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Degrees Awarded, by Race, Ethnicity, and Gender of Students, 2009-10

August 26, 2012

Hispanic students have seen the largest gains in degree completion at all levels of higher education in the past decade, even though their overall representation among college students remains small.

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Degrees Awarded, by Race, Ethnicity, and Gender of Students, 2009-10

Hispanic students have seen the largest gains in degree completion at all levels of higher education in the past decade, even though their overall representation among college students remains small.

	Number	Distribution of total degrees, by race	Percentage of total degrees awarded to women	Percentage increase in total degrees awarded, 1999-2000 to 2009-10
Associate	833,337	100.0%	62.0%	50.2%
White	552,863	66.3%	60.9%	35.2%
Black	113,905	13.7%	68.3%	89.1%
Hispanic	112,211	13.5%	62.4%	117.6%
Asian/Pacific Islander	44,021	5.3%	58.5%	58.5%
American Indian/Alaska Native	10,337	1.2%	64.9%	59.1%
Bachelor’s	1,602,480	100.0%	57.4%	33.7%
White	1,167,499	72.9%	56.0%	25.7%
Black	164,844	10.3%	65.9%	52.6%
Hispanic	140,316	8.8%	60.7%	86.9%
Asian/Pacific Islander	117,422	7.3%	54.5%	50.7%
American Indian/Alaska Native	12,399	0.8%	60.7%	42.2%
Master’s	611,693	100.0%	62.6%	50.4%
White	445,038	72.8%	61.8%	36.9%
Black	76,458	12.5%	71.1%	108.9%
Hispanic	43,535	7.1%	64.3%	124.6%
Asian/Pacific Islander	42,702	7.0%	54.3%	81.4%
American Indian/Alaska Native	3,960	0.6%	64.3%	75.0%
Doctoral	140,505	100.0%	53.3%	31.9%
White	104,426	74.3%	51.4%	25.8%
Black	10,417	7.4%	65.2%	47.1%
Hispanic	8,085	5.8%	55.0%	60.4%
Asian/Pacific Islander	16,625	11.8%	56.5%	55.6%
American Indian/Alaska Native	952	0.7%	54.8%	34.7%

Note: Data exclude foreign students. The U.S. Department of Education estimated the race and ethnicity of students for whom those characteristics were not reported. Doctoral category includes professional degrees such as law and medical degrees. Percentages are rounded.

Source: U.S. Education Department