Table 318.20.

Bachelor's, master's, and doctor's degrees conferred by postsecondary institutions, by field of study: Selected years, 1970-71 through 2015-16

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	Business	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
2010-11	1,716,053	288,446	278,075	131,871	136,163	104,008	365,133	412,357	100.0	16.8	16.2	7.7	7.9	6.1	21.3	24.0
2012-13	1,840,381	297,322	292,213	148,899	153,958	104,698	360,887	482,404	100.0	16.2	15.9	8.1	8.4	5.7	19.6	26.2
2013-14	1,870,150	291,799	290,444	154,951	164,247	98,838	358,132	511,739	100.0	15.6	15.5	8.3	8.8	5.3	19.1	27.4
2014-15	1,894,969	280,956	284,544	161,800	174,691	91,596	363,741	537,641	100.0	14.8	15.0	8.5	9.2	4.8	19.2	28.4
2015-16	1,920,718	274,457	278,670	167,003	188,414	87,217	371,694	553,263	100.0	14.3	14.5	8.7	9.8	4.5	19.4	28.8
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
2010-11	730,922	57,160	46,147	23,576	62,695	185,127	187,178	169,039	100.0	7.8	6.3	3.2	8.6	25.3	25.6	23.1
2012-13	751,718	60,655	49,378	27,271	68,110	164,652	188,617	193,035	100.0	8.1	6.6	3.6	9.1	21.9	25.1	25.7
2013-14	754,582	59,834	49,423	28,221	71,857	154,655	189,364	201,228	100.0	7.9	6.5	3.7	9.5	20.5	25.1	26.7
2014-15	758,804	59,181	47,305	29,344	82,916	146,581	185,236	208,241	100.0	7.8	6.2	3.9	10.9	19.3	24.4	27.4
2015-16	785,595	59,074	47,473	31,282	97,813	145,781	186,834	217,338	100.0	7.5	6.0	4.0	12.5	18.6	23.8	27.7
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
2010-11	163,827	8,359	10,241	14,574	10,013	9,642	2,286	108,712	100.0	5.1	6.3	8.9	6.1	5.9	1.4	66.4
2012-13	175,026	8,582	10,936	15,276	11,301	10,572	2,828	115,531	100.0	4.9	6.2	8.7	6.5	6.0	1.6	66.0
2013-14	177,587	8,397	11,358	15,971	12,099	10,929	3,039	115,794	100.0	4.7	6.4	9.0	6.8	6.2	1.7	65.2
2014-15	178,548	8,391	11,411	15,677	12,360	11,772	3,116	115,821	100.0	4.7	6.4	8.8	6.9	6.6	1.7	64.9
2015-16	177,867	8,289	11,199	15,780	12,321	11,829	3,323	115,126	100.0	4.7	6.3	8.9	6.9	6.7	1.9	64.7

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. 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:91-96); and IPEDS Fall 2001 through Fall 2016, Completions component. (This table was prepared May 2018.)