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Tables: Postsecondary/College


Table P207. Number and percentage distribution of bachelor's degrees awarded by Title IV postsecondary institutions, by field of study: United States, 2005–06 to 2016–17
Field of study 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17
                         
Total number, all bachelor's degrees 1,485,104 1,524,729 1,563,740 1,601,399 1,649,919 1,716,053 1,792,163 1,840,381 1,870,150 1,894,969 1,920,750 1,956,114
                         
Academic education fields 608,127 624,023 642,049 652,749 667,797 688,952 714,306 728,467 727,056 717,086 709,941 708,936
Interdisciplinary studies 32,012 33,800 36,147 37,445 37,717 42,473 45,717 47,658 48,392 47,556 48,833 49,631
Languages, arts, and philosophy 169,759 172,586 175,967 178,225 179,037 181,228 183,972 184,639 180,209 172,255 164,367 159,959
Liberal arts/general studies 44,898 44,268 46,882 47,095 46,963 46,717 46,961 46,790 45,281 43,649 43,669 44,103
Science and mathematics 103,980 110,871 114,717 118,422 125,463 131,504 140,795 148,317 154,455 161,299 166,574 171,567
Social and behavioral sciences 257,478 262,498 268,336 271,562 278,617 287,030 296,861 301,063 298,719 292,327 286,498 283,676
                         
Occupational education fields 876,977 900,706 921,314 948,650 982,122 1,027,101 1,077,857 1,111,914 1,143,094 1,177,883 1,210,809 1,247,178
Agriculture and natural resources 23,052 23,144 24,125 24,982 26,343 28,630 30,972 33,592 35,125 36,278 36,995 37,734
Business 317,392 327,114 334,541 347,043 357,180 363,919 365,910 359,585 356,800 362,339 370,304 379,955
Communication and communication technologies 76,645 78,442 81,054 83,084 86,062 88,089 88,754 89,805 92,603 95,793 97,375 98,409
Computer and information sciences 47,702 42,164 38,523 37,992 39,593 43,066 47,406 50,961 55,271 59,586 64,402 71,416
Consumer services 46,915 49,582 52,742 54,602 56,103 59,586 63,764 67,860 72,068 74,994 77,687 79,526
Engineering, architecture, and science technologies 91,041 91,870 93,628 94,722 98,701 102,805 108,400 112,924 118,220 124,330 133,001 142,934
Health sciences 91,973 101,898 111,554 120,420 129,623 143,463 163,675 181,149 198,777 216,228 228,907 237,979
Manufacturing, construction, repair, and transportation 5,791 6,072 5,647 5,609 5,506 5,538 5,540 5,214 5,211 5,420 5,193 5,192
Protective services 35,319 39,216 40,297 41,788 43,613 47,600 54,091 60,264 62,416 62,723 61,159 59,553
Public, legal, and social services 141,147 141,204 139,203 138,408 139,398 144,405 149,345 150,560 146,603 140,192 135,786 134,480
                         
Unspecified fields 0 0 377 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
                         
Percentage distribution, all bachelor's degrees 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
                         
Academic education fields 40.9 40.9 41.1 40.8 40.5 40.1 39.9 39.6 38.9 37.8 37.0 36.2
Interdisciplinary studies 2.2 2.2 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.5 2.6 2.6 2.6 2.5 2.5 2.5
Languages, arts, and philosophy 11.4 11.3 11.3 11.1 10.9 10.6 10.3 10.0 9.6 9.1 8.6 8.2
Liberal arts/general studies 3.0 2.9 3.0 2.9 2.8 2.7 2.6 2.5 2.4 2.3 2.3 2.3
Science and mathematics 7.0 7.3 7.3 7.4 7.6 7.7 7.9 8.1 8.3 8.5 8.7 8.8
Social and behavioral sciences 17.3 17.2 17.2 17.0 16.9 16.7 16.6 16.4 16.0 15.4 14.9 14.5
                         
Occupational education fields 59.1 59.1 58.9 59.2 59.5 59.9 60.1 60.4 61.1 62.2 63.0 63.8
Agriculture and natural resources 1.6 1.5 1.5 1.6 1.6 1.7 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.9
Business 21.4 21.5 21.4 21.7 21.6 21.2 20.4 19.5 19.1 19.1 19.3 19.4
Communication and communication technologies 5.2 5.1 5.2 5.2 5.2 5.1 5.0 4.9 5.0 5.1 5.1 5.0
Computer and information sciences 3.2 2.8 2.5 2.4 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.8 3.0 3.1 3.4 3.7
Consumer services 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.4 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.9 4.0 4.0 4.1
Engineering, architecture, and science technologies 6.1 6.0 6.0 5.9 6.0 6.0 6.0 6.1 6.3 6.6 6.9 7.3
Health sciences 6.2 6.7 7.1 7.5 7.9 8.4 9.1 9.8 10.6 11.4 11.9 12.2
Manufacturing, construction, repair, and transportation 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3
Protective services 2.4 2.6 2.6 2.6 2.6 2.8 3.0 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.2 3.0
Public, legal, and social services 9.5 9.3 8.9 8.6 8.4 8.4 8.3 8.2 7.8 7.4 7.1 6.9
                         
Unspecified fields 0.0 0.0 # 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
# Rounds to zero.
NOTE: Title IV institutions are those with a written agreement with the U.S. Department of Education that allows the institution to participate in any of the Title IV federal student financial assistance programs. The four U.S. service academies that are not Title IV eligible are included in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) universe and in this table because they are federally funded and open to the public. For all years, academic and occupational education fields of study are based on the 2010 Classification of Instructional Programs, and are defined here as the fields listed in the table. See https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/ctes/tables/postsec_tax.asp for the taxonomy linking CIP codes and fields of study. Credential counts are based on the Completions file reference year, which is the year prior to the data collection year (e.g., 2016–17 for collection year 2017–18). Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) Institutional Characteristics (IC) and Completions components, 2006–07 through 2017–18.