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Digest of Education Statistics
2016 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 323.10. Master's degrees conferred by postsecondary institutions, by field of study: Selected years, 1970-71 through 2014-15
Field of study 1970-71 1975-76 1980-81 1985-86 1990-91 1995-96 2000-01 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
Total 235,564 317,477 302,637 295,850 342,863 412,180 473,502 580,151 599,731 610,597 630,666 662,082 693,313 730,922 755,967 751,718 754,582 758,708
Agriculture and natural resources 2,457 3,340 4,003 3,801 3,295 4,551 4,272 4,746 4,640 4,623 4,684 4,878 5,215 5,766 6,390 6,336 6,544 6,426
Architecture and related services 1,705 3,215 3,153 3,260 3,490 3,993 4,302 5,674 5,743 5,951 6,065 6,587 7,280 7,788 8,448 8,095 8,048 8,006
Area, ethnic, cultural, gender, and group studies 1,032 993 802 915 1,233 1,652 1,555 1,755 2,080 1,699 1,778 1,779 1,775 1,913 1,947 1,897 1,844 1,847
Biological and biomedical sciences 5,625 6,457 5,766 5,064 4,834 6,593 7,017 8,284 8,781 8,898 9,689 10,018 10,730 11,324 12,419 13,300 13,964 14,650
Business 26,490 42,592 57,888 66,676 78,255 93,554 115,602 142,617 146,406 150,211 155,637 168,404 177,748 187,178 191,606 188,617 189,364 185,222
                                     
Communication, journalism, and related programs 1,770 2,961 2,896 3,500 4,123 5,080 5,218 6,762 7,244 6,773 6,915 7,042 7,630 8,302 9,005 8,760 9,353 9,581
Communications technologies 86 165 209 308 204 481 427 433 501 499 631 475 463 502 497 577 577 554
Computer and information sciences 1,588 2,603 4,218 8,070 9,324 10,579 16,911 18,416 17,055 16,232 17,087 17,907 17,955 19,516 20,925 22,782 24,514 31,474
Education 87,666 126,061 96,713 74,816 87,352 104,936 127,829 167,490 174,620 176,572 175,880 178,538 182,165 185,127 179,047 164,652 154,655 146,561
Engineering 16,813 16,472 16,893 21,529 24,454 26,789 25,174 32,488 30,848 29,299 31,557 34,546 35,133 38,664 40,323 40,420 42,376 46,115
                                     
Engineering technologies 134 328 323 617 996 2,054 2,013 2,500 2,541 2,690 2,873 3,462 4,258 4,515 4,793 4,908 4,967 5,324
English language and literature/letters 10,441 8,599 5,742 5,335 6,784 7,657 6,763 8,468 8,845 8,742 9,161 9,262 9,202 9,475 9,938 9,755 9,294 8,928
Family and consumer sciences/human sciences 1,452 2,179 2,570 2,011 1,541 1,712 1,838 1,827 1,983 2,080 2,199 2,453 2,592 2,918 3,155 3,255 3,082 3,148
Foreign languages, literatures, and linguistics 5,480 4,432 2,934 2,690 3,049 3,443 3,035 3,407 3,539 3,443 3,565 3,592 3,756 3,727 3,827 3,708 3,482 3,566
Health professions and related programs 5,330 12,164 16,176 18,603 21,354 33,920 43,623 46,703 51,380 54,531 58,120 62,642 69,112 75,571 84,355 90,933 97,416 102,897
                                     
Homeland security, law enforcement, and
      firefighting
194 1,197 1,538 1,074 1,108 1,812 2,514 3,991 4,277 4,906 5,760 6,125 6,717 7,433 8,420 8,868 9,310 9,643
Legal professions and studies 955 1,442 1,832 1,924 2,057 2,751 3,829 4,170 4,453 4,486 4,815 5,150 5,767 6,475 6,614 7,013 7,654 7,924
Liberal arts and sciences, general studies,
      and humanities
885 2,633 2,375 1,586 2,213 2,778 3,193 3,680 3,702 3,634 3,797 3,729 3,822 3,997 3,792 3,264 3,002 2,794
Library science 7,001 8,037 4,859 3,564 4,763 5,099 4,727 6,213 6,448 6,767 7,162 7,091 7,448 7,729 7,443 6,983 5,840 5,259
Mathematics and statistics 5,191 3,857 2,567 3,131 3,549 3,651 3,209 4,477 4,730 4,884 4,980 5,211 5,639 5,866 6,246 6,957 7,273 7,589
                                     
Military technologies and applied sciences 2 0 43 83 0 136 0 0 0 202 0 3 0 0 29 32 29 71
Multi/interdisciplinary studies 924 1,283 2,356 2,869 2,079 2,713 3,413 4,167 4,391 4,611 5,165 5,225 5,947 6,762 7,746 7,953 8,120 8,098
Parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies 218 571 643 570 483 1,684 2,354 3,740 3,992 4,110 4,440 4,825 5,617 6,546 7,047 7,139 7,609 7,639
Philosophy and religious studies 1,326 1,358 1,231 1,193 1,471 1,363 1,386 1,647 1,739 1,716 1,879 1,859 2,045 1,839 2,003 1,934 2,095 1,912
Physical sciences and science technologies 6,336 5,428 5,246 5,860 5,281 5,910 5,134 5,823 6,063 6,012 6,061 5,862 6,066 6,386 6,911 7,014 6,984 7,100
                                     
Precision production 0 0 0 0 0 8 2 6 9 5 3 10 10 5 11 9 15 4
Psychology 5,717 10,167 10,223 9,845 11,349 15,152 16,539 18,830 19,770 21,037 21,431 23,415 23,763 25,062 27,052 27,787 27,926 26,773
Public administration and social services 7,785 15,209 17,803 15,692 17,905 24,229 25,268 29,552 30,510 31,131 33,029 33,934 35,740 38,614 41,737 43,591 44,508 46,083
Social sciences and history 16,539 15,953 11,945 10,564 12,233 15,012 13,791 16,952 17,369 17,665 18,495 19,241 20,234 21,085 21,891 21,591 21,497 20,533
Theology and religious vocations 7,747 8,964 11,061 11,826 10,498 10,909 9,876 11,348 11,758 12,436 12,578 12,851 12,848 13,170 13,341 14,275 14,128 14,271
                                     
Transportation and materials moving 0 0 0 454 406 919 756 802 784 985 982 1,048 1,074 1,390 1,702 1,444 1,243 960
Visual and performing arts 6,675 8,817 8,629 8,420 8,657 10,280 11,404 13,183 13,530 13,767 14,164 14,918 15,562 16,277 17,307 17,869 17,869 17,756
Not classified by field of study 0 0 0 0 8,523 780 528 0 0 0 84 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
NOTE: Data through 1990-91 are for institutions of higher education, while later data are for postsecondary institutions that participate 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. 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; Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), "Completions Survey" (IPEDS-C:91-99); and IPEDS Fall 2000 through Fall 2015, Completions component. (This table was prepared September 2016.)

2016 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest