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Digest of Education Statistics
2003 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest

Table 253. Master's degrees conferred by degree-granting institutions, by discipline division: Selected years, 1970-71 to 2001-02

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            Discipline division                   |1970-71 |1975-76 |1980-81 |1985-86 |1990-91 |1991-92 |1992-93 |1993-94 |1994-95 |1995-96 |1996-97 |1997-98 |1998-99 |1999-2000 |2000-01 | 2001-02
__________________________________________________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|__________|________|_________
                   1                              |   2    |   3    |   4    |   5    |   6    |   7    |   8    |   9    |   10   |   11   |   12   |   13   |   14   |    15    |   16   |   17
__________________________________________________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|__________|________|_________
     Total .......................................| 230,509| 311,771| 295,739| 288,567| 337,168| 352,838| 369,585| 387,070| 397,629| 406,301| 419,401| 430,164| 439,986|   457,056| 468,476|  482,118
                                                  |________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|__________|________|_________
Agriculture and natural resources ................|   2,457|   3,340|   4,003|   3,801|   3,295|   3,735|   3,965|   4,119|   4,252|   4,569|   4,516|   4,475|   4,417|     4,375|   4,281|    4,519
Architecture and related programs ................|   1,705|   3,215|   3,153|   3,260|   3,490|   3,640|   3,808|   3,943|   3,923|   3,993|   4,034|   4,347|   4,172|     4,268|   4,302|    4,566
Area, ethnic, and cultural studies ...............|   1,032|     995|     804|     945|   1,263|   1,385|   1,523|   1,633|   1,639|   1,713|   1,651|   1,617|   1,500|     1,591|   1,601|    1,578
Biological sciences/life sciences ................|   5,728|   6,582|   5,978|   5,013|   4,765|   4,785|   4,756|   5,196|   5,393|   6,157|   6,466|   6,261|   6,192|     6,198|   6,344|    6,205
Business .........................................|  25,977|  42,054|  57,391|  66,689|  78,255|  84,642|  89,615|  93,437|  93,809|  93,982|  97,619| 102,171| 108,085|   112,258| 116,475|  120,785
                                                  |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |          |        |
Communications ...................................|   1,770|   2,961|   2,896|   3,500|   4,123|   4,180|   4,754|   5,005|   5,142|   5,080|   5,227|   5,611|   5,293|     5,169|   5,218|    5,510
Communications technologies ......................|      86|     165|     209|     323|     213|     284|     455|     414|     467|     524|     374|     564|     325|       436|     533|      549
Computer and information sciences ................|   1,588|   2,603|   4,218|   8,070|   9,324|   9,530|  10,163|  10,416|  10,326|  10,151|  10,098|  11,246|  12,250|    14,264|  16,038|   16,113
Education ........................................|  87,666| 126,061|  96,713|  74,801|  87,343|  92,668|  96,028|  98,938| 101,242| 106,253| 110,087| 114,691| 119,427|   124,240| 129,066|  136,579
Engineering ......................................|  16,309|  16,014|  16,386|  21,040|  23,962|  24,983|  27,626|  28,621|  28,553|  27,441|  25,787|  25,936|  25,544|    25,596|  26,250|   26,015
                                                  |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |          |        |
Engineering-related technologies .................|     134|     328|     323|     617|     996|     994|   1,100|   1,133|   1,117|   1,125|   1,040|   1,152|   1,014|       926|     858|      905
English language and literature/letters ..........|  10,686|   8,809|   5,929|   5,518|   7,026|   7,450|   7,790|   7,885|   7,845|   7,893|   7,722|   7,795|   7,478|     7,230|   6,941|    7,268
Foreign languages and literatures.................|   5,217|   4,190|   2,690|   2,494|   2,800|   2,926|   3,198|   3,288|   3,136|   3,124|   3,077|   2,927|   2,860|     2,780|   2,801|    2,861
Health professions and related sciences ..........|   5,749|  12,556|  16,515|  18,573|  21,200|  23,065|  25,718|  28,025|  31,243|  33,398|  35,958|  39,260|  40,589|    42,456|  43,617|   43,644
Home economics and vocational home economics .....|   1,452|   2,179|   2,570|   2,294|   2,019|   2,412|   2,479|   2,421|   2,864|   2,917|   2,888|   2,914|   2,880|     2,830|   2,801|    2,616
                                                  |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |          |        |
Law and legal studies ............................|     955|   1,442|   1,832|   1,924|   2,057|   2,369|   2,197|   2,432|   2,511|   2,751|   2,886|   3,228|   3,308|     3,750|   3,829|    4,053
Liberal arts and sciences,                        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |          |        |
  general studies, and humanities ................|     885|   2,633|   2,375|   1,586|   2,213|   2,394|   2,416|   2,496|   2,565|   2,778|   2,661|   2,801|   3,101|     3,256|   3,193|    2,754
Library science ..................................|   7,001|   8,037|   4,859|   3,564|   4,763|   4,893|   4,871|   5,116|   5,057|   5,099|   4,982|   4,871|   4,752|     4,577|   4,727|    5,113
Mathematics ......................................|   5,695|   4,315|   3,074|   3,607|   4,041|   4,011|   4,067|   4,100|   4,181|   4,031|   3,783|   3,643|   3,466|     3,412|   3,373|    3,487
Multi/interdisciplinary studies ..................|     821|   1,158|   2,144|   2,625|   1,796|   2,126|   2,498|   2,464|   2,457|   2,347|   2,819|   2,677|   2,663|     3,064|   2,960|    3,211
                                                  |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |          |        |
Parks, recreation, leisure and fitness studies ...|     218|     571|     643|     570|     483|   1,358|   1,434|   1,625|   1,755|   1,751|   1,966|   2,024|   2,076|     2,478|   2,487|    2,754
Philosophy and religion ..........................|   1,326|   1,356|   1,229|   1,163|   1,441|   1,146|   1,425|   1,350|   1,380|   1,302|   1,252|   1,307|   1,295|     1,329|   1,340|    1,334
Physical sciences and science technologies........|   6,367|   5,466|   5,284|   5,902|   5,309|   5,374|   5,366|   5,679|   5,753|   5,847|   5,563|   5,361|   5,159|     4,841|   5,082|    5,034
Precision production trades.......................|     ---|     ---|     ---|       0|       0|       0|       2|       2|       5|       8|       3|      15|       7|         5|       2|        2
Protective services ..............................|     194|   1,197|   1,538|   1,074|   1,108|   1,249|   1,357|   1,437|   1,706|   1,812|   1,845|   2,000|   2,249|     2,609|   2,514|    2,935
                                                  |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |          |        |
Psychology .......................................|   5,717|  10,167|  10,223|   9,845|  11,349|  10,215|  10,957|  12,181|  13,921|  13,792|  14,353|  13,747|  14,247|    14,465|  15,196|   14,888
Public administration and services ...............|   7,785|  15,209|  17,803|  15,692|  17,905|  19,243|  20,634|  21,833|  23,501|  24,229|  24,781|  25,144|  24,925|    25,594|  25,268|   25,448
R.O.T.C. and military technologies ...............|       2|       0|      43|      83|       0|       0|     108|     124|     124|     136|     136|       0|       0|         0|       0|        0
Social sciences and history.......................|  16,539|  15,953|  11,945|  10,564|  12,233|  12,702|  13,471|  14,561|  14,845|  15,012|  14,787|  14,938|  14,431|    14,066|  13,791|   14,112
Theological studies/religious vocations ..........|   2,710|   3,290|   4,220|   4,556|   4,810|   5,185|   4,985|   4,956|   5,240|   5,107|   4,975|   4,692|   4,727|     5,576|   4,900|    4,952
                                                  |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |          |        |
Transportation and material moving workers .......|      63|     108|     120|     454|     406|     385|     495|     664|     823|     919|     919|     736|     713|       697|     756|      709
Visual and performing arts .......................|   6,675|   8,817|   8,629|   8,420|   8,657|   9,353|   9,440|   9,925|  10,277|  10,280|  10,627|  11,145|  10,753|    10,918|  11,404|   11,595
Not classified by field of study .................|       0|       0|       0|       0|   8,523|   4,156|     884|   1,651|     577|     780|   4,519|     868|      88|     1,802|     528|       24
__________________________________________________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|__________|________|_________

---Not available.

NOTE: The new Classification of Instructional Programs was initiated in 1991-92. The figures for earlier years have been reclassified when necessary to make them conform to the new taxonomy. To facilitate trend comparisons, certain aggregations have been made of the degree fields as reported in the IPEDS "Completions" survey: "Agriculture and natural resources" includes Agricultural business and production, Agricultural sciences, and Conservation and renewable natural resources; "Business" includes Business management and administrative services, Marketing operations/marketing and distribution, and Consumer and personal services; and "Engineering-related technologies" includes Engineering-related technologies, Mechanics and repairers, and Construction trades. Data for 1998-99 were imputed using alternative procedures. (See Guide to Sources for details.)

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Higher Education General Information Survey (HEGIS), "Degrees and Other Formal Awards Conferred" surveys, and Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), "Completions" surveys, 1990-91 through 1998-99, and Fall 2000 through Fall 2002 surveys. (This table was prepared August 2003.)


2003 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest