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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 323.10. Master's degrees conferred by postsecondary institutions, by field of study: Selected academic years, 1970-71 through 2020-21
Field of study 1970-71 1975-76 1980-81 1985-86 1990-91 1995-96 2000-01 2005-06 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
   Total 235,564 317,477 302,637 295,850 342,863 412,180 473,502 599,862 755,967 751,718 754,582 758,804 785,757 804,542 820,242 833,792 843,531 866,894
Agriculture and natural resources1 2,546 3,453 4,150 3,908 3,402 4,691 4,430 5,099 6,622 6,601 7,026 6,894 7,206 7,373 6,967 7,544 7,405 7,404
Architecture and related services 1,705 3,215 3,153 3,260 3,490 3,993 4,302 5,743 8,448 8,095 8,048 8,006 7,991 7,883 7,291 7,311 6,799 6,321
Area, ethnic, cultural, gender, and group studies 1,032 993 802 915 1,233 1,652 1,555 2,080 1,947 1,897 1,844 1,847 1,767 1,717 1,675 1,593 1,527 1,446
Biological and biomedical sciences 5,625 6,457 5,766 5,064 4,834 6,593 7,017 8,783 12,419 13,300 13,964 14,655 15,717 16,282 17,180 18,092 18,779 19,433
Business2 26,490 42,592 57,888 66,676 78,255 93,554 115,602 146,396 191,606 188,617 189,364 185,236 186,835 187,412 192,191 197,074 197,443 202,334
                                     
Communication, journalism, and related programs 1,770 2,961 2,896 3,500 4,123 5,080 5,218 7,106 9,005 8,760 9,353 9,581 9,676 10,119 10,241 10,463 10,588 10,805
Communications technologies 86 165 209 308 204 481 427 521 497 577 577 554 491 539 529 535 539 517
Computer and information sciences and support
   services
1,588 2,603 4,218 8,070 9,324 10,579 16,911 17,195 20,925 22,782 24,514 31,475 40,130 46,553 46,468 45,671 51,527 54,174
Education 87,666 126,061 96,713 74,816 87,352 104,936 127,829 174,622 179,047 164,652 154,655 146,581 145,792 145,624 146,368 146,429 146,989 153,756
Engineering 16,813 16,472 16,893 21,529 24,454 26,789 25,174 30,845 40,323 40,420 42,376 46,117 51,646 52,826 51,723 49,701 47,277 47,257
                                     
Engineering technologies3 134 328 323 617 996 2,054 2,013 2,541 4,793 4,908 4,967 5,324 6,067 7,403 7,246 6,232 6,219 6,375
English language and literature/letters 10,441 8,599 5,742 5,335 6,784 7,657 6,763 8,845 9,938 9,755 9,294 8,928 8,581 8,244 8,300 8,217 7,862 7,850
Family and consumer sciences/human sciences 1,452 2,179 2,570 2,011 1,541 1,712 1,838 1,983 3,155 3,255 3,082 3,148 3,228 3,295 3,308 3,287 3,281 3,137
Foreign languages, literatures, and linguistics 5,480 4,432 2,934 2,690 3,049 3,443 3,035 3,539 3,827 3,708 3,482 3,566 3,407 3,271 3,261 3,081 2,930 2,884
Health professions and related programs 5,241 12,051 16,029 18,496 21,247 33,780 43,465 51,046 84,123 90,668 96,934 102,584 109,846 118,712 125,230 131,391 135,317 142,025
                                     
Homeland security, law enforcement, and firefighting 194 1,197 1,538 1,074 1,108 1,812 2,514 4,277 8,420 8,868 9,310 9,643 9,775 10,209 10,293 10,303 10,606 11,326
Legal professions and studies 955 1,442 1,832 1,924 2,057 2,751 3,829 4,453 6,614 7,013 7,654 7,924 8,181 8,674 9,203 9,487 10,024 7,038
Liberal arts and sciences, general studies, and
   humanities
885 2,633 2,375 1,586 2,213 2,778 3,193 3,702 3,792 3,264 3,002 2,794 2,598 2,485 2,473 2,109 1,990 2,044
Library science 7,001 8,037 4,859 3,564 4,763 5,099 4,727 6,448 7,443 6,983 5,840 5,259 4,926 4,843 4,953 5,164 4,959 5,473
Mathematics and statistics 5,191 3,857 2,567 3,131 3,549 3,651 3,209 4,729 6,246 6,957 7,273 7,589 8,451 9,082 10,443 11,382 12,041 12,583
                                     
Military technologies and applied sciences 2 0 43 83 0 136 0 0 29 32 29 71 152 274 355 572 839 958
Multi/interdisciplinary studies 924 1,283 2,356 2,869 2,079 2,713 3,413 4,396 7,746 7,953 8,120 8,100 8,554 9,264 10,221 10,721 11,541 12,365
Parks, recreation, leisure, fitness, and kinesiology 218 571 643 570 483 1,684 2,354 3,994 7,047 7,139 7,609 7,654 8,268 8,651 9,010 8,963 9,108 9,880
Philosophy and religious studies 1,326 1,358 1,231 1,193 1,471 1,371 1,534 2,096 2,433 2,399 2,561 2,413 2,227 2,190 1,693 2,280 2,179 2,073
Physical sciences and science technologies 6,336 5,428 5,246 5,860 5,281 5,910 5,134 6,063 6,911 7,014 6,984 7,100 7,131 7,136 7,196 7,121 6,978 6,778
                                     
Precision production 0 0 0 0 0 8 2 9 11 9 15 4 10 14 11 12 11 8
Psychology 5,717 10,167 10,223 9,845 11,349 15,152 16,539 19,775 27,052 27,787 27,926 26,772 27,645 27,539 27,918 29,136 29,750 31,776
Public administration and social services 7,785 15,209 17,803 15,692 17,905 24,229 25,268 30,492 41,737 43,591 44,508 45,948 46,754 45,361 46,300 48,883 49,718 49,388
Social sciences and history 16,539 15,953 11,945 10,564 12,233 15,012 13,791 17,368 21,891 21,591 21,497 20,533 19,861 20,004 19,884 20,303 19,507 19,845
Theology and religious vocations 7,747 8,964 11,061 11,826 10,498 10,901 9,728 11,401 12,911 13,810 13,662 13,777 13,881 13,208 13,828 12,842 12,646 13,228
                                     
Transportation and materials moving 0 0 0 454 406 919 756 784 1,702 1,444 1,243 971 911 839 815 774 631 670
Visual and performing arts 6,675 8,817 8,629 8,420 8,657 10,280 11,404 13,531 17,307 17,869 17,869 17,756 18,052 17,516 17,668 17,119 16,521 15,743
Other and not classified 0 0 0 0 8,523 780 528 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1Includes Agricultural, animal, plant, veterinary science, and related fields; and Natural resources and conservation.
2Includes Business, management, marketing, and related support services; and Culinary, entertainment, and personal services.
3Includes Engineering technologies and engineering-related fields; Construction trades; and Mechanic and repair technologies/technicians.
NOTE: Data in this table represent the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Data are for postsecondary institutions participating in Title IV federal financial aid programs. Data in this table are based on the 2020 Classification of Instructional Programs. To facilitate trend comparisons, certain aggregations have been made of the degree fields as reported in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). 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 2021, Completions component. (This table was prepared September 2022.)

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