See Digest of Education Statistics 2021, table 322.10; and Digest of Education Statistics 2020, table 322.10.
NOTE: Data are for the 50 states and the District of Columbia. STEM fields include biological and biomedical sciences, computer and information sciences, engineering and engineering technologies, mathematics and statistics, and physical sciences and science technologies. Data are for postsecondary institutions participating in Title IV federal financial aid programs. Data in this table are based on the 2020 Classification of Instructional Programs. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. Race/ethnicity categories exclude nonresident aliens. Although rounded numbers are displayed, the figures are based on unrounded data.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), Fall 2020, Completions component. See Digest of Education Statistics 2021, tables 318.45 and 322.30.
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 table are based on the 2020 Classification of Instructional Programs. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), Fall 2020, Completions component. See Digest of Education Statistics 2021, tables 322.40 and 322.50.
1 Data in this indicator represent the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
2 Culinary, entertainment, and personal services have been added to the definition of “business” for associate’s degree data in order to be consistent with the definition of “business” for bachelor’s degree data. Thus, for all data in this indicator, “business” is defined as business, management, marketing, and related support services, as well as culinary, entertainment, and personal services.
3 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.
4 Includes engineering technologies and engineering-related fields; construction trades; and mechanic and repair technologies/technicians.
5 Multi/interdisciplinary studies are instructional programs that derive from two or more distinct programs to provide a cross-cutting focus on a subject concentration that is not subsumed under a single discipline or occupational field. Examples include biological and physical sciences, peace studies and conflict resolution, systems science and theory, and mathematics and computer science.
6 STEM fields include biological and biomedical sciences, computer and information sciences, engineering and engineering technologies, mathematics and statistics, and physical sciences and science technologies. Construction trades and mechanic and repair technologies/technicians are categorized as engineering technologies in some tables to facilitate trend comparisons but are not included as STEM fields in this indicator.