Table 289.

Bachelor's, master's, and doctor's degrees conferred by degree-granting institutions, by field of study: Selected years, 1970-71 through 2009-10

Degree and year	Number of degrees conferred								Percentage distribution of degrees conferred
	Total degrees	Humani- ties1	Social and behavioral sciences2	Natural sciences3	Computer sciences and engi- neering4	Educa- tion	Business	Other fields5	Total degrees	Humani- ties1	Social and behavioral sciences2	Natural sciences3	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
2004-05	1,439,264	254,847	242,506	99,370	133,655	105,451	311,574	291,861	100.0	17.7	16.8	6.9	9.3	7.3	21.6	20.3
2005-06	1,485,242	261,696	249,619	105,899	128,886	107,238	318,042	313,862	100.0	17.6	16.8	7.1	8.7	7.2	21.4	21.1
2006-07	1,524,092	265,808	254,222	113,077	124,024	105,641	327,531	333,789	100.0	17.4	16.7	7.4	8.1	6.9	21.5	21.9
2007-08	1,563,069	274,535	259,950	117,200	122,084	102,582	335,254	351,464	100.0	17.6	16.6	7.5	7.8	6.6	21.4	22.5
2008-09	1,601,368	278,387	262,771	121,009	122,408	101,708	347,985	367,100	100.0	17.4	16.4	7.6	7.6	6.4	21.7	22.9
2009-10	1,650,014	280,993	269,996	125,809	128,318	101,265	358,293	385,340	100.0	17.0	16.4	7.6	7.8	6.1	21.7	23.4
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
2004-05	580,151	47,655	35,782	18,584	53,404	167,490	142,617	114,619	100.0	8.2	6.2	3.2	9.2	28.9	24.6	19.8
2005-06	599,731	49,584	37,139	19,574	50,444	174,620	146,406	121,964	100.0	8.3	6.2	3.3	8.4	29.1	24.4	20.3
2006-07	610,597	50,048	38,702	19,794	48,221	176,572	150,211	127,049	100.0	8.2	6.3	3.2	7.9	28.9	24.6	20.8
2007-08	630,666	52,087	39,926	20,730	51,517	175,880	155,637	134,889	100.0	8.3	6.3	3.3	8.2	27.9	24.7	21.4
2008-09	662,079	53,198	42,655	21,090	55,908	178,564	168,375	142,289	100.0	8.0	6.4	3.2	8.4	27.0	25.4	21.5
2009-10	693,025	54,927	43,974	22,422	57,299	182,139	177,684	154,580	100.0	7.9	6.3	3.2	8.3	26.3	25.6	22.3
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
2004-05	134,387	6,449	8,925	11,359	7,586	7,681	1,498	90,889	100.0	4.8	6.6	8.5	5.6	5.7	1.1	67.6
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
2006-07	144,690	6,804	8,997	13,156	9,523	8,261	2,029	95,920	100.0	4.7	6.2	9.1	6.6	5.7	1.4	66.3
2007-08	149,378	7,049	9,355	13,754	9,675	8,491	2,084	98,970	100.0	4.7	6.3	9.2	6.5	5.7	1.4	66.3
2008-09	154,425	7,261	9,711	14,271	9,381	9,028	2,123	102,650	100.0	4.7	6.3	9.2	6.1	5.8	1.4	66.5
2009-10	158,558	7,739	9,778	14,321	9,370	9,233	2,245	105,872	100.0	4.9	6.2	9.0	5.9	5.8	1.4	66.8

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.

6 Includes Ph.D., Ed.D., and comparable degrees at the doctoral level. Includes most degrees formerly classified as first-professional, such as M.D., D.D.S., and law degrees.

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. 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; and 1990-91 through 2009-10 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, "Completions Survey" (IPEDS-C:91-96), and Fall 2001 through Fall 2010. (This table was prepared August 2011.)