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Digest of Education Statistics: 2009
Digest of Education Statistics: 2009

NCES 2010-013
April 2010


Table 272. Master's degrees conferred by degree-granting institutions, by field of study: Selected years, 1970-71 through 2007-08
Field of study 1970-71 1975-76 1980-81 1985-86 1990-91 1995-96 1997-98 1998-99 1999-2000 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Total 230,509 311,771 295,739 288,567 337,168 406,301 430,164 439,986 457,056 468,476 482,118 513,339 558,940 574,618 594,065 604,607 625,023
Agriculture and natural resources 2,457 3,340 4,003 3,801 3,295 4,551 4,464 4,404 4,360 4,272 4,503 4,492 4,783 4,746 4,640 4,623 4,684
Architecture and related services 1,705 3,215 3,153 3,260 3,490 3,993 4,347 4,172 4,268 4,302 4,566 4,925 5,424 5,674 5,743 5,951 6,065
Area, ethnic, cultural, and gender studies 1,032 993 802 915 1,233 1,652 1,528 1,438 1,544 1,555 1,541 1,509 1,683 1,755 2,080 1,699 1,778
Biological and biomedical sciences 5,623 6,453 5,759 5,043 4,796 6,544 6,788 6,913 6,781 6,955 6,937 6,990 7,657 8,199 8,681 8,747 9,565
Business 26,490 42,592 57,888 66,676 78,255 93,554 101,652 107,477 111,532 115,602 119,725 127,685 139,347 142,617 146,406 150,211 155,637
                                   
Communication, journalism, and related programs 1,770 2,961 2,896 3,500 4,123 5,080 5,611 5,293 5,169 5,218 5,510 6,053 6,535 6,762 7,244 6,773 6,915
Communications technologies 86 165 209 308 204 481 486 263 356 427 470 442 365 433 501 499 631
Computer and information sciences 1,588 2,603 4,218 8,070 9,324 10,579 11,765 12,858 14,990 16,911 17,173 19,509 20,143 18,416 17,055 16,232 17,087
Education 87,666 126,061 96,713 74,816 87,352 104,936 113,374 118,048 123,045 127,829 135,189 147,883 162,345 167,490 174,620 176,572 175,880
Engineering 16,813 16,472 16,893 21,529 24,454 26,892 25,146 24,734 24,850 25,259 24,908 28,338 32,698 32,633 30,989 29,472 31,719
                                   
Engineering technologies 134 328 323 617 996 2,054 2,181 2,004 1,876 2,013 2,149 2,332 2,499 2,500 2,541 2,690 2,873
English language and literature/letters 10,441 8,599 5,742 5,335 6,784 7,657 7,587 7,288 7,022 6,763 7,097 7,428 7,956 8,468 8,845 8,742 9,161
Family and consumer sciences/human sciences 1,452 2,179 2,570 2,011 1,541 1,712 1,838 1,736 1,882 1,838 1,683 1,607 1,794 1,827 1,983 2,080 2,199
Foreign languages, literatures, and linguistics 5,480 4,432 2,934 2,690 3,049 3,443 3,181 3,106 3,037 3,035 3,075 3,049 3,124 3,407 3,539 3,443 3,565
Health professions and related clinical sciences 5,330 12,164 16,176 18,603 21,354 33,920 39,567 40,707 42,593 43,623 43,560 42,748 44,939 46,703 51,380 54,531 58,120
                                   
Legal professions and studies 955 1,442 1,832 1,924 2,057 2,751 3,228 3,308 3,750 3,829 4,053 4,141 4,243 4,170 4,453 4,486 4,754
Liberal arts and sciences, general studies,
   and humanities
885 2,633 2,375 1,586 2,213 2,778 2,801 3,101 3,256 3,193 2,754 3,314 3,697 3,680 3,702 3,634 3,797
Library science 7,001 8,037 4,859 3,564 4,763 5,099 4,871 4,752 4,577 4,727 5,113 5,295 6,015 6,213 6,448 6,767 7,162
Mathematics and statistics 5,191 3,857 2,567 3,131 3,549 3,651 3,409 3,286 3,208 3,209 3,350 3,620 4,191 4,477 4,730 4,884 4,980
Military technologies 2 0 43 83 0 136 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 202 0
                                   
Multi/interdisciplinary studies 926 1,287 2,363 2,890 2,117 2,762 3,067 3,073 3,487 3,475 3,708 3,781 4,047 4,252 4,491 4,762 5,289
Parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies 218 571 643 570 483 1,684 1,917 2,011 2,322 2,354 2,580 2,978 3,199 3,740 3,992 4,110 4,440
Philosophy and religious studies 1,326 1,358 1,231 1,193 1,471 1,363 1,396 1,357 1,376 1,386 1,371 1,578 1,578 1,647 1,739 1,716 1,879
Physical sciences and science technologies 6,336 5,428 5,246 5,860 5,281 5,807 5,328 5,124 4,810 5,049 5,012 5,109 5,570 5,678 5,922 5,839 5,899
Precision production 0 0 0 0 0 8 10 7 5 2 2 3 13 6 9 5 3
                                   
Psychology 5,717 10,167 10,223 9,845 11,349 15,152 15,142 15,688 15,740 16,539 16,357 17,161 17,898 18,830 19,770 21,037 21,431
Public administration and social services 7,785 15,209 17,803 15,692 17,905 24,229 25,144 24,925 25,594 25,268 25,448 25,903 28,250 29,552 30,510 31,131 33,029
Security and protective services 194 1,197 1,538 1,074 1,108 1,812 2,000 2,249 2,609 2,514 2,935 2,956 3,717 3,991 4,277 4,906 5,760
Social sciences and history 16,539 15,953 11,945 10,564 12,233 15,012 14,938 14,431 14,066 13,791 14,112 14,630 16,110 16,952 17,369 17,665 18,495
Theology and religious vocations 2,692 3,258 4,163 4,543 4,803 5,030 4,649 4,679 5,534 4,850 4,909 5,133 5,486 5,815 6,092 6,446 6,996
                                   
Transportation and materials moving 0 0 0 454 406 919 736 713 697 756 709 765 728 802 784 985 982
Visual and performing arts 6,675 8,817 8,629 8,420 8,657 10,280 11,145 10,753 10,918 11,404 11,595 11,982 12,906 13,183 13,530 13,767 14,164
Not classified by field of study 0 0 0 0 8,523 780 868 88 1,802 528 24 0 0 0 0 0 84
NOTE: Degree-granting institutions grant associate’s or higher degrees and participate in Title IV federal financial aid programs. The new Classification of Instructional Programs was initiated in 2002-03. 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 IPEDS "Completions Survey": "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/technicians, Construction trades, and Mechanic and repair technologies/technicians.
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 2007-08 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, "Completions Survey" (IPEDS-C:91-99), and Fall 2000 through Fall 2008. (This table was prepared July 2009.)