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Table 7. Master's degrees awarded, by field of degree and citizenship status of recipients: 2008–18

Field 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Master's degree recipients, all fields 631,711 665,473 698,528 736,455 759,538 756,975 759,796 763,980 791,237 810,108 825,621
Science and engineering 164,007 175,895 184,097 199,386 215,137 225,261 235,368 249,762 274,084 290,037 298,157
Science 130,494 138,986 146,068 157,635 171,372 181,224 189,339 199,907 218,177 232,283 241,401
Computer and information sciences 17,151 17,988 18,021 19,519 21,015 22,833 24,635 31,552 40,211 46,615 46,568
Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences 1,727 1,783 1,921 2,022 2,270 2,315 2,506 2,501 2,463 2,464 2,385
Atmospheric sciences 199 225 227 221 240 233 263 253 220 236 238
Earth sciences 1,193 1,178 1,249 1,383 1,598 1,642 1,718 1,734 1,678 1,691 1,583
Ocean sciences 335 380 445 418 432 440 525 514 565 537 564
Life sciences 62,826 67,530 72,256 79,124 87,520 93,762 99,616 104,786 112,840 119,881 126,435
Agricultural sciences and natural resources 4,506 4,763 5,058 5,585 6,277 6,169 6,337 6,226 6,487 6,609 6,782
Biological and biomedical sciences 9,390 9,717 10,424 10,981 12,092 12,813 13,422 14,081 15,040 15,971 16,896
Health sciences 48,930 53,050 56,774 62,558 69,151 74,780 79,857 84,479 91,313 97,301 102,757
Mathematics and Statistics 5,152 5,459 5,958 6,203 6,684 7,346 7,784 8,269 9,390 10,294 12,153
Physical sciences 4,374 4,101 4,323 4,473 4,709 4,809 4,645 4,744 4,736 4,757 4,924
Astronomy 166 139 149 185 127 170 160 156 140 169 145
Chemistry 2,236 2,131 2,175 2,324 2,493 2,478 2,431 2,491 2,513 2,557 2,459
Physics 1,799 1,657 1,810 1,771 1,879 1,984 1,876 1,934 1,959 1,852 2,156
Other physical sciences 173 174 189 193 210 177 178 163 124 179 164
Psychology and social sciences 39,264 42,125 43,589 46,294 49,174 50,159 50,153 48,055 48,537 48,272 48,936
Anthropology 1,105 1,212 1,195 1,177 1,233 1,151 1,256 1,200 1,156 1,122 1,180
Economics 3,190 3,237 3,358 3,736 3,897 3,875 4,120 3,998 3,934 4,045 4,104
Political science 2,156 2,171 2,251 2,487 2,508 2,332 2,294 2,082 1,980 1,842 1,863
Psychology 18,836 20,744 21,032 22,363 24,121 25,140 25,332 24,029 25,041 24,653 25,128
Sociology 1,560 1,582 1,430 1,569 1,710 1,613 1,622 1,453 1,369 1,406 1,417
Other social sciences 12,417 13,179 14,323 14,962 15,705 16,048 15,529 15,293 15,057 15,204 15,244
Engineering 33,513 36,909 38,029 41,751 43,765 44,037 46,029 49,855 55,907 57,754 56,756
Aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering 1,036 1,075 1,098 1,306 1,408 1,266 1,311 1,318 1,438 1,580 1,620
Bioengineering and biomedical engineering 1,264 1,347 1,380 1,511 1,861 1,931 1,925 2,209 2,359 2,560 2,835
Chemical engineering 937 996 1,051 1,284 1,395 1,453 1,521 1,629 1,701 1,801 1,921
Civil engineering 3,614 3,833 4,122 4,892 5,385 5,401 5,560 5,422 5,665 5,723 5,828
Electrical, electronics, and communications engineering 8,657 9,204 9,086 9,714 9,727 9,506 9,844 11,931 13,796 12,823 11,529
Industrial and manufacturing engineering 3,659 4,313 4,856 5,076 5,345 5,323 5,599 5,626 6,625 7,751 7,710
Materials science engineering 699 776 767 841 942 1,046 1,118 1,118 1,240 1,332 1,396
Mechanical engineering 4,508 4,633 4,837 5,817 5,858 5,904 6,196 6,865 7,585 8,305 8,171
Other engineering 9,139 10,732 10,832 11,310 11,844 12,207 12,955 13,737 15,498 15,879 15,746
Non-science and engineering 467,704 489,578 514,431 537,069 544,401 531,714 524,428 514,218 517,153 520,071 527,464
Education 184,053 187,457 191,096 194,655 187,934 174,300 164,556 157,004 156,397 156,788 157,733
Humanities and arts 43,480 45,905 50,035 51,421 53,286 53,849 52,891 51,785 51,099 49,347 49,576
Technologies 9,699 10,544 13,399 13,939 15,554 17,222 18,673 20,035 21,313 24,664 25,459
Other non-science and engineering/unknown 230,472 245,672 259,901 277,054 287,627 286,343 288,308 285,394 288,344 289,272 294,696
U.S. citizens and permanent residents, all fieldsa 558,844 585,823 617,074 650,538 670,311 662,486 655,968 646,832 655,251 664,628 680,537
Science and engineering 130,136 137,999 145,450 157,779 171,601 179,319 185,316 188,398 197,016 205,270 214,474
Science 110,233 116,899 123,610 133,686 145,824 153,648 159,658 163,480 172,114 180,144 188,586
Computer and information sciences 9,746 9,641 10,066 10,786 11,650 12,725 13,409 14,199 14,900 16,542 17,750
Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences 1,504 1,533 1,658 1,775 1,940 1,984 2,138 2,141 2,082 2,069 2,069
Atmospheric sciences 173 203 184 200 201 201 219 204 176 183 190
Earth sciences 1,034 995 1,076 1,202 1,342 1,381 1,443 1,464 1,398 1,397 1,355
Ocean sciences 297 335 398 373 397 402 476 473 508 489 524
Life sciences 58,070 62,386 66,727 73,113 81,219 87,234 92,834 97,824 105,402 112,053 118,179
Agricultural sciences and natural resources 3,801 4,058 4,337 4,786 5,447 5,281 5,385 5,240 5,429 5,484 5,625
Biological and biomedical sciences 7,944 8,023 8,656 9,101 10,058 10,782 11,302 11,766 12,759 13,503 14,330
Health sciences 46,325 50,305 53,734 59,226 65,714 71,171 76,147 80,818 87,214 93,066 98,224
Mathematics and Statistics 3,268 3,245 3,480 3,765 3,961 4,120 4,092 4,177 4,366 4,550 5,084
Physical sciences 2,949 2,767 2,931 3,000 3,091 3,233 3,082 3,105 3,131 3,130 3,271
Astronomy 128 114 117 134 104 137 119 122 115 132 110
Chemistry 1,524 1,436 1,465 1,532 1,627 1,604 1,555 1,615 1,656 1,705 1,672
Physics 1,138 1,064 1,184 1,159 1,191 1,357 1,267 1,244 1,272 1,158 1,371
Other physical sciences 159 153 165 175 169 135 141 124 88 135 118
Psychology and social sciences 34,696 37,327 38,748 41,247 43,963 44,352 44,103 42,034 42,233 41,800 42,233
Anthropology 1,018 1,103 1,093 1,094 1,139 1,047 1,156 1,094 1,059 1,010 1,069
Economics 1,709 1,707 1,832 2,053 2,173 1,931 1,917 1,852 1,798 1,752 1,747
Political science 1,855 1,874 1,974 2,190 2,194 2,014 1,978 1,750 1,662 1,534 1,581
Psychology 18,182 20,115 20,348 21,649 23,337 24,212 24,491 23,209 24,054 23,717 24,158
Sociology 1,424 1,424 1,280 1,412 1,554 1,448 1,456 1,293 1,202 1,256 1,248
Other social sciences 10,508 11,104 12,221 12,849 13,566 13,700 13,105 12,836 12,458 12,531 12,430
Engineering 19,903 21,100 21,840 24,093 25,777 25,671 25,658 24,918 24,902 25,126 25,888
Aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering 798 839 833 974 1,079 979 991 983 1,040 1,147 1,128
Bioengineering and biomedical engineering 904 928 941 1,067 1,350 1,353 1,323 1,565 1,639 1,753 1,978
Chemical engineering 504 525 584 682 740 721 734 778 793 873 889
Civil engineering 2,520 2,685 2,898 3,529 3,926 3,910 3,804 3,377 3,300 3,111 3,138
Electrical, electronics, and communications engineering 3,706 3,498 3,474 3,720 3,675 3,527 3,495 3,371 3,292 3,262 3,326
Industrial and manufacturing engineering 2,077 2,264 2,713 2,838 3,113 3,128 3,186 2,894 2,945 2,955 3,151
Materials science engineering 392 416 429 454 506 541 542 529 616 618 653
Mechanical engineering 2,953 2,858 3,098 3,642 3,752 3,741 3,771 3,901 3,758 3,897 3,999
Other engineering 6,049 7,087 6,870 7,187 7,636 7,771 7,812 7,520 7,519 7,510 7,626
Non-science and engineering 428,708 447,824 471,624 492,759 498,710 483,167 470,652 458,434 458,235 459,358 466,063
Education 178,526 182,072 185,850 189,443 183,055 169,870 159,597 152,153 151,486 151,931 153,083
Humanities and arts 39,355 41,510 45,189 46,570 48,171 48,600 47,249 45,606 44,448 42,585 42,509
Technologies 8,929 9,656 12,514 13,122 14,644 16,302 17,697 18,777 19,663 22,188 23,159
Other non-science and engineering/unknown 201,898 214,586 228,071 243,624 252,840 248,395 246,109 241,898 242,638 242,654 247,312
Temporary visa holders, all fields 72,867 79,650 81,454 85,917 89,227 94,489 103,828 117,148 135,986 145,480 145,084
Science and engineering 33,871 37,896 38,647 41,607 43,536 45,942 50,052 61,364 77,068 84,767 83,683
Science 20,261 22,087 22,458 23,949 25,548 27,576 29,681 36,427 46,063 52,139 52,815
Computer and information sciences 7,405 8,347 7,955 8,733 9,365 10,108 11,226 17,353 25,311 30,073 28,818
Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences 223 250 263 247 330 331 368 360 381 395 316
Atmospheric sciences 26 22 43 21 39 32 44 49 44 53 48
Earth sciences 159 183 173 181 256 261 275 270 280 294 228
Ocean sciences 38 45 47 45 35 38 49 41 57 48 40
Life sciences 4,756 5,144 5,529 6,011 6,301 6,528 6,782 6,962 7,438 7,828 8,256
Agricultural sciences and natural resources 705 705 721 799 830 888 952 986 1,058 1,125 1,157
Biological and biomedical sciences 1,446 1,694 1,768 1,880 2,034 2,031 2,120 2,315 2,281 2,468 2,566
Health sciences 2,605 2,745 3,040 3,332 3,437 3,609 3,710 3,661 4,099 4,235 4,533
Mathematics and Statistics 1,884 2,214 2,478 2,438 2,723 3,226 3,692 4,092 5,024 5,744 7,069
Physical sciences 1,425 1,334 1,392 1,473 1,618 1,576 1,563 1,639 1,605 1,627 1,653
Astronomy 38 25 32 51 23 33 41 34 25 37 35
Chemistry 712 695 710 792 866 874 876 876 857 852 787
Physics 661 593 626 612 688 627 609 690 687 694 785
Other physical sciences 14 21 24 18 41 42 37 39 36 44 46
Psychology and social sciences 4,568 4,798 4,841 5,047 5,211 5,807 6,050 6,021 6,304 6,472 6,703
Anthropology 87 109 102 83 94 104 100 106 97 112 111
Economics 1,481 1,530 1,526 1,683 1,724 1,944 2,203 2,146 2,136 2,293 2,357
Political science 301 297 277 297 314 318 316 332 318 308 282
Psychology 654 629 684 714 784 928 841 820 987 936 970
Sociology 136 158 150 157 156 165 166 160 167 150 169
Other social sciences 1,909 2,075 2,102 2,113 2,139 2,348 2,424 2,457 2,599 2,673 2,814
Engineering 13,610 15,809 16,189 17,658 17,988 18,366 20,371 24,937 31,005 32,628 30,868
Aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering 238 236 265 332 329 287 320 335 398 433 492
Bioengineering and biomedical engineering 360 419 439 444 511 578 602 644 720 807 857
Chemical engineering 433 471 467 602 655 732 787 851 908 928 1,032
Civil engineering 1,094 1,148 1,224 1,363 1,459 1,491 1,756 2,045 2,365 2,612 2,690
Electrical, electronics, and communications engineering 4,951 5,706 5,612 5,994 6,052 5,979 6,349 8,560 10,504 9,561 8,203
Industrial and manufacturing engineering 1,582 2,049 2,143 2,238 2,232 2,195 2,413 2,732 3,680 4,796 4,559
Materials science engineering 307 360 338 387 436 505 576 589 624 714 743
Mechanical engineering 1,555 1,775 1,739 2,175 2,106 2,163 2,425 2,964 3,827 4,408 4,172
Other engineering 3,090 3,645 3,962 4,123 4,208 4,436 5,143 6,217 7,979 8,369 8,120
Non-science and engineering 38,996 41,754 42,807 44,310 45,691 48,547 53,776 55,784 58,918 60,713 61,401
Education 5,527 5,385 5,246 5,212 4,879 4,430 4,959 4,851 4,911 4,857 4,650
Humanities and arts 4,125 4,395 4,846 4,851 5,115 5,249 5,642 6,179 6,651 6,762 7,067
Technologies 770 888 885 817 910 920 976 1,258 1,650 2,476 2,300
Other non-science and engineering/unknown 28,574 31,086 31,830 33,430 34,787 37,948 42,199 43,496 45,706 46,618 47,384
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 technical table A-1 for specific fields included in each category.
SOURCE: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, special tabulations (2020) of the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System Completions Survey, National Center for Education Statistics.