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Table 7. Master's degrees awarded, by field of degree and citizenship status of recipients: 2005–15

Field 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
All fields 578,964 599,365 610,469 631,711 665,473 698,528 736,455 759,538 756,975 759,796 763,980
Science and engineering 151,055 154,466 156,153 163,671 175,496 183,682 198,917 214,547 224,612 234,701 249,114
Science 117,156 122,203 125,217 130,494 138,986 146,068 157,635 171,372 181,224 189,339 199,907
Computer sciences 18,489 17,138 16,314 17,151 17,988 18,021 19,519 21,015 22,833 24,635 31,552
Geosciences 1,769 1,864 1,837 1,727 1,783 1,921 2,022 2,270 2,315 2,506 2,501
Atmospheric sciences 212 206 193 199 225 227 221 240 233 263 253
Earth sciences 1,296 1,333 1,284 1,193 1,178 1,249 1,383 1,598 1,642 1,718 1,734
Ocean sciences 261 325 360 335 380 445 418 432 440 525 514
Life sciences 52,874 57,136 59,723 62,826 67,530 72,256 79,124 87,520 93,762 99,616 104,786
Agricultural sciences 4,579 4,481 4,508 4,506 4,763 5,058 5,585 6,277 6,169 6,337 6,226
Biological sciences 7,988 8,538 8,589 9,390 9,717 10,424 10,981 12,092 12,813 13,422 14,081
Health sciences 40,307 44,117 46,626 48,930 53,050 56,774 62,558 69,151 74,780 79,857 84,479
Mathematical sciences 4,597 4,890 5,035 5,152 5,459 5,958 6,203 6,684 7,346 7,784 8,269
Physical sciences 4,064 4,278 4,243 4,374 4,101 4,323 4,473 4,709 4,809 4,645 4,744
Astronomy 159 146 152 166 139 149 185 127 170 160 156
Chemistry 1,912 2,097 2,144 2,236 2,131 2,175 2,324 2,493 2,478 2,431 2,491
Physics 1,794 1,853 1,792 1,799 1,657 1,810 1,771 1,879 1,984 1,876 1,934
Other physical sciences 199 182 155 173 174 189 193 210 177 178 163
Social sciences 35,363 36,897 38,065 39,264 42,125 43,589 46,294 49,174 50,159 50,153 48,055
Anthropology 1,086 1,124 1,181 1,105 1,212 1,195 1,177 1,233 1,151 1,256 1,200
Economics 3,096 2,949 2,969 3,190 3,237 3,358 3,736 3,897 3,875 4,120 3,998
Political science 1,983 2,054 2,102 2,156 2,171 2,251 2,487 2,508 2,332 2,294 2,082
Psychology 16,478 17,302 18,594 18,836 20,744 21,032 22,363 24,121 25,140 25,332 24,029
Sociology 1,500 1,549 1,547 1,560 1,582 1,430 1,569 1,710 1,613 1,622 1,453
Other social sciences 11,220 11,919 11,672 12,417 13,179 14,323 14,962 15,705 16,048 15,529 15,293
Engineering 33,899 32,263 30,936 33,177 36,510 37,614 41,282 43,175 43,388 45,362 49,207
Aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering 935 936 912 1,036 1,075 1,098 1,306 1,408 1,266 1,311 1,318
Bioengineering 1,027 1,188 1,227 1,264 1,347 1,380 1,511 1,861 1,931 1,925 2,209
Chemical engineering 1,188 1,124 959 937 996 1,051 1,284 1,395 1,453 1,521 1,629
Civil engineering 3,863 3,791 3,505 3,614 3,833 4,122 4,892 5,385 5,401 5,560 5,422
Electrical, electronics, and communications engineering 9,071 8,151 7,795 8,657 9,204 9,086 9,714 9,727 9,506 9,844 11,931
Industrial and manufacturing engineering 3,937 3,558 3,505 3,659 4,313 4,856 5,076 5,345 5,323 5,599 5,626
Materials science engineering 704 683 715 699 776 767 841 942 1,046 1,118 1,118
Mechanical engineering 4,647 4,454 4,303 4,508 4,633 4,837 5,817 5,858 5,904 6,196 6,865
Other engineering 8,527 8,378 8,015 8,803 10,333 10,417 10,841 11,254 11,558 12,288 13,089
Non-science and engineering 427,909 444,899 454,316 468,040 489,977 514,846 537,538 544,991 532,363 525,095 514,866
Education 174,550 182,402 184,903 184,053 187,457 191,096 194,655 187,934 174,300 164,556 157,004
Humanities 38,150 39,617 40,162 43,480 45,905 50,035 51,421 53,286 53,849 52,891 51,785
Technologies 7,664 8,419 8,729 9,699 10,544 13,399 13,939 15,554 17,222 18,673 20,035
Professional/other/unknown 207,545 214,461 220,522 230,808 246,071 260,316 277,523 288,217 286,992 288,975 286,042
U.S. citizens and permanent residents, all fieldsa 505,724 527,585 542,133 558,844 585,823 617,074 650,538 670,311 662,486 655,968 646,832
Science and engineering 116,212 121,796 125,659 129,982 137,839 145,295 157,581 171,415 179,117 185,129 188,227
Science 97,178 102,824 106,383 110,233 116,899 123,610 133,686 145,824 153,648 159,658 163,480
Computer sciences 10,975 10,489 10,027 9,746 9,641 10,066 10,786 11,650 12,725 13,409 14,199
Geosciences 1,510 1,595 1,604 1,504 1,533 1,658 1,775 1,940 1,984 2,138 2,141
Atmospheric sciences 166 161 158 173 203 184 200 201 201 219 204
Earth sciences 1,115 1,149 1,129 1,034 995 1,076 1,202 1,342 1,381 1,443 1,464
Ocean sciences 229 285 317 297 335 398 373 397 402 476 473
Life sciences 48,562 52,351 55,109 58,070 62,386 66,727 73,113 81,219 87,234 92,834 97,824
Agricultural sciences 3,826 3,785 3,858 3,801 4,058 4,337 4,786 5,447 5,281 5,385 5,240
Biological sciences 6,790 7,266 7,280 7,944 8,023 8,656 9,101 10,058 10,782 11,302 11,766
Health sciences 37,946 41,300 43,971 46,325 50,305 53,734 59,226 65,714 71,171 76,147 80,818
Mathematical sciences 2,820 3,084 3,266 3,268 3,245 3,480 3,765 3,961 4,120 4,092 4,177
Physical sciences 2,708 2,855 2,835 2,949 2,767 2,931 3,000 3,091 3,233 3,082 3,105
Astronomy 122 117 114 128 114 117 134 104 137 119 122
Chemistry 1,289 1,396 1,432 1,524 1,436 1,465 1,532 1,627 1,604 1,555 1,615
Physics 1,121 1,175 1,148 1,138 1,064 1,184 1,159 1,191 1,357 1,267 1,244
Other physical sciences 176 167 141 159 153 165 175 169 135 141 124
Social sciences 30,603 32,450 33,542 34,696 37,327 38,748 41,247 43,963 44,352 44,103 42,034
Anthropology 1,014 1,033 1,078 1,018 1,103 1,093 1,094 1,139 1,047 1,156 1,094
Economics 1,523 1,532 1,556 1,709 1,707 1,832 2,053 2,173 1,931 1,917 1,852
Political science 1,629 1,755 1,795 1,855 1,874 1,974 2,190 2,194 2,014 1,978 1,750
Psychology 15,827 16,672 17,931 18,182 20,115 20,348 21,649 23,337 24,212 24,491 23,209
Sociology 1,336 1,390 1,392 1,424 1,424 1,280 1,412 1,554 1,448 1,456 1,293
Other social sciences 9,274 10,068 9,790 10,508 11,104 12,221 12,849 13,566 13,700 13,105 12,836
Engineering 19,034 18,972 19,276 19,749 20,940 21,685 23,895 25,591 25,469 25,471 24,747
Aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering 645 683 731 798 839 833 974 1,079 979 991 983
Bioengineering 684 792 894 904 928 941 1,067 1,350 1,353 1,323 1,565
Chemical engineering 633 643 580 504 525 584 682 740 721 734 778
Civil engineering 2,542 2,588 2,469 2,520 2,685 2,898 3,529 3,926 3,910 3,804 3,377
Electrical, electronics, and communications engineering 3,813 3,655 3,705 3,706 3,498 3,474 3,720 3,675 3,527 3,495 3,371
Industrial and manufacturing engineering 2,178 2,102 2,165 2,077 2,264 2,713 2,838 3,113 3,128 3,186 2,894
Materials science engineering 398 389 401 392 416 429 454 506 541 542 529
Mechanical engineering 2,763 2,756 2,798 2,953 2,858 3,098 3,642 3,752 3,741 3,771 3,901
Other engineering 5,378 5,364 5,533 5,895 6,927 6,715 6,989 7,450 7,569 7,625 7,349
Non-science and engineering 389,512 405,789 416,474 428,862 447,984 471,779 492,957 498,896 483,369 470,839 458,605
Education 169,309 176,781 179,672 178,526 182,072 185,850 189,443 183,055 169,870 159,597 152,153
Humanities 34,041 35,643 36,248 39,355 41,510 45,189 46,570 48,171 48,600 47,249 45,606
Technologies 7,113 7,847 8,153 8,929 9,656 12,514 13,122 14,644 16,302 17,697 18,777
Professional/other/unknown 179,049 185,518 192,401 202,052 214,746 228,226 243,822 253,026 248,597 246,296 242,069
Temporary visa holders, all fields 73,240 71,780 68,336 72,867 79,650 81,454 85,917 89,227 94,489 103,828 117,148
Science and engineering 34,843 32,670 30,494 33,689 37,657 38,387 41,336 43,132 45,495 49,572 60,887
Science 19,978 19,379 18,834 20,261 22,087 22,458 23,949 25,548 27,576 29,681 36,427
Computer sciences 7,514 6,649 6,287 7,405 8,347 7,955 8,733 9,365 10,108 11,226 17,353
Geosciences 259 269 233 223 250 263 247 330 331 368 360
Atmospheric sciences 46 45 35 26 22 43 21 39 32 44 49
Earth sciences 181 184 155 159 183 173 181 256 261 275 270
Ocean sciences 32 40 43 38 45 47 45 35 38 49 41
Life sciences 4,312 4,785 4,614 4,756 5,144 5,529 6,011 6,301 6,528 6,782 6,962
Agricultural sciences 753 696 650 705 705 721 799 830 888 952 986
Biological sciences 1,198 1,272 1,309 1,446 1,694 1,768 1,880 2,034 2,031 2,120 2,315
Health sciences 2,361 2,817 2,655 2,605 2,745 3,040 3,332 3,437 3,609 3,710 3,661
Mathematical sciences 1,777 1,806 1,769 1,884 2,214 2,478 2,438 2,723 3,226 3,692 4,092
Physical sciences 1,356 1,423 1,408 1,425 1,334 1,392 1,473 1,618 1,576 1,563 1,639
Astronomy 37 29 38 38 25 32 51 23 33 41 34
Chemistry 623 701 712 712 695 710 792 866 874 876 876
Physics 673 678 644 661 593 626 612 688 627 609 690
Other physical sciences 23 15 14 14 21 24 18 41 42 37 39
Social sciences 4,760 4,447 4,523 4,568 4,798 4,841 5,047 5,211 5,807 6,050 6,021
Anthropology 72 91 103 87 109 102 83 94 104 100 106
Economics 1,573 1,417 1,413 1,481 1,530 1,526 1,683 1,724 1,944 2,203 2,146
Political science 354 299 307 301 297 277 297 314 318 316 332
Psychology 651 630 663 654 629 684 714 784 928 841 820
Sociology 164 159 155 136 158 150 157 156 165 166 160
Other social sciences 1,946 1,851 1,882 1,909 2,075 2,102 2,113 2,139 2,348 2,424 2,457
Engineering 14,865 13,291 11,660 13,428 15,570 15,929 17,387 17,584 17,919 19,891 24,460
Aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering 290 253 181 238 236 265 332 329 287 320 335
Bioengineering 343 396 333 360 419 439 444 511 578 602 644
Chemical engineering 555 481 379 433 471 467 602 655 732 787 851
Civil engineering 1,321 1,203 1,036 1,094 1,148 1,224 1,363 1,459 1,491 1,756 2,045
Electrical, electronics, and communications engineering 5,258 4,496 4,090 4,951 5,706 5,612 5,994 6,052 5,979 6,349 8,560
Industrial and manufacturing engineering 1,759 1,456 1,340 1,582 2,049 2,143 2,238 2,232 2,195 2,413 2,732
Materials science engineering 306 294 314 307 360 338 387 436 505 576 589
Mechanical engineering 1,884 1,698 1,505 1,555 1,775 1,739 2,175 2,106 2,163 2,425 2,964
Other engineering 3,149 3,014 2,482 2,908 3,406 3,702 3,852 3,804 3,989 4,663 5,740
Non-science and engineering 38,397 39,110 37,842 39,178 41,993 43,067 44,581 46,095 48,994 54,256 56,261
Education 5,241 5,621 5,231 5,527 5,385 5,246 5,212 4,879 4,430 4,959 4,851
Humanities 4,109 3,974 3,914 4,125 4,395 4,846 4,851 5,115 5,249 5,642 6,179
Technologies 551 572 576 770 888 885 817 910 920 976 1,258
Professional/other/unknown 28,496 28,943 28,121 28,756 31,325 32,090 33,701 35,191 38,395 42,679 43,973
a These categories include U.S. citizens and foreign citizens on permanent visas (i.e., resident aliens who have been admitted for permanent residency).
NOTE: See table A-1 for specific fields included in each category.
SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, special tabulations (2019) of the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System Completions Survey, Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.