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Digest of Education Statistics
2022 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 311.60.Enrollment in postsecondary education, by level of enrollment, level of institution, student age, and major field of study: Academic year 2019-20
[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
Major field of study Undergraduate      Postbac-
calaureate
All students 2-year and less-than-2-year institutions1 4-year institutions
Total
(in thou-
sands)
Percentage distribution, by age Total
(in thou-
sands)
Percentage distribution, by age Total
(in thou-
sands)
Percentage distribution, by age Total (in
thousands)
Under 25 25 to 35 Over 35 Under 25 25 to 35 Over 35 Under 25 25 to 35 Over 35
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
   Total  16,936 66.0 (0.48) 22.1 (0.32) 11.9 (0.31) 7,387 58.1 (0.63) 27.2 (0.41) 14.7 (0.49) 9,548 72.2 (0.64) 18.1 (0.45) 9.7 (0.36) 3,600

Agricultural/animal/plant/veterinary and
   related sciences

199

77.7


(2.14)

15.1


(1.88)

7.2


(1.19)

90

70.3


(3.09)

18.0


(2.47)

11.6


(2.03)

108

83.8


(2.69)

12.7


(2.52)

3.5

!

(1.29)

41
Anthropology 51 85.5 (3.45) 8.6 ! (2.85) 5.9 ! (2.10) 13 70.3 (8.23) 17.4 ! (7.37) (†) 37 90.9 (3.49) (†) (†)
Architecture and related services 73 81.8 (3.46) 13.6 (3.20) 4.6 ! (1.57) 26 70.7 (5.76) 18.8 (5.10) 10.5 ! (4.04) 46 88.2 (3.78) 10.6 ! (3.70) (†) 21
Area, ethnic, cultural, gender and group studies 39 67.4 (7.55) 19.0 (5.67) (†) 9 53.4 (11.23) 24.5 ! (9.32) (†) 30 71.5 (9.60) 17.3 ! (7.00) (†) 13
Biological and biomedical sciences 823 86.7 (1.01) 10.4 (0.84) 2.8 (0.53) 227 78.8 (2.36) 15.7 (1.79) 5.5 (1.38) 597 89.8 (1.07) 8.4 (0.94) 1.8 (0.51) 161

Business, management, and marketing

2,415

62.1


(1.12)

22.7


(0.83)

15.2


(0.73)

871

55.8


(1.88)

26.0


(1.14)

18.2


(1.30)

1,544

65.6


(1.30)

20.8


(1.11)

13.5


(0.84)

452
Communication and journalism 412 83.2 (1.39) 13.2 (1.27) 3.6 (0.67) 104 77.2 (2.60) 16.6 (2.20) 6.2 (1.32) 308 85.2 (1.72) 12.1 (1.60) 2.7 (0.79) 31
Communications technologies/technicians 60 73.7 (4.03) 17.2 (3.09) 9.1 ! (3.64) 29 67.7 (5.40) 24.2 (5.15) 8.1 ! (3.55) 32 79.0 (5.68) 10.9 ! (3.41) (†)
Computer and information sciences 922 64.3 (1.53) 26.0 (1.41) 9.6 (0.78) 380 56.5 (2.07) 31.0 (1.99) 12.5 (1.24) 541 69.8 (2.09) 22.5 (1.83) 7.6 (1.08) 186
Construction trades 83 38.5 (5.23) 46.0 (5.58) 15.5 (3.36) 75 36.5 (5.62) 47.3 (6.09) 16.2 (3.69) 8 58.0 (11.70) 33.0 ! (11.83) (†)

Criminology

47

84.1


(4.62)

11.9

!

(4.19)



(†)

15

77.3


(11.19)



(†)



(†)

32

87.3


(3.87)

10.2

!

(3.45)



(†)

Culinary, entertainment, and personal services 209 52.4 (2.35) 32.6 (1.98) 15.0 (1.64) 195 51.9 (2.39) 33.9 (2.04) 14.3 (1.60) 14 60.6 (8.79) 14.2 ! (5.76) 25.2 ! (7.90)
Economics 116 90.8 (2.09) 7.7 (2.15) (†) 17 86.5 (3.59) 10.5 ! (3.39) (†) 99 91.6 (2.39) 7.3 ! (2.46) (†) 18
Education 859 65.7 (1.89) 19.8 (1.16) 14.5 (1.40) 336 55.7 (2.89) 24.6 (1.57) 19.8 (2.45) 523 72.2 (2.07) 16.7 (1.59) 11.1 (1.44) 612
Engineering 801 82.3 (1.20) 14.1 (1.07) 3.6 (0.63) 211 73.4 (2.17) 20.3 (1.98) 6.4 (1.33) 590 85.5 (1.44) 11.9 (1.25) 2.6 (0.72) 216

Engineering technologies/technicians

245

55.1


(2.57)

28.9


(2.30)

16.0


(1.98)

149

51.9


(2.67)

30.2


(2.60)

17.8


(2.08)

96

60.0


(4.80)

26.9


(4.25)

13.1


(3.83)

19
English language and literature/letters 181 80.2 (2.96) 13.8 (1.95) 6.0 ! (1.94) 47 67.7 (6.04) 19.8 (4.87) 12.5 ! (4.87) 134 84.6 (2.79) 11.7 (1.95) 3.7 ! (1.60) 32
Family and consumer/human sciences 162 51.5 (3.40) 30.9 (3.28) 17.6 (2.08) 66 39.6 (3.67) 36.8 (4.11) 23.6 (2.84) 96 59.7 (4.69) 26.8 (4.73) 13.5 (2.84) 15
Foreign languages and literatures 79 68.8 (4.09) 15.5 (3.18) 15.7 (3.74) 31 52.0 (7.40) 16.7 (4.85) 31.3 (7.71) 49 79.5 (4.92) 14.7 ! (4.50) (†) 16
Geography 19 63.1 (8.42) 27.5 (7.67) 9.3 ! (4.05) (†) (†) (†) 14 66.8 (10.49) 27.1 ! (9.45) (†)

Health professions and related sciences

3,080

50.5


(0.83)

32.8


(0.67)

16.7


(0.60)

1,740

47.5


(0.91)

35.5


(0.87)

17.0


(0.69)

1,340

54.5


(1.56)

29.3


(1.19)

16.3


(1.01)

833
History 101 81.5 (3.05) 13.8 (2.88) 4.7 ! (1.56) 16 82.1 (4.96) 10.2 ! (3.92) 7.7 ! (3.83) 86 81.4 (3.54) 14.5 (3.35) 4.1 ! (1.67) 18
International relations and affairs 32 82.5 (6.45) 15.5 ! (6.19) (†) (†) (†) (†) 27 84.0 (7.25) 13.7 ! (6.82) (†) 5
Legal professions and studies 129 54.5 (3.74) 21.7 (2.55) 23.8 (3.53) 59 51.6 (4.44) 21.9 (3.26) 26.5 (4.58) 70 57.0 (6.18) 21.5 (4.18) 21.6 (5.71) 111
Liberal arts, sciences and humanities 1,201 66.7 (1.07) 21.7 (0.99) 11.5 (0.67) 832 66.6 (1.27) 22.9 (1.22) 10.5 (0.70) 369 66.9 (2.19) 19.2 (2.07) 13.9 (1.52) 13

Library science




(†)



(†)



(†)




(†)



(†)



(†)




(†)



(†)



(†)

Mathematics and statistics 110 84.2 (3.03) 11.2 (2.24) 4.6 ! (2.11) 22 72.3 (6.93) 23.6 (6.98) (†) 88 87.2 (3.32) 8.0 (2.20) (†) 45
Mechanic and repair technologies 138 50.8 (3.15) 26.9 (2.87) 22.2 (2.99) 119 50.5 (3.11) 28.9 (2.96) 20.6 (2.65) 19 52.8 (13.54) 14.4 ! (6.04) 32.8 ! (14.10)
Military technologies 14 54.8 ! (17.91) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†)
Multi/interdisciplinary studies 305 64.9 (2.18) 23.6 (2.13) 11.5 (1.44) 113 56.7 (3.41) 33.4 (3.84) 9.8 (2.72) 192 69.7 (2.84) 17.9 (2.41) 12.5 (1.78) 79

Natural resources and conservation

130

76.6


(4.11)

17.2


(3.66)

6.3

!

(2.67)

30

65.2


(8.52)

19.8


(4.85)

15.0

!

(7.06)

99

80.0


(4.47)

16.4


(4.43)



(†)

21
Parks, recreation, fitness, and kinesiology 265 84.1 (2.27) 11.9 (1.84) 4.0 ! (1.61) 79 80.6 (3.53) 13.1 (3.22) 6.3 ! (2.24) 186 85.5 (2.88) 11.4 (2.17) (†) 22
Philosophy and religious studies 40 76.1 (5.29) 14.2 ! (4.71) 9.8 ! (3.01) 7 63.0 (13.35) 26.2 ! (12.57) (†) 33 78.9 (5.52) 11.5 ! (4.63) 9.6 ! (3.55) 17
Physical sciences 184 83.4 (2.35) 13.3 (2.15) 3.3 (0.96) 39 68.2 (6.18) 23.5 (5.92) 8.3 ! (2.52) 145 87.5 (2.51) 10.5 (2.28) (†) 79
Political science and government 169 90.7 (1.78) 8.1 (1.76) (†) 31 87.1 (3.76) 7.7 (2.19) (†) 137 91.5 (2.07) 8.2 (2.06) (†)

Precision production

76

51.8


(4.21)

29.8


(3.85)

18.4


(3.48)

69

54.0


(4.37)

29.4


(3.92)

16.5


(3.62)

6

27.0

!

(10.74)

33.5

!

(14.13)

39.5

!

(14.28)

Psychology 778 73.8 (1.32) 16.9 (1.15) 9.4 (1.05) 235 68.5 (1.96) 20.5 (1.61) 11.0 (1.48) 543 76.0 (1.68) 15.3 (1.49) 8.6 (1.36) 160
Public administration and social services 225 52.4 (2.75) 25.0 (2.12) 22.6 (2.40) 81 47.1 (3.49) 28.5 (3.40) 24.4 (3.34) 144 55.4 (4.01) 23.0 (2.73) 21.6 (3.11) 99
Science technologies/technicians 39 53.7 (6.37) 34.3 (6.33) 12.0 ! (4.44) 25 53.1 (6.68) 38.0 (7.39) 8.8 ! (4.02) 15 54.8 (12.36) 27.9 ! (10.71) (†)
Security, law enforcement, firefighting, and 
   related protective services 

575

63.0


(1.53)

22.1


(1.31)

15.0


(1.29)

253

60.4


(2.53)

24.6


(1.86)

15.0


(2.14)

322

65.0


(2.00)

20.1


(1.85)

15.0


(1.87)

43

Social sciences, other

63

57.6


(5.27)

23.6


(4.25)

18.8


(3.50)

30

63.1


(7.16)

26.5


(5.99)

10.4

!

(3.19)

33

52.6


(7.05)

20.9


(5.83)

26.5


(6.22)

9
Sociology 132 70.6 (3.10) 19.9 (2.71) 9.5 (1.84) 43 61.5 (5.13) 26.3 (4.47) 12.2 (3.63) 89 75.0 (3.92) 16.8 (3.58) 8.1 (2.24) 14
Theology and religious vocations 38 66.1 (5.94) 15.3 (3.73) 18.7 (3.85) (†) (†) (†) 35 67.2 (6.13) 13.0 (3.55) 19.8 (4.26) 54
Transportation and materials moving 70 57.4 (6.48) 23.9 (4.67) 18.7 ! (5.70) 31 47.2 (8.57) 29.6 (5.45) 23.3 ! (7.92) 39 65.6 (9.30) 19.3 ! (6.88) (†)
Visual and performing arts 703 80.0 (1.22) 14.4 (1.13) 5.6 (0.73) 238 72.3 (2.16) 16.5 (1.85) 11.2 (1.64) 465 83.9 (1.61) 13.4 (1.61) 2.7 (0.63) 33
Undecided 163 75.5 (3.34) 15.4 (2.66) 9.1 (1.85) 64 57.6 (4.82) 23.7 (4.02) 18.7 (3.65) 99 87.1 (3.54) 10.1 ! (3.26) 2.8 ! (1.28)
†Not applicable.  
!Interpret data with caution. The coefficient of variation (CV) for this estimate is between 30 and 50 percent.
‡Reporting standards not met. Either there are too few cases for a reliable estimate or the coefficient of variation (CV) is 50 percent or greater.
1Also includes students attending more than one institution.
NOTE: Data in this table represent the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Because of different survey editing and processing procedures, enrollment data in this table may differ from those appearing in other tables. For undergraduate students, the field of study categories include students who had already declared a major as well as students who had decided on, but not yet declared, an intended major. The "Undecided" category consists of undergraduate students who had neither declared nor decided on a major. Includes students who enrolled at any time during the 2019-20 academic year. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2019-20 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study, Administrative Collection: 2020 (NPSAS:20-AC). (This table was prepared June 2023.)

2022 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest