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Digest of Education Statistics: 2008
Digest of Education Statistics: 2008

NCES 2009-020
March 2009

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Table 274. Bachelor's, master's, and doctor's degrees conferred by degree-granting institutions, by field of study and year: Selected years, 1970–71 through 2006–07
Degree and year Number of degrees conferred Percentage distribution of degrees conferred
Total degrees Humanities1  Social and behavioral sciences2  Natural sciences3  Computer sciences and engineering4  Education Business Other fields5  Total degrees Humanities1  Social and behavioral sciences2  Natural sciences3  Computer sciences and engineering4  Education Business Other fields5 
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
Bachelor's degrees                                
1970–71 839,730 143,571 193,511 81,894 52,570 176,307 115,396 76,481 100.0 17.1 23.0 9.8 6.3 21.0 13.7 9.1
1975–76 925,746 150,805 176,674 91,527 52,328 154,437 143,171 156,804 100.0 16.3 19.1 9.9 5.7 16.7 15.5 16.9
1980–81 935,140 134,214 141,581 78,017 90,476 108,074 200,521 182,257 100.0 14.4 15.1 8.3 9.7 11.6 21.4 19.5
1985–86 987,823 132,966 134,468 76,153 139,459 87,147 236,700 180,930 100.0 13.5 13.6 7.7 14.1 8.8 24.0 18.3
1990–91 1,094,538 172,590 183,762 70,104 104,910 110,807 249,165 203,200 100.0 15.8 16.8 6.4 9.6 10.1 22.8 18.6
                                 
1995–96 1,164,792 193,668 199,895 93,090 102,592 105,384 226,623 243,540 100.0 16.6 17.2 8.0 8.8 9.0 19.5 20.9
2000–01 1,244,171 214,818 201,681 88,955 117,117 105,458 263,515 252,627 100.0 17.3 16.2 7.1 9.4 8.5 21.2 20.3
2002–03 1,348,811 236,152 221,906 90,559 134,752 105,845 293,391 266,206 100.0 17.5 16.5 6.7 10.0 7.8 21.8 19.7
2003–04 1,399,542 246,646 232,455 92,819 137,715 106,278 307,149 276,480 100.0 17.6 16.6 6.6 9.8 7.6 21.9 19.8
2004–05 1,439,264 256,151 242,506 97,867 133,854 105,451 311,574 291,861 100.0 17.8 16.8 6.8 9.3 7.3 21.6 20.3
                                 
2005–06 1,485,242 263,125 249,619 104,266 129,090 107,238 318,042 313,862 100.0 17.7 16.8 7.0 8.7 7.2 21.4 21.1
2006–07 1,524,092 267,489 254,222 111,178 124,242 105,641 327,531 333,789 100.0 17.6 16.7 7.3 8.2 6.9 21.5 21.9
                                 
Master's degrees                                
1970–71 230,509 29,457 22,256 17,150 18,535 87,666 26,490 28,955 100.0 12.8 9.7 7.4 8.0 38.0 11.5 12.6
1975–76 311,771 31,377 26,120 15,738 19,403 126,061 42,592 50,480 100.0 10.1 8.4 5.0 6.2 40.4 13.7 16.2
1980–81 295,739 28,239 22,168 13,572 21,434 96,713 57,888 55,725 100.0 9.5 7.5 4.6 7.2 32.7 19.6 18.8
1985–86 288,567 27,572 20,409 14,034 30,216 74,816 66,676 54,844 100.0 9.6 7.1 4.9 10.5 25.9 23.1 19.0
1990–91 337,168 30,327 23,582 13,626 34,774 87,352 78,255 69,252 100.0 9.0 7.0 4.0 10.3 25.9 23.2 20.5
                                 
1995–96 406,301 34,965 30,164 16,002 39,525 104,936 93,554 87,155 100.0 8.6 7.4 3.9 9.7 25.8 23.0 21.5
2000–01 468,476 35,661 30,330 15,213 44,183 127,829 115,602 99,658 100.0 7.6 6.5 3.2 9.4 27.3 24.7 21.3
2002–03 513,339 37,774 31,791 15,719 50,179 147,883 127,685 102,308 100.0 7.4 6.2 3.1 9.8 28.8 24.9 19.9
2003–04 558,940 40,477 34,008 17,418 55,340 162,345 139,347 110,005 100.0 7.2 6.1 3.1 9.9 29.0 24.9 19.7
2004–05 574,618 42,207 35,782 18,354 53,549 167,490 142,617 114,619 100.0 7.3 6.2 3.2 9.3 29.1 24.8 19.9
                                 
2005–06 594,065 44,018 37,139 19,333 50,585 174,620 146,406 121,964 100.0 7.4 6.3 3.3 8.5 29.4 24.6 20.5
2006–07 604,607 44,209 38,702 19,470 48,394 176,572 150,211 127,049 100.0 7.3 6.4 3.2 8.0 29.2 24.8 21.0
                                 
Doctor's degrees                                
1970–71 32,107 4,410 5,804 9,118 3,816 6,041 774 2,144 100.0 13.7 18.1 28.4 11.9 18.8 2.4 6.7
1975–76 34,064 5,495 7,314 7,557 3,118 7,202 906 2,472 100.0 16.1 21.5 22.2 9.2 21.1 2.7 7.3
1980–81 32,958 4,876 6,698 7,424 2,860 7,279 808 3,013 100.0 14.8 20.3 22.5 8.7 22.1 2.5 9.1
1985–86 33,653 4,701 6,548 7,615 3,800 6,610 923 3,456 100.0 14.0 19.5 22.6 11.3 19.6 2.7 10.3
                                 
1990–91 39,294 4,976 6,944 9,260 6,006 6,189 1,185 4,734 100.0 12.7 17.7 23.6 15.3 15.8 3.0 12.0
1995–96 44,652 6,571 7,901 10,705 7,300 6,246 1,366 4,563 100.0 14.7 17.7 24.0 16.3 14.0 3.1 10.2
2000–01 44,904 6,738 9,021 9,861 6,372 6,284 1,180 5,448 100.0 15.0 20.1 22.0 14.2 14.0 2.6 12.1
2002–03 46,042 6,735 8,685 9,868 6,149 6,832 1,252 6,521 100.0 14.6 18.9 21.4 13.4 14.8 2.7 14.2
2003–04 48,378 6,599 8,638 10,117 6,890 7,088 1,481 7,565 100.0 13.6 17.9 20.9 14.2 14.7 3.1 15.6
2004–05 52,631 6,806 8,925 10,868 7,720 7,681 1,498 9,133 100.0 12.9 17.0 20.6 14.7 14.6 2.8 17.4
                                 
2005–06 56,067 7,015 8,835 11,557 8,887 7,584 1,711 10,478 100.0 12.5 15.8 20.6 15.9 13.5 3.1 18.7
2006–07 60,616 7,214 8,997 12,551 9,718 8,261 2,029 11,846 100.0 11.9 14.8 20.7 16.0 13.6 3.3 19.5
1 Includes degrees in Area, ethnic, cultural, and gender 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; and 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 clini­cal sciences; Legal professions and studies; Library science; Military technologies; Parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies; Precision production; Public administration and social services; Security and protective services; Transportation and materials moving; and Not classified by field of study.
NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
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; and 1990–91 through 2006–07 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, "Completions Survey" (IPEDS-C:91–96), and Fall 2001 through Fall 2007. (This table was prepared September 2008.)

List of Tables Download Excel Excel format (53KB)


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