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II-01a: Associate’s Degree Completions, by Field, 1987–2018

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Integrated Postsecondary Data System. Data analyzed and presented by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Humanities Indicators (www.humanitiesindicators.org).

Unlike the humanities degrees conferred at the baccalaureate level, almost all of the degrees counted here were classified by the conferring institution as being in “liberal arts” and “liberal studies” rather than specific humanities disciplines. For instance, of the 413,246 degrees tabulated as humanities for 2018, only a tiny share was conferred in a specific discipline (such as English or history). Since associate’s degrees are generally conferred with half the number of credits required for a typical bachelor’s degree program, students are less likely to specialize in a specific subject area. Nevertheless, the number and share of associate’s degrees conferred in specific humanities disciplines have been growing.

For the degree programs grouped under each academic field heading, see the Degree Program Code Catalog.

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