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Growth in Number of Bachelor’s Degrees Awarded, by Field of Study, 1981-2010

August 26, 2012

Computer science was the only major in the area of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics that made it into the top 10 for growth.

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Growth in Number of Bachelor’s Degrees Awarded, by Field of Study, 1981-2010

Computer science was the only major in the area of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics that made it into the top 10 for growth.

	Number of degrees awarded, 1980-81	Number of degrees awarded, 2009-10	30-year change
Transportation and materials moving	263	4,998	1,800%
Parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies	5,729	33,318	482%
Legal professions and studies	776	3,886	401%
Security and protective services	13,707	43,667	219%
Area, ethnic, cultural, and gender studies	2,887	8,621	199%
Multi/interdisciplinary studies	12,986	37,648	190%
Communication and journalism	29,428	81,266	176%
Computer and information sciences	15,121	39,589	162%
Communications technologies	1,854	4,782	158%
Psychology	41,068	97,216	137%
Visual and performing arts	40,479	91,802	127%
Liberal arts and sciences, general studies, and humanities	21,643	46,953	117%
Health professions and related clinical sciences	63,665	129,634	104%
Biological and biomedical sciences	43,078	86,400	101%
Foreign languages, literatures, and linguistics	11,638	21,516	85%
Philosophy and religious studies	6,776	12,504	85%
Business	200,521	358,293	79%
Social sciences and history	100,513	172,780	72%
English language and literature/letters	31,922	53,231	67%
Public administration and social services	16,707	25,414	52%
Theology and religious vocations	5,808	8,718	50%
Mathematics and statistics	11,078	16,030	45%
Engineering technologies	11,713	16,075	37%
Military technologies	42	56	33%
Agriculture and natural resources	21,886	26,336	20%
Family and consumer sciences/human sciences	18,370	21,818	19%
Engineering	63,642	72,654	14%
Architecture	9,455	10,051	6%
Physical sciences and science technologies	23,936	23,379	-2%
Education	108,074	101,265	-6%
Library science	375	85	-77%
Precision production	0	29	n/a

Note: Percentages are rounded, but fields are ranked by unrounded percentages.

Source: U.S. Education Department