Digest of Education Statistics
2024 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest

Previous Page Download Excel Excel format (28KB)


Table 318.40.Number of degrees/certificates conferred by postsecondary institutions, by control of institution and level of degree/certificate: Academic years 1970-71 through 2022-23
Academic YearPublic institutionsPrivate institutions
Certificates below the baccalaureate level1Associate's degreesBachelor's degreesMaster's degreesDoctor's degrees2TotalNonprofit
profit		For-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
---
345,006
635,161
206,298
47,517
---
46,448

290,585
111,179
43,490
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
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
---
352,391
626,452
184,384
50,023
---
63,986
3
308,688
118,253
47,993
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
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
---
369,052
658,586
169,903
51,001
---
76,995

329,237
125,947
49,279
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
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
---
398,055
724,062
193,057
55,235
---
83,665

370,476
149,806
50,312
---
45,821
360,634
146,161
49,841
---
37,844
9,842
3,645
471
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

1995-96
307,358
454,291
774,070
227,179
59,398
313,311
100,925

390,722
185,001
56,109
34,259
50,678
379,916
181,142
55,506
279,052
50,247
10,806
3,859
603
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

2000-01
309,624
456,487
812,438
246,054
60,820
242,879
122,378

431,733
227,448
58,765
29,336
45,711
408,701
215,815
57,722
213,543
76,667
23,032
11,633
1,043
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

2005-06
370,570
557,366
955,370
293,535
70,036
344,220
155,949

529,734
306,327
68,020
35,909
46,459
467,697
261,203
66,066
308,311
109,490
62,037
45,124
1,954
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

2010-11
519,711
696,884
1,088,722
339,420
82,013
510,766
246,622

627,331
391,502
81,814
36,534
51,967
512,821
313,317
76,595
474,232
194,655
114,510
78,185
5,219
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

2015-16
615,137
848,081
1,240,423
364,619
90,030
324,154
160,147

680,327
421,138
88,104
40,010
56,595
560,834
350,790
80,067
284,144
103,552
119,493
70,348
8,037
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

2020-21
696,692
919,568
1,385,326
405,255
95,832
295,137
117,763

681,137
461,677
98,220
27,187
50,869
579,096
391,227
89,110
267,950
66,894
102,041
70,450
9,110
2021-22723,830892,5501,345,665420,894100,811317,452115,744669,144459,444103,08928,87749,610568,281392,49794,178288,57566,134100,86366,9478,911
2022-23747,624840,6761,310,961455,304101,427314,808118,638654,382477,776103,81229,58448,935555,360414,13095,001285,22469,70399,02263,6468,811
---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 2022 (final data) and Fall 2023 (provisional data). (This table was prepared October 2024.)

2024 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest

Previous Page Download Excel Excel format (28KB)