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Education Statistics Quarterly
Vol 2, Issue 1, Topic: Postsecondary Education
Degrees and Other Awards Conferred by Title IV Eligible, Degree-Granting Institutions: 1996-97
By: Frank B. Morgan
 
This article was originally published as the Executive Summary of the E.D. Tabs report of the same name. The universe data are from the NCES Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System "Completions Survey" (IPEDS-C) and "Consolidated Survey" (IPEDS-CN).
 
 

This report presents data on postsecondary degrees conferred during the 1996-97 academic year (July 1, 1996, to June 30, 1997) that were collected through the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS).1 IPEDS collects, among other data, the number of degrees and awards conferred in each field of study by award level (ranging from postsecondary certificates requiring less than 1 year of study to doctor's and first-professional degrees and certificates) and by race/ethnicity and gender of recipient.

Discipline divisions and their specialties (fields of study) are specified in the Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP), which was developed by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and is the federally accepted standard for collecting, reporting, and interpreting education program data. This report uses the 1990 version of CIP (Morgan, Hunt, and Carpenter 1991) for classifying degree fields.

Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (amended) establishes federal financial aid programs (e.g., Pell Grants, Stafford Loans) for students attending postsecondary institutions. This report focuses on those institutions that (1) have been certified eligible to participate in these Title IV programs, (2) grant associate's or higher degrees, and (3) are within the 50 states and the District of Columbia.2

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In the 1996-97 academic year, nearly 2.3 million degrees were awarded by America's Title IV eligible, degree-granting institutions. Of the total number of degrees awarded, 25.0 percent were associate's degrees, 51.3 percent were bachelor's degrees, 18.3 percent were master's degrees, 2.0 percent were doctor's degrees, and 3.4 percent were first-professional degrees (table A).

Public institutions awarded the majority of degrees at all degree levels, except for first-professional degrees. Public institutions awarded 81.5 percent of associate's degrees, about two-thirds of bachelor's and doctor's degrees, and 55.6 percent of master's degrees. However, public institutions awarded only 39.7 percent of first-professional degrees (table B).

Table A.—Number and percentage distribution of degrees conferred by Title IV eligible, degree-granting institutions, by level of degree, control of institution, sex, and race/ethnicity of recipient: 50 states and the District of Columbia, 1996-97

Table A.- Number and percentage distribution of degrees conferred by Title IV eligible, degree-granting institutions, by level of degree, control of institution, sex, and race/ethnicity of recipient: 50 states and the District of Columbia, 1996-97

NOTE: Detail may not add to totals because of rounding.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1997 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, "Completions Survey" (IPEDS-C:1996-97) and "Consolidated Survey" (IPEDS-CN:FY1997).

Sex and race/ethnicity of degree recipients

The proportion of degrees awarded to women increased slightly at all degree levels from 1995-96, with the majority of degrees in 1996-97 at the associate's, bachelor's, and master's degree levels being awarded to women. Degrees awarded to women at the doctoral degree level represented 40.8 percent and at the first-professional level 42.1 percent (table B).

Nearly three-quarters (73.1 percent) of all degrees awarded in 1996-97 were awarded to white students, 19.2 percent were awarded to minority students, and 7.7 percent were awarded to nonresident aliens or individuals whose race/ethnicity was unknown. These percentages, however, varied considerably by level of degree. For example, nonresident aliens received less than 10 percent of all associate's, bachelor's, and first-professional degrees, but received 11.8 percent of all master's degrees and 25.0 percent of all doctor's degrees (table B).

The proportion of degrees awarded to minority students was highest at the associate's level (22.4 percent) and dropped at each successive degree level through the doctor's degree; the minority shares at these levels were 19.4 percent of bachelor's degrees, 14.6 percent of master's degrees, and 12.1 percent of doctor's degrees. This drop was even more precipitous when blacks, Hispanics, and American Indians/Alaska Natives are examined separately from Asians/Pacific Islanders. Blacks, Hispanics, and American Indians received 18.1 percent of all associate's degrees in 1996-97, 13.7 percent of bachelor's degrees, 10.3 percent of master's degrees, and 6.6 percent of doctor's degrees. One-fifth (20.9 percent) of first-professional degrees were awarded to minorities (table B).

Fields of study for associate's, bachelor's, master's, and doctor's degrees

In 1996-97, approximately 86 percent of all associate's degrees were awarded by 2-year institutions, with the remainder awarded by 4-year institutions. One-third of all associate's degrees at 2-year institutions were awarded in liberal/general studies and humanities, a field that generally permits transfers to 4-year institutions. Another one-third were awarded in two occupational programs, business management/administrative services (16.6 percent) and the health professions/related sciences (16.4 percent). In 4-year institutions, liberal/general studies and humanities comprised 19.7 percent of associate's degrees awarded, while the health professions/related sciences and business management/administrative services comprised 22.6 percent and 17.4 percent of associate's degrees, respectively. The percentages of associate's degrees in most fields in 2-year and 4-year institutions were fairly similar. However, at 4-year institutions, degrees in two fields (engineering-related technologies and health professions/related sciences) were more than 5 percent higher than at 2-year institutions (table C).

Table B.—Number and percentage distribution of degrees conferred by Title IV eligible, degree-granting institutions, by level of degree, control of institution, sex, and race/ethnicity of recipient: 50 states and the District of Columbia, 1995-96 and 1996-97

Table B.- Number and percentage distribution of degrees conferred by Title IV eligible, degree-granting institutions, by level of degree, control of institution, sex, and race/ethnicity of recipient: 50 states and the District of Columbia, 1995-96 and 1996-97

See footnotes on second page of this table.

Table B.—Number and percentage distribution of degrees conferred by Title IV eligible, degree-granting institutions, by level of degree, control of institution, sex, and race/ethnicity of recipient: 50 states and the District of Columbia, 1995-96 and 1996-97—Continued

Table B.- Number and percentage distribution of degrees conferred by Title IV eligible, degree-granting institutions, by level of degree, control of institution, sex, and race/ethnicity of recipient: 50 states and the District of Columbia, 1995-96 and 1996-97-Continued

*Includes data for institutions that could not report degrees by race/ethnicity and for which data were not imputed in 1995-96. Additional analysis in 1996-97 allowed assigning these data to race/ethnicity category.

†Not applicable.

NOTE: Detail may not add to totals because of rounding.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996 and 1997 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, "Completions Survey" (IPEDS-C:1995-96 and IPEDS-C:1996-97) and "Consolidated Survey" (IPEDS-CN:FY1996 and IPEDS-CN:FY1997).

Nearly one-fifth (18.9 percent) of all bachelor's degrees were awarded in business management/administrative services. Another 10.6 percent were awarded in the social sciences and history, while 9.0 percent were awarded in education. Bachelor's degrees in mathematics and the physical sciences comprised only 2.8 percent of all bachelor's degrees awarded (tables D and E).

Almost one-half (49.4 percent) of the master's degrees awarded were in two areas: education (26.2 percent) and business management/administrative services (23.1 percent). Awards in health professions and engineering constituted the next highest number of master's degrees conferred (8.6 percent and 6.1 percent, respectively) (tables D and E).

At the doctoral level, business management and the health professions accounted for only about 8.7 percent of the doctor's degrees awarded in 1996-97. On the other hand, the physical and biological sciences accounted for 20.2 percent of the doctor's degrees (9.7 and 10.5 percent, respectively). The single field accounting for the highest percentage of doctor's degrees was education (14.7 percent), followed by engineering (13.5 percent) (tables D and E).

1Degrees by field of study are aggregated to the 2-digit CIP level as defined in the 1990 version of the Classification of Instructional Programs (see Morgan, Hunt, and Carpenter [NCES 91-396]).

2Percents of total degrees.

3Includes degrees reported for fields with no CIP code, schools reporting only total degrees by award level and sex, and nonrespondents for which field of study could not be imputed.

NOTE: Data represent programs, not organizational units within institutions. Detail may not add to totals because of rounding.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1997 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, "Completions Survey" (IPEDS-C:1996-97) and "Consolidated Survey" (IPEDS-CN: FY1997).

1Degrees by field of study are aggregated to the 2-digit CIP level as defined in the 1990 version of the Classification of Instructional Programs (see Morgan, Hunt, and Carpenter [NCES 91-396]).
2Includes degrees reported for fields with no CIP code, schools reporting only total degrees by award level and sex, and nonrespondents for which field of study could not be imputed.
NOTE: Data represent programs, not organizational units within institutions. Detail may not add to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1997 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, "Completions Survey" (IPEDS-C:1996-97) and "Consolidated Survey" (IPEDS-CN: FY1997).

*Degrees by field of study are aggregated to the 2-digit CIP level as defined in the 1990 version of the Classification of Instructional Programs (see Morgan, Hunt, and Carpenter [NCES 91-396]).

NOTE: Data represent programs, not organizational units within institutions. Detail may not add to totals because of rounding.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1997 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, "Completions Survey" (IPEDS-C:1996-97) and "Consolidated Survey" (IPEDS-CN:FY1997).

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Footnotes

1 The "Completions Survey" was sent to all institutions that award associate's or higher level degrees or postbaccalaureate or higher certificates and that are eligible to participate in federal Title IV financial aid programs. Eligible postsecondary institutions that award only less-than-4-year certificates or diplomas reported completions as part of the IPEDS "Consolidated Survey." The "Completions" data file combines data from the two surveys so that a complete picture of the universe of eligible postsecondary education institutions in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the territories is possible.

2These 4,002 degree-granting, Title IV eligible institutions represent 61.1 percent of all postsecondary institutions within the 50 states and the District of Columbia on the 1996-97 "Completions" data file.


Morgan, R.L., Hunt, E.S., and Carpenter, J.M. (1991). Classification of Instructional Programs: 1990 Edition (NCES 91-396). U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

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Data sources: The NCES Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System "Completions Survey" (IPEDS-C:1995-96 and IPEDS-C:1996-97) and "Consolidated Survey" (IPEDS-CN:FY1996 and IPEDS-CN:FY1997).

For technical information, see the complete report:

Morgan, F.B. (1999). Degrees and Other Awards Conferred by Title IV Eligible Degree-Granting Institutions: 1996-97 (NCES 2000-174).

Author affiliation: F.B. Morgan, NCES.

For questions about content, contact Frank Morgan (frank.morgan@ed.gov).

To obtain the complete report (NCES 2000-174), call the toll-free ED Pubs number (877-433-7827), visit the NCES Web Site (http://nces.ed.gov), or contact GPO (202-512-1800).


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