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Digest of Education Statistics
2013 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 2011-12
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
Busi-
ness
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 1,485,242 261,696 249,619 105,899 128,886 107,238 318,042 313,862 100.0 17.6 16.8 7.1 8.7 7.2 21.4 21.1
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
2010-11 1,715,913 288,371 278,037 131,897 136,189 103,992 365,093 412,334 100.0 16.8 16.2 7.7 7.9 6.1 21.3 24.0
2011-12 1,791,046 295,221 287,529 141,354 145,924 105,785 366,815 448,418 100.0 16.5 16.1 7.9 8.1 5.9 20.5 25.0
                                 
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
2005-06 599,731 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
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
2010-11 730,635 57,137 46,135 23,556 62,680 185,009 187,213 168,905 100.0 7.8 6.3 3.2 8.6 25.3 25.6 23.1
2011-12 754,229 59,979 48,723 25,570 66,014 178,062 191,571 184,310 100.0 8.0 6.5 3.4 8.8 23.6 25.4 24.4
                                 
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
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
2010-11 163,765 8,360 10,241 14,574 10,013 9,623 2,286 108,668 100.0 5.1 6.3 8.9 6.1 5.9 1.4 66.4
2011-12 170,062 8,733 10,525 14,974 10,554 9,990 2,531 112,755 100.0 5.1 6.2 8.8 6.2 5.9 1.5 66.3
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 formerly classified as first-professional, 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.
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 2012, Completions component. (This table was prepared July 2013.)

2013 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest