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Digest of Education Statistics
2023 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 318.40.Degrees/certificates conferred by postsecondary institutions, by control of institution and level of degree/certificate: Academic years 1970-71 through 2021-22
YearPublic institutionsPrivate institutions
Certificates below the baccalaureate level1Associate's degreesBachelor's degreesMaster's degreesDoctor's degrees2TotalNonprofitFor-profit
Certificates below the baccalaureate level1Associate's degreesBachelor's degreesMaster's degreesDoctor's degrees2Certificates below the baccalaureate level1Associate's degreesBachelor's degreesMaster's degreesDoctor's degrees2Certificates below the baccalaureate level1Associate's degreesBachelor's degreesMaster's degreesDoctor's degrees2
123456789101112131415161718192021
1970-71---215,645557,996151,60336,927---36,666281,73483,96128,071------------------------------
1971-72---255,218599,615167,07540,297---36,796287,65890,12630,909------------------------------
1972-73---278,132630,899174,40544,229---38,042291,46394,24935,283------------------------------
1973-74---303,188651,544184,63245,018---40,736294,23297,44237,573------------------------------
1974-75---318,474634,785193,80445,788---41,697288,148103,74139,116------------------------------
 
1975-76---345,006635,161206,29847,517---46,448290,585111,17943,490------------------------------
1976-77---355,650630,463208,90147,573---50,727289,086114,12444,157------------------------------
1977-78---358,874627,903202,09947,553---53,372293,301115,88844,792------------------------------
1978-79---346,808621,666192,01648,602---55,894299,724115,67046,369------------------------------
1979-80---344,536624,084187,49948,550---56,374305,333117,69747,081------------------------------
 
1980-81---352,391626,452184,38450,023---63,9863308,688118,25347,993------------------------------
1981-82---366,732636,475182,29550,500---67,7943316,523120,15247,338------------------------------
1982-83---377,817646,317176,24650,943---71,8033323,193120,16948,392------------------------------
1983-84---379,249646,013170,69350,727---72,991328,296120,44850,072------------------------------
1984-85---377,625652,246170,00051,489---77,087327,231123,47249,296------------------------------
 
1985-86---369,052658,586169,90351,001---76,995329,237125,94749,279------------------------------
1986-87---358,811659,260167,79751,216---77,493332,004128,73347,261------------------------------
1987-88---354,180658,491173,77851,641---80,905336,338132,00547,498------------------------------
1988-89---357,001675,675179,10951,963---79,763343,080137,51748,608------------------------------
1989-90---375,635700,015186,10453,451---79,467351,329144,04850,057---42,497344,569142,68149,655---36,9706,7601,367402
 
1990-91---398,055724,062193,05755,235---83,665370,476149,80650,312---45,821360,634146,16149,841---37,8449,8423,645471
1991-92---420,265759,475203,39856,186---83,966377,078154,69153,368---45,700370,718153,29152,830---38,2666,3601,400538
1992-93---430,321785,112213,84357,020---84,435380,066161,18955,052---47,713373,346159,56254,399---36,7226,7201,627653
1993-94---444,373789,148221,42858,366---86,259380,127171,60954,270---48,493371,561168,71853,502---37,7668,5662,891768
1994-95---451,539776,670224,15258,788---88,152383,464179,45755,478---48,643373,454176,48554,675---39,50910,0102,972803
 
1995-96307,358454,291774,070227,17959,398313,311100,925390,722185,00156,10934,25950,678379,916181,14255,506279,05250,24710,8063,859603
1996-97326,687465,494776,677233,23761,081272,237105,732396,202192,02357,66635,56049,168384,086186,96356,864236,67756,56412,1165,060802
1997-98305,910455,084784,296235,92260,948246,571103,471400,110200,11557,78732,16647,625386,455194,04857,089214,40555,84613,6556,067698
1998-99304,294452,616792,392238,95460,028251,589112,368409,847207,08456,67229,40247,757394,749198,48155,663222,18764,61115,0988,6031,009
1999-2000294,912448,446810,855243,15760,655263,217116,487427,020220,02858,08128,58046,337406,958209,72056,972234,63770,15020,06210,3081,109
 
2000-01309,624456,487812,438246,05460,820242,879122,378431,733227,44858,76529,33645,711408,701215,81557,722213,54376,66723,03211,6331,043
2001-02319,291471,660841,180249,82061,061264,957123,473450,720237,49358,60232,90445,761424,322223,22957,707232,05377,71226,39814,264895
2002-03355,727498,279875,596265,64361,611290,698135,737473,215253,05659,96836,92646,183442,060238,06958,894253,77289,55431,15514,9871,074
2003-04363,563525,656905,818285,18064,208323,566140,289493,942279,42662,11735,31645,724451,721251,18660,682288,25094,56542,22128,2401,435
2004-05370,770547,576932,951291,68367,517339,577149,510506,897288,87966,75436,07545,346458,039253,79765,156303,502104,16448,85835,0821,598
 
2005-06370,570557,366955,370293,53570,036344,220155,949529,734306,32768,02035,90946,459467,697261,20366,066308,311109,49062,03745,1241,954
2006-07389,244566,219975,903292,07373,087339,071161,397548,826318,63071,60734,19543,790478,053267,69469,241304,876117,60770,77350,9362,366
2007-08399,741578,661996,769300,01975,551348,613171,505566,965330,82573,63933,91545,014491,016275,97170,473314,698126,49175,94954,8543,166
2008-09428,849596,3911,020,521308,21577,270375,771190,852580,878353,86777,29431,93946,930496,353290,40173,583343,832143,92284,52563,4663,711
2009-10472,428640,2651,049,179322,38978,805463,291208,591600,740370,92479,78535,65246,673503,264300,05375,172427,639161,91897,47670,8714,613
 
2010-11519,711696,8841,088,722339,42082,013510,766246,622627,331391,50281,81436,53451,967512,821313,31776,595474,232194,655114,51078,1855,219
2011-12525,264756,4841,131,885349,34984,730463,797265,234660,278406,61885,48732,85654,347526,022325,17579,498430,941210,887134,25681,4435,989
2012-13545,446772,9781,163,616346,75186,411421,768234,449676,765404,96788,61530,91355,651535,958327,01381,543390,855178,798140,80777,9547,072
2013-14576,468794,9251,186,742346,23888,911392,810210,230683,408408,34488,67630,73853,127544,253333,53980,894362,072157,103139,15574,8057,782
2014-15602,904822,2181,209,464351,21690,252358,242192,123685,505407,58888,29646,09058,613553,543336,18180,093312,152133,510131,96271,4078,203
 
2015-16615,137848,0811,240,423364,61990,030324,154160,147680,327421,13888,10440,01056,595560,834350,79080,067284,144103,552119,49370,3488,037
2016-17631,076861,9701,275,610374,16091,532314,947143,717680,504430,38289,82535,28156,487566,607360,43781,550279,66687,230113,89769,9458,275
2017-18671,851885,9621,310,980383,96492,689283,662125,734669,685436,27891,04525,84456,236571,105372,17883,714257,81869,49898,58064,1007,331
2018-19716,357915,0131,340,302386,20294,565286,170121,627672,784447,59093,01225,85854,432575,776380,96285,713260,31267,19597,00866,6287,299
2019-20701,164903,5781,362,941392,81095,498265,467115,460675,741450,72194,63524,89351,695578,984383,94186,178240,57463,76596,75766,7808,457
 
2020-21696,692919,5681,385,326405,25595,832295,137117,763681,137461,67798,22027,18750,869579,096391,22789,110267,95066,894102,04170,4509,110
2021-22724,916892,5451,345,590420,846100,802317,446115,740669,445459,403103,08228,86249,606568,582392,45694,171288,58466,134100,86366,9478,911
---Not available.
1Includes certificates of less than 2 years as well as those of at least 2 years but less than 4 years. This was previously reported as “Certificates below the associate's degree level"; however, the data are comparable over time.
2Includes Ph.D., Ed.D., and comparable degrees at the doctoral level. Includes most degrees that were classified as first-professional prior to 2010-11, such as M.D., D.D.S., and law degrees.
3Part of the increase is due to the addition of schools accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology.
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 and U.S. service academies. Degree counts are limited to degree-granting institutions as classified in the fall following the reported data year. A small number of current non-degree-granting institutions could have awarded associate’s degrees to students in the prior year, but these counts are excluded from this table. Certificate counts include both degree- and non-degree-granting institutions. 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:87-99); and IPEDS, Completions component, Fall 2000 through Fall 2021 (final data) and Fall 2022 (provisional data). (This table was prepared October 2023.)

2023 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest