Contents

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General Notes

Data Tables

Appendix A. Technical Notes

Appendix B. Classification of Programs

Suggested Citation, Acknowledgments

Appendix A. Technical Notes

Introduction

This report is based on final data from two federal surveys. The first is the U.S. Department of Education's Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) Completions Survey conducted annually by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The second is the Survey of Earned Doctorates, conducted annually for six federal agencies.

Data from the IPEDS Completions Survey were used to report the number of bachelor's and master's degrees. Data on doctoral degrees were derived from the Survey of Earned Doctorates, which surveys all individuals earning research doctorates, rather than from the Completions Survey, which surveys the institutions awarding the doctorates. The Survey of Earned Doctorates data were preferred because data provided by individuals are more specific with respect to the field of specialization and are less prone to errors in data reporting and data entry than are the data provided in aggregates by institutions. Furthermore, doctorate data provide almost complete coverage for data by field and sex of individual recipients, whereas institutional data are subject to imputation for nonresponse. For a comparison of reporting on doctoral degrees in the Completions Survey and the Survey of Earned Doctorates, see Science and Engineering Doctorates: 1960–93, NSF 93-301 (1993, Washington, DC: National Science Foundation).

Bachelor's and Master's Degree Data

The IPEDS Completions Survey collects data on all degrees conferred between 1 July and 30 June from the universe of accredited institutions of higher education in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories and outlying areas (American Samoa, the former Canal Zone, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands). Institution administrative personnel fill out the survey forms. Data are collected according to sex of recipient and field of study.

In 2004 the universe of institutions granting bachelor's or higher-level degrees was 2,615. Each year between 1966 and 2004, institutional responses to these surveys exceeded 99 percent. Imputations for nonresponse were based on the previous year's response for an institution. For bachelor's and master's degree data, the percentage of degrees imputed rounds to zero.

Because the data in this report include those for institutions in the U.S. territories, they may differ from numbers published by NCES that relate to the 50 states and the District of Columbia and their field groupings. Data on degrees by field of study were collected according to Classification of Instructional Programs (see http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2002/cip2000/). (See appendix B.)

Doctoral Degree Data

The Survey of Earned Doctorates is funded jointly by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and five other federal agencies: the U.S. Department of Education, the National Institutes of Health, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The survey collects information during the period of 1 July of one year to 30 June of the next from all persons who have fulfilled the requirements for a research doctorate. The survey forms are sent to all accredited doctorate-granting institutions for distribution by the graduate deans to all research doctorate recipients as they complete degree requirements. Information collected in the survey comprises demographic data, such as the student's sex, citizenship, and racial/ethnic group; education history, including field of degree; sources of graduate student support; employment status during the year preceding receipt of the doctorate; postgraduation plans; and background on parents' education.

Approximately 92 percent of the doctorate recipients complete and return the survey forms. For nonrespondents, commencement programs constitute a source of skeletal information that is added to the data file. These variables are sex, field of study, institution, year of doctorate, and educational background. Consequently, for the variables used in this report, there is almost complete coverage. Data are updated annually from completed survey forms submitted belatedly by previous nonrespondents; therefore, data on doctorates are subject to revision and may differ very slightly from reports published earlier.

Field Classification Schemes

It is difficult to establish a completely consistent series of degree data over a long period of time, given changes in field classifications and evolving fields of study. Four field classification systems were used during the 1966–2004 period. (See appendix B, Classification of Programs, for current classification schemes.) Data for the earlier years are presented as consistently as possible with the current classification schemes using fields of study from the Completions Survey for bachelor's and master's degrees and from the Survey of Earned Doctorates for doctoral degrees used in this report.

Note that the data in this report are grouped into the science and engineering categories used by NSF. Data on engineering technology degrees and degrees in health/medical fields are not included in the science and engineering totals here. Therefore, data in this report may differ from those in reports published by the U.S. Department of Education.