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Digest of Education Statistics
2018 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 322.10. Bachelor's degrees conferred by postsecondary institutions, by field of study: Selected years, 1970-71 through 2016-17
Field of study 1970-71 1975-76 1980-81 1985-86 1990-91 1995-96 2000-01 2005-06 2006-07 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
Total 839,730 925,746 935,140 987,823 1,094,538 1,164,792 1,244,171 1,485,104 1,524,729 1,601,399 1,649,919 1,716,053 1,792,163 1,840,381 1,870,150 1,894,969 1,920,750 1,956,032
Agriculture and natural resources 12,672 19,402 21,886 16,823 13,124 21,425 23,370 23,052 23,144 24,982 26,343 28,630 30,972 33,592 35,125 36,278 36,995 37,719
Architecture and related services 5,570 9,146 9,455 9,119 9,781 8,352 8,480 9,515 9,717 10,119 10,051 9,831 9,727 9,757 9,149 9,090 8,825 8,573
Area, ethnic, cultural, gender, and group studies 2,579 3,577 2,887 3,021 4,776 5,633 6,160 7,878 8,196 8,772 8,620 8,955 9,228 8,850 8,275 7,783 7,840 7,720
Biological and biomedical sciences 35,705 54,154 43,078 38,395 39,482 61,014 60,576 70,602 76,809 82,828 86,391 89,984 95,850 100,397 104,657 109,904 113,794 116,759
Business 115,396 143,171 200,521 236,700 249,165 226,623 263,515 318,043 327,850 348,056 358,119 365,133 367,235 360,887 358,132 363,741 371,690 381,353
                                     
Communication, journalism, and related programs 10,324 20,045 29,428 41,666 51,650 47,320 58,013 73,658 74,800 77,984 81,280 83,231 83,771 84,818 87,612 90,658 92,551 93,778
Communications technologies 478 1,237 1,854 1,479 1,397 853 1,178 2,987 3,642 5,100 4,782 4,858 4,983 4,987 4,991 5,135 4,824 4,615
Computer and information sciences 2,388 5,652 15,121 42,337 25,159 24,506 44,142 47,702 42,164 37,992 39,593 43,066 47,406 50,961 55,271 59,586 64,402 71,420
Education 176,307 154,437 108,074 87,147 110,807 105,384 105,458 107,235 105,683 101,716 101,287 104,008 105,656 104,698 98,838 91,596 87,221 85,118
Engineering 45,034 38,733 63,642 77,391 62,448 62,168 58,209 66,841 66,875 68,911 72,657 76,356 81,371 85,987 92,169 97,852 106,789 115,640
                                     
Engineering technologies 5,148 7,943 11,713 19,731 17,303 15,829 14,660 14,565 14,993 15,493 16,078 16,741 17,283 17,010 16,807 17,253 17,159 18,121
English language and literature/letters 63,914 41,452 31,922 34,083 51,064 49,928 50,569 55,094 55,125 55,465 53,229 52,754 53,765 52,401 50,464 45,851 42,797 41,317
Family and consumer sciences/human sciences 11,167 17,409 18,370 13,847 13,920 14,353 16,421 20,775 21,416 21,906 21,832 22,438 23,441 23,930 24,689 24,584 25,389 25,077
Foreign languages, literatures, and linguistics 20,988 17,068 11,638 11,550 13,937 14,832 16,128 19,393 20,278 21,169 21,507 21,705 21,756 21,647 20,332 19,493 18,436 17,642
Health professions and related programs 25,223 53,885 63,665 65,309 59,875 86,087 75,933 91,973 101,898 120,420 129,623 143,463 163,675 181,149 198,777 216,228 228,907 238,014
                                     
Homeland security, law enforcement, and
    firefighting
2,045 12,507 13,707 12,704 16,806 24,810 25,211 35,319 39,216 41,788 43,613 47,600 54,091 60,264 62,416 62,723 61,159 59,581
Legal professions and studies 545 531 776 1,223 1,827 2,123 1,991 3,302 3,596 3,822 3,886 4,429 4,595 4,425 4,513 4,420 4,243 4,272
Liberal arts and sciences, general studies,
    and humanities
7,481 18,855 21,643 21,336 30,526 33,997 37,962 44,898 44,268 47,095 46,963 46,717 46,961 46,790 45,281 43,649 43,669 43,841
Library science 1,013 843 375 155 90 58 52 76 82 78 85 96 95 102 127 99 85 109
Mathematics and statistics 24,801 15,984 11,078 16,122 14,393 12,713 11,171 14,760 14,958 15,507 16,029 17,182 18,841 20,449 20,987 21,854 22,778 24,073
                                     
Military technologies and applied sciences 357 952 42 255 183 7 21 33 168 55 56 64 86 105 185 276 358 469
Multi/interdisciplinary studies 6,324 13,709 12,986 13,754 17,774 26,885 26,478 30,583 32,118 35,376 37,717 42,473 45,717 47,658 48,392 47,556 48,833 49,658
Parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies 1,621 5,182 5,729 4,623 4,315 12,974 17,948 25,489 27,430 31,683 33,332 35,934 38,998 42,628 46,047 49,008 50,912 53,264
Philosophy and religious studies 8,149 8,447 6,776 6,396 7,423 7,541 8,717 11,980 11,973 12,448 12,503 12,830 12,645 12,792 11,999 11,071 10,155 9,712
Physical sciences and science technologies 21,410 21,458 23,936 21,711 16,334 19,716 18,025 20,521 21,295 22,691 23,381 24,705 26,664 28,053 29,307 30,042 30,483 31,268
                                     
Precision production 0 0 0 2 2 12 31 55 23 29 29 43 37 36 37 48 51 32
Psychology 38,187 50,278 41,068 40,628 58,655 73,416 73,645 88,132 90,073 94,273 97,215 100,906 109,099 114,446 117,312 117,573 117,447 116,861
Public administration and social services 5,466 15,440 16,707 11,887 14,350 19,849 19,447 21,986 23,147 23,852 25,421 26,799 29,695 31,950 33,483 34,364 34,433 35,464
Social sciences and history 155,324 126,396 100,513 93,840 125,107 126,479 128,036 161,468 164,229 168,517 172,782 177,169 178,534 177,767 173,132 166,971 161,211 159,099
Theology and religious vocations 3,720 5,490 5,808 5,510 4,799 5,292 6,945 8,548 8,696 8,940 8,719 9,073 9,304 9,385 9,642 9,713 9,804 9,491
                                     
Transportation and materials moving 0 225 263 1,838 2,622 3,561 3,748 5,349 5,657 5,189 4,998 4,941 4,876 4,661 4,588 4,730 4,531 4,710
Visual and performing arts 30,394 42,138 40,479 37,241 42,186 49,296 61,148 83,292 85,210 89,143 91,798 93,939 95,806 97,799 97,414 95,840 92,979 91,262
Not classified by field of study 0 0 0 0 13,258 1,756 783 0 0 0 0 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 2017, Completions component. (This table was prepared August 2018.)

2018 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest