Associate's degrees conferred by postsecondary institutions, by sex of student and field of study: Academic years 2011-12 through 2021-22

IES

NCES

National Center for
Education Statistics

Contact
Tools
ED.gov
Newsflash

NCES Blog

Facebook

Table 321.10.Associate's degrees conferred by postsecondary institutions, by sex of student and field of study: Academic years 2011-12 through 2021-22
Field of study	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22
Total	1,021,718	1,007,427	1,005,155	1,014,341	1,008,228	1,005,687	1,011,696	1,036,640	1,019,038	1,037,331	1,008,285	375,498	632,787
Agriculture and natural resources	12,691	12,706	12,655	13,759	13,484	13,686	13,087	13,229	12,740	11,847	11,965	4,429	7,536
Agricultural, animal, plant, veterinary science, and related fields	11,023	11,107	11,018	12,041	11,784	11,917	11,318	11,475	11,072	10,239	10,289	3,442	6,847
Natural resources and conservation	1,668	1,599	1,637	1,718	1,700	1,769	1,769	1,754	1,668	1,608	1,676	987	689
Architecture and related services	593	468	425	491	478	503	539	585	631	615	678	384	294
Area, ethnic, cultural, gender, and group studies	194	271	363	382	419	420	559	713	673	936	995	322	673

Biological and biomedical sciences	3,834	4,185	4,557	4,883	5,266	5,550	6,391	7,299	7,454	9,218	8,862	2,420	6,442
Business	143,390	134,114	129,957	132,374	128,259	122,252	117,821	116,799	112,191	116,138	113,070	44,553	68,517
Business, management, marketing, and support services	123,014	114,842	113,056	113,681	110,036	108,376	105,785	105,588	102,585	106,733	103,401	41,360	62,041
Accounting and related services	20,270	18,061	17,400	16,080	14,790	13,760	13,022	12,114	11,468	11,372	11,182	3,098	8,084
Business/commerce, general	17,301	17,211	17,372	18,235	18,087	18,293	17,060	17,705	17,102	17,895	17,244	7,124	10,120
Business administration, management, and operations	45,879	49,816	50,121	52,668	52,758	53,930	55,404	56,307	56,291	59,628	58,049	25,342	32,707
Management information systems and services	1,164	1,085	1,176	987	935	953	921	943	854	766	724	506	218
Business operations support and assistant services	8,977	7,986	7,331	6,570	5,871	5,141	4,617	3,974	3,394	3,350	3,201	350	2,851
Business and management, other	29,423	20,683	19,656	19,141	17,595	16,299	14,761	14,545	13,476	13,722	13,001	4,940	8,061
Culinary, entertainment, and personal services	20,376	19,272	16,901	18,693	18,223	13,876	12,036	11,211	9,606	9,405	9,669	3,193	6,476

Communication, journalism, and related programs	3,495	4,299	4,970	6,034	6,759	7,379	7,785	8,548	9,019	8,997	7,974	3,452	4,522
Communications technologies	5,004	5,028	4,713	4,628	4,569	4,307	4,196	4,256	4,104	3,910	3,867	2,406	1,461
Computer and information sciences and support services	41,250	38,954	37,646	36,420	30,571	31,171	31,496	32,001	32,037	34,184	34,758	27,012	7,746

Education	20,762	18,744	17,605	17,178	17,032	16,603	16,180	16,210	16,179	18,160	18,498	1,847	16,651
Engineering	3,382	3,732	4,306	4,875	5,278	5,915	6,408	6,367	6,518	6,319	5,971	4,834	1,137
Engineering technologies¹	63,107	59,277	56,729	56,585	52,485	53,150	53,309	53,252	49,423	48,750	50,201	44,413	5,788
English language and literature/letters	2,137	2,089	2,082	2,324	2,551	2,870	3,133	3,340	3,434	3,604	3,404	1,077	2,327

Family and consumer sciences/human sciences	9,506	8,996	8,669	8,750	8,930	8,871	8,858	9,365	9,281	9,773	9,739	476	9,263
Foreign languages, literatures, and linguistics	1,980	2,131	2,284	2,102	2,208	2,363	2,607	2,798	2,917	2,877	2,818	638	2,180

Health professions and related programs	213,868	208,160	203,287	193,952	185,816	180,834	176,076	177,506	172,294	181,138	177,413	27,151	150,262
Dental assisting	7,790	7,823	7,988	7,762	7,584	7,397	7,072	7,129	5,623	7,135	7,074	418	6,656
Emergency medical technician (EMT paramedic)	3,352	3,520	3,521	3,456	3,380	3,453	3,413	3,648	3,527	3,583	3,631	2,285	1,346
Clinical/medical lab science	3,240	3,387	3,517	3,143	3,186	3,062	3,051	3,037	3,116	3,528	2,744	532	2,212
Medical and other health assisting	41,402	36,099	33,596	30,825	29,191	26,998	23,918	22,689	17,954	20,012	17,819	3,321	14,498
Nursing and patient care assistant	36	35	38	50	52	56	100	58	79	79	58	11	47
Practical nursing	2,366	2,361	2,230	1,858	1,404	1,420	1,105	1,274	1,297	1,624	1,869	210	1,659
Nursing, registered nurse and other	84,567	86,377	86,378	82,904	78,518	77,051	77,658	81,070	82,860	84,119	81,611	10,873	70,738
Health sciences, other	71,115	68,558	66,019	63,954	62,501	61,397	59,759	58,601	57,838	61,058	62,607	9,501	53,106
Homeland security, law enforcement, and firefighting	51,318	48,460	45,771	43,041	39,930	37,362	35,282	35,197	34,913	35,027	33,382	17,138	16,244
Criminal justice and corrections	44,972	41,570	38,248	36,213	34,452	31,983	29,886	29,758	29,751	29,708	27,805	12,725	15,080
Fire control and safety	4,779	4,910	4,649	4,525	4,241	4,191	4,284	4,305	4,031	3,985	4,147	3,677	470
Homeland security and related protective services, other	365	510	492	440	375	402	382	379	538	612	582	397	185
Security science and technology	1,202	1,470	2,382	1,863	862	786	730	755	593	722	848	339	509

Legal professions and studies	12,315	11,862	10,502	9,095	8,017	6,904	6,218	5,646	5,547	5,809	5,644	868	4,776
Liberal arts and sciences, general studies, and humanities	336,938	344,171	353,946	367,852	381,202	386,746	398,002	410,632	402,888	401,092	383,286	137,517	245,769
Library science	159	181	194	170	146	158	156	195	202	171	217	36	181

Mathematics and statistics	1,529	1,801	2,148	2,697	3,027	3,454	4,135	4,632	4,851	4,844	4,248	2,878	1,370
Military technologies and applied sciences	986	1,002	1,084	1,229	1,047	1,093	1,226	1,202	992	1,106	1,133	861	272
Multi/interdisciplinary studies	27,263	27,407	28,167	29,139	30,482	30,780	31,102	33,390	33,791	32,916	32,950	12,528	20,422

Parks, recreation, leisure, fitness, and kinesiology	3,123	3,455	4,383	4,669	4,771	5,037	5,098	5,634	5,674	5,955	6,254	3,208	3,046
Philosophy and religious studies	308	326	435	697	814	1,384	1,357	1,417	1,625	1,616	1,530	975	555
Physical sciences and science technologies	5,827	6,376	6,916	7,568	8,484	9,223	10,119	10,557	10,753	10,196	9,219	4,824	4,395
Physical sciences	3,652	4,083	4,518	5,040	5,528	5,838	6,692	7,066	6,762	6,425	5,470	2,959	2,511
Science technologies/technicians	2,175	2,293	2,398	2,528	2,956	3,385	3,427	3,491	3,991	3,771	3,749	1,865	1,884
Precision production	3,320	3,345	3,903	4,382	4,794	5,251	5,334	5,386	4,763	4,837	5,036	4,518	518
Psychology	4,717	6,122	7,604	8,780	10,603	11,283	12,499	14,486	16,207	18,801	19,305	4,296	15,009
Public administration and social services	9,222	8,788	8,914	8,436	7,988	7,591	7,140	6,822	6,321	6,768	6,743	850	5,893

Social sciences and history	14,132	15,668	16,554	17,916	20,056	21,392	23,692	25,974	28,241	28,824	26,847	9,980	16,867
Social sciences	13,321	14,749	15,473	16,631	18,451	19,636	21,552	23,561	25,729	26,267	24,309	8,433	15,876
History	811	919	1,081	1,285	1,605	1,756	2,140	2,413	2,512	2,557	2,538	1,547	991

Theology and religious vocations	839	881	944	1,135	1,089	1,164	1,127	1,131	1,079	982	884	421	463
Transportation and materials moving	2,098	2,119	2,102	1,810	1,497	1,547	1,610	1,926	1,720	1,999	1,964	1,651	313

Visual and performing arts	22,431	22,309	21,340	20,988	20,176	19,444	19,154	20,145	20,576	19,922	19,430	7,535	11,895
Fine and studio arts	2,339	2,541	2,699	2,866	3,082	3,315	3,767	4,060	4,267	4,206	4,329	1,335	2,994
Music and dance	1,683	1,743	1,715	1,886	1,989	1,993	2,309	2,621	2,647	2,498	2,345	1,382	963
Visual and performing arts, other²	18,409	18,025	16,926	16,236	15,105	14,136	13,078	13,464	13,662	13,218	12,756	4,818	7,938
¹Includes Engineering technologies and engineering-related fields; Construction trades; and Mechanic and repair technologies/technicians.
²Includes design and applied arts, drama and theatre arts, film and photographic arts, and all other arts not included under "Fine and studio arts" or "Music and dance."
NOTE: Data in this table represent the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Data are for postsecondary institutions participating in Title IV federal financial aid programs and U.S. service academies. Degree counts are limited to degree-granting institutions as classified in the fall following the reported data year. A small number of current non-degree-granting institutions could have awarded associate’s degrees to students in the prior year, but these counts are excluded from this table. Data in this table are based on the 2020 Classification of Instructional Programs. Some data have been revised from previously published figures.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), Completions component, Fall 2011 through Fall 2021 (final data) and Fall 2022 (provisional data). (This table was prepared September 2023.)

Table 321.10.Associate's degrees conferred by postsecondary institutions, by sex of student and field of study: Academic years 2011-12 through 2021-22

Field of study

2011-12

2012-13

2013-14

2014-15

2015-16

2016-17

2017-18

2018-19

2019-20

2020-21

2021-22

Total

Males

Females

Total

1,021,718

1,007,427

1,005,155

1,014,341

1,008,228

1,005,687

1,011,696

1,036,640

1,019,038

1,037,331

1,008,285

375,498

632,787

Agriculture and natural resources

12,691

12,706

12,655

13,759

13,484

13,686

13,087

13,229

12,740

11,847

11,965

4,429

7,536

Agricultural, animal, plant, veterinary science, and
related fields

11,023

11,107

11,018

12,041

11,784

11,917

11,318

11,475

11,072

10,239

10,289

3,442

6,847

Natural resources and conservation

1,668

1,599

1,637

1,718

1,700

1,769

1,754

1,668

1,608

1,676

987

689

Architecture and related services

593

468

425

491

478

503

539

585

631

615

678

384

294

Area, ethnic, cultural, gender, and group studies

194

271

363

382

419

420

559

713

673

936

995

322

673

Biological and biomedical sciences

3,834

4,185

4,557

4,883

5,266

5,550

6,391

7,299

7,454

9,218

8,862

2,420

6,442

Business

143,390

134,114

129,957

132,374

128,259

122,252

117,821

116,799

112,191

116,138

113,070

44,553

68,517

Business, management, marketing, and support services

123,014

114,842

113,056

113,681

110,036

108,376

105,785

105,588

102,585

106,733

103,401

41,360

62,041

Accounting and related services

20,270

18,061

17,400

16,080

14,790

13,760

13,022

12,114

11,468

11,372

11,182

3,098

8,084

Business/commerce, general

17,301

17,211

17,372

18,235

18,087

18,293

17,060

17,705

17,102

17,895

17,244

7,124

10,120

Business administration, management, and operations

45,879

49,816

50,121

52,668

52,758

53,930

55,404

56,307

56,291

59,628

58,049

25,342

32,707

Management information systems and services

1,164

1,085

1,176

987

935

953

921

943

854

766

724

506

218

Business operations support and assistant services

8,977

7,986

7,331

6,570

5,871

5,141

4,617

3,974

3,394

3,350

3,201

350

2,851

Business and management, other

29,423

20,683

19,656

19,141

17,595

16,299

14,761

14,545

13,476

13,722

13,001

4,940

8,061

Culinary, entertainment, and personal services

20,376

19,272

16,901

18,693

18,223

13,876

12,036

11,211

9,606

9,405

9,669

3,193

6,476

Communication, journalism, and related programs

3,495

4,299

4,970

6,034

6,759

7,379

7,785

8,548

9,019

8,997

7,974

3,452

4,522

Communications technologies

5,004

5,028

4,713

4,628

4,569

4,307

4,196

4,256

4,104

3,910

3,867

2,406

1,461

Computer and information sciences and support services

41,250

38,954

37,646

36,420

30,571

31,171

31,496

32,001

32,037

34,184

34,758

27,012

7,746

Education

20,762

18,744

17,605

17,178

17,032

16,603

16,180

16,210

16,179

18,160

18,498

1,847

16,651

Engineering

3,382

3,732

4,306

4,875

5,278

5,915

6,408

6,367

6,518

6,319

5,971

4,834

1,137

Engineering technologies¹

63,107

59,277

56,729

56,585

52,485

53,150

53,309

53,252

49,423

48,750

50,201

44,413

5,788

English language and literature/letters

2,137

2,089

2,082

2,324

2,551

2,870

3,133

3,340

3,434

3,604

3,404

1,077

2,327

Family and consumer sciences/human sciences

9,506

8,996

8,669

8,750

8,930

8,871

8,858

9,365

9,281

9,773

9,739

476

9,263

Foreign languages, literatures, and linguistics

1,980

2,131

2,284

2,102

2,208

2,363

2,607

2,798

2,917

2,877

2,818

638

2,180

Health professions and related programs

213,868

208,160

203,287

193,952

185,816

180,834

176,076

177,506

172,294

181,138

177,413

27,151

150,262

Dental assisting

7,790

7,823

7,988

7,762

7,584

7,397

7,072

7,129

5,623

7,135

7,074

418

6,656

Emergency medical technician (EMT paramedic)

3,352

3,520

3,521

3,456

3,380

3,453

3,413

3,648

3,527

3,583

3,631

2,285

1,346

Clinical/medical lab science

3,240

3,387

3,517

3,143

3,186

3,062

3,051

3,037

3,116

3,528

2,744

532

2,212

Medical and other health assisting

41,402

36,099

33,596

30,825

29,191

26,998

23,918

22,689

17,954

20,012

17,819

3,321

14,498

Nursing and patient care assistant

100

Practical nursing

2,366

2,361

2,230

1,858

1,404

1,420

1,105

1,274

1,297

1,624

1,869

210

1,659

Nursing, registered nurse and other

84,567

86,377

86,378

82,904

78,518

77,051

77,658

81,070

82,860

84,119

81,611

10,873

70,738

Health sciences, other

71,115

68,558

66,019

63,954

62,501

61,397

59,759

58,601

57,838

61,058

62,607

9,501

53,106

Homeland security, law enforcement, and firefighting

51,318

48,460

45,771

43,041

39,930

37,362

35,282

35,197

34,913

35,027

33,382

17,138

16,244

Criminal justice and corrections

44,972

41,570

38,248

36,213

34,452

31,983

29,886

29,758

29,751

29,708

27,805

12,725

15,080

Fire control and safety

4,779

4,910

4,649

4,525

4,241

4,191

4,284

4,305

4,031

3,985

4,147

3,677

470

Homeland security and related protective services, other

365

510

492

440

375

402

382

379

538

612

582

397

185

Security science and technology

1,202

1,470

2,382

1,863

862

786

730

755

593

722

848

339

509

Legal professions and studies

12,315

11,862

10,502

9,095

8,017

6,904

6,218

5,646

5,547

5,809

5,644

868

4,776

Liberal arts and sciences, general studies, and humanities

336,938

344,171

353,946

367,852

381,202

386,746

398,002

410,632

402,888

401,092

383,286

137,517

245,769

Library science

159

181

194

170

146

158

156

195

202

171

217

181

Mathematics and statistics

1,529

1,801

2,148

2,697

3,027

3,454

4,135

4,632

4,851

4,844

4,248

2,878

1,370

Military technologies and applied sciences

986

1,002

1,084

1,229

1,047

1,093

1,226

1,202

992

1,106

1,133

861

272

Multi/interdisciplinary studies

27,263

27,407

28,167

29,139

30,482

30,780

31,102

33,390

33,791

32,916

32,950

12,528

20,422

Parks, recreation, leisure, fitness, and kinesiology

3,123

3,455

4,383

4,669

4,771

5,037

5,098

5,634

5,674

5,955

6,254

3,208

3,046

Philosophy and religious studies

308

326

435

697

814

1,384

1,357

1,417

1,625

1,616

1,530

975

555

Physical sciences and science technologies

5,827

6,376

6,916

7,568

8,484

9,223

10,119

10,557

10,753

10,196

9,219

4,824

4,395

Physical sciences

3,652

4,083

4,518

5,040

5,528

5,838

6,692

7,066

6,762

6,425

5,470

2,959

2,511

Science technologies/technicians

2,175

2,293

2,398

2,528

2,956

3,385

3,427

3,491

3,991

3,771

3,749

1,865

1,884

Precision production

3,320

3,345

3,903

4,382

4,794

5,251

5,334

5,386

4,763

4,837

5,036

4,518

518

Psychology

4,717

6,122

7,604

8,780

10,603

11,283

12,499

14,486

16,207

18,801

19,305

4,296

15,009

Public administration and social services

9,222

8,788

8,914

8,436

7,988

7,591

7,140

6,822

6,321

6,768

6,743

850

5,893

Social sciences and history

14,132

15,668

16,554

17,916

20,056

21,392

23,692

25,974

28,241

28,824

26,847

9,980

16,867

Social sciences

13,321

14,749

15,473

16,631

18,451

19,636

21,552

23,561

25,729

26,267

24,309

8,433

15,876

History

811

919

1,081

1,285

1,605

1,756

2,140

2,413

2,512

2,557

2,538

1,547

991

Theology and religious vocations

839

881

944

1,135

1,089

1,164

1,127

1,131

1,079

982

884

421

463

Transportation and materials moving

2,098

2,119

2,102

1,810

1,497

1,547

1,610

1,926

1,720

1,999

1,964

1,651

313

Visual and performing arts

22,431

22,309

21,340

20,988

20,176

19,444

19,154

20,145

20,576

19,922

19,430

7,535

11,895

Fine and studio arts

2,339

2,541

2,699

2,866

3,082

3,315

3,767

4,060

4,267

4,206

4,329

1,335

2,994

Music and dance

1,683

1,743

1,715

1,886

1,989

1,993

2,309

2,621

2,647

2,498

2,345

1,382

963

Visual and performing arts, other²

18,409

18,025

16,926

16,236

15,105

14,136

13,078

13,464

13,662

13,218

12,756

4,818

7,938

¹Includes Engineering technologies and engineering-related fields; Construction trades; and Mechanic and repair technologies/technicians.

²Includes design and applied arts, drama and theatre arts, film and photographic arts, and all other arts not included under "Fine and studio arts" or "Music and dance."

NOTE: Data in this table represent the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Data are for postsecondary institutions participating in Title IV federal financial aid programs and U.S. service academies. Degree counts are limited to degree-granting institutions as classified in the fall following the reported data year. A small number of current non-degree-granting institutions could have awarded associate’s degrees to students in the prior year, but these counts are excluded from this table. Data in this table are based on the 2020 Classification of Instructional Programs. Some data have been revised from previously published figures.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), Completions component, Fall 2011 through Fall 2021 (final data) and Fall 2022 (provisional data). (This table was prepared September 2023.)