Indicator 25: Undergraduate and Graduate Degree Fields
(Last Updated: February 2019)

In 2015–16, a higher percentage of bachelor’s degrees were awarded in business than in any other field across all racial/ethnic groups, with the percentages ranging from 16 percent for students of Two or more races to 22 percent for Pacific Islander students.

There are varying outcomes for postsecondary degree recipients—in terms of educational attainment, labor force participation, and earnings—depending on their field of study. For example, certain degree fields are associated with higher median annual salaries.¹ This indicator examines the five fields in which the greatest number of associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctor’s degrees were awarded to U.S. citizens and permanent residents² in academic year 2015–16, both overall and by racial/ethnic group. Note that the five largest fields differ by level of degree.

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Figure 25.1. Percentage of associate’s degrees awarded by postsecondary institutions in selected fields of study, by race/ethnicity: Academic year 2015–16

¹ Nonresident alien students are not included in the total.
NOTE: These five fields were selected because they were the fields in which the largest percentages of associate’s degrees were awarded in 2015–16. To facilitate trend comparisons, certain aggregations have been made of the degree fields as reported in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS): “Business” includes business management, marketing, and related support services and personal and culinary services. Data are for postsecondary institutions participating in Title IV federal financial aid programs. Reported racial/ethnic distributions of students by level of degree, field of degree, and sex were used to estimate race/ethnicity for students whose race/ethnicity was not reported. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. Although rounded numbers are displayed, the figures are based on unrounded data.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), Fall 2016, Completions component. See Digest of Education Statistics 2017, table 321.30.

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In 2015–16, over three-quarters of the associate’s degrees awarded were in the five largest fields: liberal arts and sciences, general studies, and humanities (38 percent); health professions and related programs (19 percent); business (13 percent); homeland security, law enforcement, and firefighting (4 percent); and computer and information sciences (3 percent). Across racial/ethnic groups, the percentage of degrees awarded in liberal arts and sciences, general studies, and humanities ranged from 33 percent for American Indian/Alaska Native and Asian students to 41 percent for Hispanic students. The percentage of degrees awarded in health professions and related programs ranged from 13 percent for Hispanic students to 22 percent for White students. For business degrees, the percentage awarded ranged from 11 percent for Hispanic students to 17 percent for Asian students. In homeland security, law enforcement, and firefighting (the fourth largest field), the percentage of degrees awarded ranged from 2 percent for Asian students to 5 percent for Black students and Hispanic students. Between 2 and 4 percent of students in each racial/ethnic group were awarded an associate’s degree in computer and information science.

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Figure 25.2. Percentage of bachelor’s degrees awarded by postsecondary institutions in selected fields of study, by race/ethnicity: Academic year 2015–16

¹ Nonresident alien students are not included in the total.
NOTE: These five fields were selected because they were the fields in which the largest percentages of bachelor’s degrees were awarded in 2015–16. To facilitate trend comparisons, certain aggregations have been made of the degree fields as reported in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS): “Business” includes business management, marketing, and related support services and personal and culinary services. Data are for postsecondary institutions participating in Title IV federal financial aid programs. Reported racial/ethnic distributions of students by level of degree, field of degree, and sex were used to estimate race/ethnicity for students whose race/ethnicity was not reported. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. Although rounded numbers are displayed, the figures are based on unrounded data.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), Fall 2016, Completions component. See Digest of Education Statistics 2017, table 322.30.

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Over half of the bachelor’s degrees awarded in 2015–16 were in the five largest fields: business (19 percent); health professions and related programs (12 percent); social sciences and history (8 percent); psychology (6 percent); and biological and biomedical sciences (6 percent). Business was the most popular bachelor’s degree for all racial/ethnic groups, ranging from 16 percent of students of Two or more races to 22 percent for Pacific Islander students. Health professions and related programs was the second most popular field for White (13 percent), Black (14 percent), Hispanic (10 percent), Pacific Islander (16 percent), and American Indian/Alaska Native students (11 percent), whereas social sciences and history was the second largest field for students of Two or more races (10 percent). Biological and biomedical sciences was the second largest field for Asian students (13 percent). The percentage of degrees awarded in the fourth largest field, psychology, ranged from 5 percent for Asian students to 8 percent for Black and Hispanic students. With the exception of Asian students, the percentage of degrees awarded in the field of biological and biomedical sciences ranged from 5 percent for Black, Hispanic, Pacific Islander, and American Indian/Alaska Native students to 7 percent for students of Two or more races.

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Figure 25.3. Percentage of master’s degrees awarded by postsecondary institutions in selected fields of study, by race/ethnicity: Academic year 2015–16

¹ Nonresident alien students are not included in the total.
NOTE: These five fields were selected because they were the fields in which the largest percentages of master’s degrees were awarded in 2015–16. To facilitate trend comparisons, certain aggregations have been made of the degree fields as reported in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS): “Business” includes business management, marketing, and related support services and personal and culinary services. Data are for postsecondary institutions participating in Title IV federal financial aid programs. Reported racial/ethnic distributions of students by level of degree, field of degree, and sex were used to estimate race/ethnicity for students whose race/ethnicity was not reported. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. Although rounded numbers are displayed, the figures are based on unrounded data.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), Fall 2016, Completions component. See Digest of Education Statistics 2017, table 323.30.

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In 2015–16, about 73 percent of the master’s degrees awarded were in the five largest fields: business (24 percent); education (22 percent); health professions and related programs (16 percent); public administration and social services (7 percent); and psychology (4 percent). The percentage of master’s degrees awarded in business ranged from 22 percent for students who were White, American Indian/Alaska Native, and of Two or more races to 31 percent for Pacific Islander students. The percentage of degrees awarded in education ranged from 10 percent for Asian students to 24 percent for White and American Indian/Alaska Native students. The percentage of degrees awarded in health professions and related programs ranged from 13 percent for Hispanic students to 20 percent for Pacific Islander students. The percentage of degrees awarded in the fourth largest field, public administration and social services, ranged from 4 percent for Asian students to 10 percent for Black and Hispanic students. The percentage of degrees awarded in psychology ranged from 2 to 5 percent across all racial/ethnic groups.

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Figure 25.4. Percentage of doctor’s degrees awarded by postsecondary institutions in selected fields of study, by race/ethnicity: Academic year 2015–16

¹ Nonresident alien students are not included in the total.
NOTE: These five fields were selected because they were the fields in which the largest percentages of doctor’s degrees were awarded in 2015–16. Data are for postsecondary institutions participating in Title IV federal financial aid programs. Reported racial/ethnic distributions of students by level of degree, field of degree, and sex were used to estimate race/ethnicity for students whose race/ethnicity was not reported. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. Although rounded numbers are displayed, the figures are based on unrounded data.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), Fall 2016, Completions component. See Digest of Education Statistics 2017, table 324.25.

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In 2015–16, over 80 percent of the doctor’s degrees awarded were in the five largest fields: health professions and related programs (46 percent); legal professions and studies (23 percent); education (7 percent); psychology (4 percent); and biological and biomedical sciences (4 percent). Compared to degrees at other levels, there was wider variability across racial/ethnic groups in the percentage of degrees awarded in these fields. The percentage of doctor’s degrees awarded in health professions and related programs ranged from 33 percent for American Indian/Alaska Native students to 67 percent for Asian students. The percentage of degrees awarded in legal professions and studies ranged from 13 percent for Asian students to 36 percent for American Indian/Alaska Native students. In the field of education, the percentage of degrees awarded ranged from 2 percent for Asian students to 17 percent for Black students. (Education was the third largest field for all groups except Asian students, for whom the third largest field was engineering.) Psychology was the fourth largest field, and the percentage of doctor’s degrees awarded ranged from 2 percent for Asian students to 5 percent for Black, Hispanic, and Pacific Islander students. In biological and biomedical sciences, the percentage of degrees awarded ranged from 2 to 4 percent across racial/ethnic groups.

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Endnotes

¹ Ross, T., Kena, G., Rathbun, A., KewalRamani, A., Zhang, J., Kristapovich, P., and Manning, E. (2012). Higher Education: Gaps in Access and Persistence Study (NCES 2012-046). U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved August 2015 from https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2012/2012046.pdf.
² Nonresident alien graduates are not included in the totals presented here because data for these students are not reported by race/ethnicity.

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