Number of people awarded education degrees and degrees awarded as share of all degrees, by degree, various years from 1970–1971 to 2015–2016
| 1970–71 | 1980–81 | 1990–91 | 2000–01 | 2005–06 | 2006–07 | 2008–09 | 2009–10 | 2010–11 | 2011–12 | 2012–13 | 2013–14 | 2014–15 | 2015–16 | 2016–17 | Change 2008–09 to 2015–16 | Change 2011–12 to 2015–16 | Change 2008–09 to 2016–17 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Degrees awarded in education | ||||||||||||||||||
| B.A. Education | 176,307 | 108,074 | 110,807 | 105,458 | 107,235 | 105,683 | 101,716 | 101,287 | 104,008 | 105,656 | 104,698 | 98,838 | 91,596 | 87,221 | 85,118 | -14.3% | -17.4% | -16.3% |
| B.A. Total | 839,730 | 935,140 | 1,094,538 | 1,244,171 | 1,485,104 | 1,524,729 | 1,601,399 | 1,649,919 | 1,716,053 | 1,792,163 | 1,840,381 | 1,870,150 | 1,894,969 | 1,920,750 | 1,956,032 | |||
| M.A. Education | 87,666 | 96,713 | 87,352 | 127,829 | 174,622 | 176,583 | 178,538 | 182,165 | 185,127 | 179,047 | 164,652 | 154,655 | 146,581 | 145,792 | 145,680 | -18.3% | -18.6% | -18.4% |
| M.A. Total | 235,564 | 302,637 | 342,863 | 473,502 | 599,862 | 610,703 | 662,082 | 693,313 | 730,922 | 755,967 | 751,718 | 754,582 | 758,804 | 785,757 | 804,684 | |||
| Ph.D. Education | 6,041 | 7,279 | 6,189 | 6,284 | 7,584 | 8,261 | 9,028 | 9,237 | 9,642 | 10,118 | 10,572 | 10,929 | 11,772 | 11,838 | 12,687 | 31.1% | 17.0% | 40.5% |
| Ph.D. Total | 64,998 | 98,016 | 105,547 | 119,585 | 138,056 | 144,694 | 154,564 | 158,590 | 163,827 | 170,217 | 175,026 | 177,587 | 178,548 | 178,134 | 181,352 | |||
| B.A.+M.A.+Ph.D. in education | 270,014 | 212,066 | 204,348 | 239,571 | 289,441 | 290,527 | 289,282 | 292,689 | 298,777 | 294,821 | 279,922 | 264,422 | 249,949 | 244,851 | 243,485 | -15.4% | -16.9% | -15.8% |
| B.A.+M.A.+Ph.D., all fields of study | 1,140,292 | 1,335,793 | 1,542,948 | 1,837,258 | 2,223,022 | 2,280,126 | 2,418,045 | 2,501,822 | 2,610,802 | 2,718,347 | 2,767,125 | 2,802,319 | 2,832,321 | 2,884,641 | 2,942,068 | |||
| Education degrees as a share of all degrees awarded | ||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 23.7% | 15.9% | 13.2% | 13.0% | 13.0% | 12.7% | 12.0% | 11.7% | 11.4% | 10.8% | 10.1% | 9.4% | 8.8% | 8.5% | 8.3% | -3.5 ppt. | -2.4 ppt. | -3.7 ppt. |
| B.A. | 21.0% | 11.6% | 10.1% | 8.5% | 7.2% | 6.9% | 6.4% | 6.1% | 6.1% | 5.9% | 5.7% | 5.3% | 4.8% | 4.5% | 4.4% | -1.8 ppt. | -1.4 ppt. | -2.0 ppt. |
| M.A. | 37.2% | 32.0% | 25.5% | 27.0% | 29.1% | 28.9% | 27.0% | 26.3% | 25.3% | 23.7% | 21.9% | 20.5% | 19.3% | 18.6% | 18.1% | –8.4 ppt. | -5.1 ppt. | -8.9 ppt. |
| Ph.D. | 9.3% | 7.4% | 5.9% | 5.3% | 5.5% | 5.7% | 5.8% | 5.8% | 5.9% | 5.9% | 6.0% | 6.2% | 6.6% | 6.6% | 7.0% | 0.8 ppt. | 0.7 ppt. | 1.2 ppt. |
Source: Digest of Education Statistics 2018 (U.S. Department of Education 2018), Table 322.10, Table 323.10, and Table 324.10