Humanities Indicators

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The Humanities Indicators is a nationally recognized source of nonpartisan information on the state of the humanities, providing researchers and policy-makers with better tools to answer basic questions about areas of concern in the field.

Indicators

Overview

Download our state-level profiles of humanities graduates' employment outcomes, including earnings and unemployment estimates by race/ethnicity, gender, and discipline. Each profile is accompanied by a detailed explainer.

To address a need for statistical data in the humanities, the Academy, in collaboration with humanities institutions and leaders throughout the country, developed a set of reliable, comprehensive, and consistently updated statistical data necessary to chart trends and draw conclusions, including a standard definition for the humanities. The Humanities Indicators cover five categories: 1) primary and secondary education; 2) undergraduate and graduate education; 3) humanities research and funding; 4) the humanities workforce; and 5) the humanities in American life.

The Indicators data are drawn from existing sources and the project is also generating new data through surveys of colleges and universities, the humanities in American life survey, and a National Inventory of Humanities Organizations. The Humanities Indicators are designed to equip researchers and policymakers, universities, foundations, museums, libraries, humanities councils, and other public institutions with better statistical tools to answer basic questions about the state of the humanities.

People

Co-Principal Investigators

Norman Marshall Bradburn

NORC at the University of Chicago

Academy Member

Robert B. Townsend

Advisory Group

Edward Ayers

University of Richmond

President Emeritus

Academy Member

Jack Buckley

American Institutes for Research

Jonathan R. Cole

Columbia University

Joy Connolly

American Council of Learned Societies

President

Academy Member

John Dichtl

American Association for State and Local History

Michael Hout

New York University

Professor of Sociology

Academy Member

Felice J. Levine

American Educational Research Association

Phoebe Stein

Federation of State Humanities Councils

Judith Tanur

Stony Brook University

Staff

Carolyn Fuqua

Program Officer for the Humanities Indicators

Robert B. Townsend

Program Director for Humanities, Arts, and Culture

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Publications

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News & Updates

Bulletin

Feb 27, 2025

From Matriculation to Completion: How College Students Move Between Majors

A new study by the Academy’s Humanities Indicators (HI) staff reveals significant changes in students’ majors from the time they begin their baccalaureate studies to when they complete a degree (if they do). To arrive at these findings, the HI staff commissioned data from the National Student Clearinghouse, which provides the most comprehensive information available on students’ educational pathways through higher education. The data focused on the cohort of students who began their studies in fall 2017 and their status as of June 2024.

Skyline of Cleveland at dusk with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Press Release

Aug 5, 2024

New NEH-NEA Partnership Will Expand Data Available on Humanities and Arts and Cultural Organizations

A new interagency partnership between the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) will support the American Academy of Arts & Sciences’ Humanities Indicators project to assess the size and health of the nonprofit humanities, arts, and cultural sectors.

Four people walk through the stacks of a library, two are fully visible at the end of an aisle. One has brown skin and long black hair. The other has brown skin and long light brown hair. Both are smiling.

Bulletin

Feb 20, 2024

The State(s) of the Humanities

In recent months, the media has been filled with reports of colleges and universities nationwide cutting humanities programs, at institutions ranging from large state flagships (such as West Virginia University) to smaller liberal arts colleges (such as Simmons and Lasell Universities). To clarify some of the choices involved in these decisions, the Academy’s Humanities Indicators project is releasing a series of reports on the state of the humanities in each of the fifty states and the District of Columbia. These reports demonstrate the depth of the challenges facing the humanities (with the numbers of humanities degrees declining in all but three states), but they also provide resources to counter some of the prevailing narratives about career outcomes for graduates in the humanities.

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In the News

Nov 28, 2023

Opinion: Ask not what can be done with a humanities degree

Ann Ardis writes, "The workforce data in this new American Academy of Arts & Sciences report is the perfect complement to individual storytelling in helping today’s humanities majors think through 'What are you going to do with that?'"

Source

The Hechinger Report

In the News

Nov 15, 2023

Stop Corporatizing My Students

Responding to recent trends devaluing humanistic training, including a statement from a Mississippi state official, Beth Ann Fennelly argues for the importance of the humanities in higher education, citing a 2018 report issued by the Humanities Indicators.

Source

New York Times

In the News

Nov 14, 2023

The Humanities As a Theory of Change

This profile of Ruth Simmons - a visionary higher education leader and Academy member - emphasizes the role of the humanities in shaping Simmons as a thinker and leader, and explores the significance of the humanities for others. Author Antoinette Burton cites a recent Academy report on career outcomes of humanities majors.

Source

Public Seminar

In the News

Nov 14, 2023

How Do Humanities Majors Fare in the Work Force?

Audrey Williams June explores key findings from a recent Humanities Indicators report, which shows that college graduates who major in humanities outearn people with no degree and earn similar median salaries as those who major in behavioral or social sciences, arts, or education.

Source

The Chronicle of Higher Education

In the News

Nov 1, 2023

Debunking Perceptions About Value of Humanities Degrees

Kathryn Palmer examines key findings from the latest Humanities Indicators report, which shows that humanities majors outearn people with no degree, as faculty across the nation make the case for continued funding of the humanities.

Source

Inside Higher Ed

A digital rendering of the Creation by Michelangelo, where the hand of Adam has been redrawn to look like a circuit board.

Bulletin

May 17, 2023

The Humanities and the Rise of the Terabytes

A decade has passed since the publication of The Heart of the Matter, the influential report on the value of the humanities by the Academy’s Commission on the Humanities and Social Sciences. What has happened to the humanities over the past ten years, and what might we do to better support the humanities in the future?

The 2111th Stated Meeting featured remarks from Danielle Allen, a member of the Commission that authored The Heart of the Matter, who reflected on the humanities as a historical and contemporary practice in an age of digital superabundance. The meeting also included a conversation between Allen and arts correspondent Jeffrey Brown about the practical applications for the humanities, what works and what doesn’t for asserting their value, and their role in contemporary political debates and culture wars. Academy President David W. Oxtoby offered introductory remarks. An edited version of the presentations and discussion follows.

A person with light brown skin and a shaved head wears a graduation cap and gown, as well as a surgical mask. They face their fellow graduates.

Bulletin

May 17, 2023

Undergraduates Apparently Undeterred by the Pandemic

Despite the many challenges to higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded by every field except the humanities increased through the end of the 2021 academic year.

Bulletin

Aug 30, 2022

Dædalus Explores the Public Faces of the Humanities

By Jessica Taylor, Louis W. Cabot Fellow in Humanities Policy at the Academy, and Robert B. Townsend, Director of Humanities, Arts, and Culture Programs at the Academy and Codirector of the Humanities Indicators

Press Release

Aug 18, 2022

New Dædalus Explores the Public Faces of the Humanities

The newest issue of the Academy journal is dedicated to “The Humanities in American Life: Transforming the Relationship with the Public.” The issue is guest edited by Carin Berkowitz, Norman Bradburn & Robert B. Townsend. All the essays are online.

In the News

May 18, 2022

High school students’ interest in humanities outpaces other subjects

Despite declining postsecondary interest, engagement is growing in K-12, according to analysis by the American Academy of Arts & Sciences’ Humanities Indicators project.

Source

K-12 Dive

Press Release

May 16, 2022

The Humanities Retain a Substantial Role in the Nation’s High Schools

High school students continue to engage with the humanities (English, languages, and history) at a high rate, albeit with evidence of some troubling racial disparities, according to new findings from the American Academy of Arts & Sciences’ Humanities Indicators.

In the News

Apr 29, 2022

Humanities Graduate Education Is Shrinking

A new report from the Humanities Indicators project finds that master’s degrees in humanities fields peaked in 2012 and Ph.Ds. three years later. There are no signs of a bounce back.

Source

Inside Higher Ed

Bulletin

Feb 10, 2022

What Becomes of Graduates after College? A New Humanities Indicators Report Offers Clues

College graduates – regardless of their major – earn considerably more than those without college degrees, and they are highly likely to be satisfied with their jobs and their lives. These are among the key takeaways from a new report, State of the Humanities 2021: Workforce & Beyond, from the Academy’s Humanities Indicators project. The report gathered and analyzed data on a variety of outcome measures, including perceived well-being, earnings, and financial and occupational satisfaction.

In the News

Nov 22, 2021

The number of college graduates in the humanities drops for the eighth consecutive year

Rob Townsend of the American Academy speaks about the puzzling decline of more than 30 percent in English and history majors, citing the latest Humanities Indicators report on The State of the Humanities 2021: Workforce & Beyond.

Source

The Hechinger Report

In the News

Nov 8, 2021

Humanities Graduates Are Happy With Their Lives

A new survey found that more than 90 percent of graduates are happy with their lives, despite all the pundits who say they shouldn’t be. Inside Higher Ed delves into other findings from the new Humanities Indicators workforce report.

Source

Inside Higher Ed

In the News

Nov 8, 2021

U.S. humanities graduates feel unprepared for life beyond college

Close to half of U.S. humanities graduates feel that their undergraduate institution did not prepare them for life and regret their choice of major. The problem – amid a general mood of satisfaction – may trace to unrealistic expectations.

Source

Times Higher Education

Press Release

Nov 8, 2021

What Becomes of Humanities Majors after College? A New Indicators Report Offers Clues

The latest report from the Humanities Indicators finds that humanities majors are similar to graduates from almost every other field with respect to perceived well-being— despite tending to earn less and experience higher levels of unemployment.

In the News

Aug 30, 2021

The Adjunct Problem Is a Data Problem

Why does academe still lack accurate information about non-tenure-track faculty members?

Source

The Chronicle of Higher Education

In the News

Jul 28, 2021

I Love the Public Humanities, But...

Instituted incautiously, the public humanities can threaten faculty speech and encourage cash-chasing. Feisal G. Mohamed discusses how getting it right will require structural change on the American campus — and some institutional investment in humanities departments.

Source

The Chronicle of Higher Education

In the News

Jul 2, 2021

Museums Can Renew America Through the Semiquincentennial

The 250th anniversary of the United States’ founding is approaching, and the opportunities are huge for museums to reframe history and engage their communities more deeply.

Source

American Alliance of Museums

Academy Article

Jun 14, 2021

Humanities Degrees Declining Worldwide Except at Community Colleges

The Humanities Indicators released updates on recent trends in humanities degrees today, demonstrating continued declines in humanities bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in the years before the pandemic. The notable exception was found at two-year colleges.

Bulletin

May 3, 2021

How Are Your Students Doing? New Reports from the Humanities Indicators on the Earnings and Job Outcomes of College Graduates

An examination of the financial advantage earning a bachelor’s degree, in any major, provides over not attaining the degree.

In the News

Feb 22, 2021

Humanities Majors Don’t ‘Catch Up’ to Peers, Report Says

Data from the latest release by the Humanities Indicators project of the American Academy indicate the earnings of older humanities majors never ‘catch up’ to those of their peers in other disciplines.

Source

Inside Higher Ed

Bulletin

Feb 19, 2021

New Academy Survey Reveals the Humanities in American Life

The American public holds the humanities in high regard, and most people engage in one or more humanistic activities at work and in their leisure hours, according to a recent national survey by the Academy’s Humanities Indicators project. The survey, conducted with generous funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, asked 5,015 Americans age eighteen and older who participate in NORC at the University of Chicago’s nationally representative AmeriSpeak Panel about their engagement in a variety of humanistic activities, as well as their beliefs about the personal, societal, and economic benefits of the humanities.

In the News

Jan 6, 2021

The Future of the Humanities Can Be Found in Its Public Forums

Academy member Judith Butler discusses the Humanities Indicators’ survey on the humanities in American life, concluding that the future of the humanities may well depend on realizing that the best case for art, poetry, literature, and performance is already being made by our most publicly engaged fields.

Source

MLA Commons

In the News

Dec 17, 2020

The Humanities [Are Everywhere] in American Life

Robert Townsend, Codirector of the Academy’s Humanities Indicators project, speaks with Karin Wulf of The Scholarly Kitchen about “The Humanities in American Life” survey findings and implications.

Source

The Scholarly Kitchen

In the News

Dec 1, 2020

Reconsidering the Value of Language Learning on Campuses

Roberto Rey Agudo explores what a recent survey by the American Academy’s Humanities Indicators initiative tells us about the value and meaningfulness of language learning in college.

Source

Inside Higher Ed

A museum-goer snapping a photo of Johannes Vermeer’s “Study of a Young Woman” (ca. 1665-67) at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (photo by Hakim Bishara for Hyperallergic)

In the News

Nov 13, 2020

How Do Americans Feel About the Arts? A New Survey Offers Insights

A new study from the American Academy's Humanities Indicators project reveals trends among U.S. residents, and the impact of respondents’ political leanings, socioeconomic status, gender, and race.

Source

Hyperallergic

Press Release

Nov 9, 2020

Exploring the Humanities in American Life

In a new release today, the American Academy reports on the first broad national survey on the humanities, which asked Americans about their engagement in a variety of humanistic activities, as well as their beliefs about the personal, societal, and economic benefits of the humanities.

Press Release

Nov 9, 2020

Americans and the Humanities: New Data, New Insights

A new report provides data and insights about how Americans engage in the humanities and what their views are on the benefits of pursuits such as studying or participating in activities related to art history, languages, literature, history, and philosophy.

In the News

Nov 9, 2020

Survey on American Attitudes on the Humanities

Just over half of Americans agree strongly with the statement that “the humanities should be an important part of every American’s education,” according to a new survey from the American Academy’s Humanities Indicators project.

Source

Inside Higher Ed

Academy Article

Oct 1, 2020

Home with the Humanities: American Engagement during the Pandemic

A survey of Americans showed substantial engagement with the Humanities - especially history programs on television - during the pandemic.

Students and Teacher in College Classroom

Academy Article

May 18, 2020

A Profile of Humanities Departments pre-Covid

A wide-ranging survey of humanities departments shows that prior to the pandemic, departments in most humanities disciplines appeared relatively unchanged since the Great Recession, with the exception of declines in undergraduate degrees.

In the News

Mar 16, 2020

Teaching Humanities Courses Online

Suddenly trying to teach humanities courses online? Mind your presence, ask good questions and manage expectations, experts say, citing data from the American Academy’s Humanities Indicators project.

Source

Inside Higher Ed

Bulletin

Feb 10, 2020

Humanities Indicators Project Explores the Public Humanities

While much of the discussion about the state of the humanities tends to focus on the declining number of students majoring in the humanities, the health of the field relies on a much wider array of practices. The American Academy’s Humanities Indicators project has been exploring this wider frame of humanities activity by compiling data from federal sources and conducting the first national survey about the health of the field.

commission on the humanities and social sciences

Academy Article

Oct 2, 2019

National Survey to Explore Public Perceptions of the Humanities

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded $275,000 to the Academy's Humanities Indicators project to survey the general public about the humanities.

Academy Article

Aug 12, 2019

Visits to Historic Sites and Museums on the Rise

In updates released this morning, the American Academy's Humanities Indicators report that visits to historic sites, museums, and art galleries are on the rise in recent years.

Academy Article

Jul 15, 2019

New Evidence on Waning American Reading Habits

The American Academy's Humanities Indicators project provides new indicators on Americans' dwindling engagement with books, the types of texts they are reading, changing attitudes about censorship, and student reading proficiency.

Bulletin

May 20, 2019

Rediscovering Humanities Education in Community Colleges

Much of the attention about the humanities in higher education tends to focus on four-year colleges and universities (and more specifically, on the declining number of students who major in the humanities). In recent years, the American Academy’s Humanities Indicators (HI) have been exploring the growing presence of the humanities in the community college sector.

In the News

Mar 11, 2019

The Humanities at Community Colleges

In an effort to draw attention to the extent of the humanities at two-year colleges, the Academy's Humanities Indicators conducted a national survey of community colleges and today releases the findings.

Source

Inside Higher Ed

Bulletin

Mar 8, 2019

Introducing the National Inventory of Humanities Organizations

The Academy recently launched a new informational resource: the National Inventory of Humanities Organizations (NIHO).

Data Forum

Feb 20, 2019

Introducing the National Inventory of Humanities Organizations

Today the Academy’s Humanities Indicators launches its latest informational resource, the National Inventory of Humanities Organizations (NIHO).

In the News

Feb 13, 2019

Is anti-humanities rhetoric to blame for slower PhD growth?

Robert Townsend, director of the Humanities Indicators, discusses PhD trends in the U.S.

Source

Times Higher Education

In the News

Jan 6, 2019

What the Numbers Can Tell Us About Humanities Ph.D. Careers

The humanities are anomalous in their focus on academe as being “the one true career path” for students, Robert Townsend said, which is why he feels he has to defend the importance of career diversity.

Source

The Chronicle of Higher Education

Bulletin

Aug 14, 2018

New Humanities Indicators on Career Outcomes for Recipients of Advanced Degrees

In a series of recent reports, leaders in the sciences, humanities, and higher education have called for additional data on the career outcomes of recipients of graduate degrees. Drawing on national surveys of college graduates, the American Academy’s Humanities Indicators offers a fresh perspective on the outcomes of recipients of advanced degrees, providing a snapshot of their earnings, occupations, and job satisfaction.

In the News

Jun 11, 2018

How New Humanities Ph.D.s Fare

New data analysis from American Academy of Arts and Sciences says humanities Ph.D.s may earn less than their counterparts in other fields but are satisfied -- particularly if they stay in academe.

Source

Inside Higher Ed

In the News

May 18, 2018

Liberal arts colleges struggle to make a case for themselves

To thwart the skepticism of prospective students, some map job options, offer guarantees.

Source

The Hechinger Report

In the News

Apr 5, 2018

When you cut the humanities, what you lose is the human

Criticism of the humanities seems commonplace among policymakers. That is in the face of contrary evidence including a recent study by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences showing that humanities graduates have similar rates of employment and job satisfaction than those in other fields.

Source

The Hill

Bulletin

Mar 7, 2018

Humanities Indicators: College Graduates in the Workforce

Drawing largely on original research using federal data sets and the Gallup-Purdue Index survey of college alumni, the new report from the Humanities Indicators finds that college graduates with degrees from fields with below-average earnings are quite similar to graduates from other fields with respect to their perceived well-being.

In the News

Feb 7, 2018

Shocker: Humanities Grads Gainfully Employed and Happy

A study being released today by the American Academy of Arts & Sciences -- based on data from the U.S. Census and other government sources, plus Gallup polling of workers nationwide -- challenges the myth of the underemployed, unhappy humanities graduate.

Source

Inside Higher Ed

Data Forum

Jan 29, 2018

Not by Earnings Alone: A New Report on Humanities Graduates in the Workforce and Beyond

While much of the conversation about the outcomes of college graduates focuses on their earnings, a new report from the American Academy’s Humanities Indicators offers a more expansive view of bachelor’s degree recipients’ experiences in the workforce and beyond.

In the News

Oct 18, 2017

Why we still need to study the humanities in a STEM world

Private and public pushes to increase STEM education have given rise to new concerns about the value of a liberal arts education. Humanities Indicators reports that the number of bachelor’s degrees in the humanities that were earned in 2015 was down nearly 10 percent from three years earlier.

Source

The Washington Post

In the News

Sep 20, 2017

How to save the humanities? Make them a requirement toward a business degree

Since 2007, the American Academy of Arts & Sciences reports, four-year universities have reduced their number of departments offering art history, English, languages, history, linguistics, literature and religion. The proportion of students who major in the humanities in the United States has fallen from a high of nearly one in five in the late 1960s to one in 20 in 2015.

Source

The Hechinger Report

Bulletin

Aug 22, 2017

Humanities Indicators: STEM Fields Growing among Four-Year College Degree Recipients

New data from the American Academy’s Humanities Indicators reveal a recent substantial shift toward bachelor’s and graduate degrees in the science, technology, engineering, and medical (STEM) fields; the data also highlight some of the underlying complexities in this shift.

Data Forum

Jun 4, 2017

Communication and Humanities Degrees

In a new release today, the Humanities Indicators reports on substantial declines in the number of bachelor’s degrees conferred in the field. NCA Director Trevor Parry-Giles responds.

Bulletin

Feb 27, 2017

New Findings on the Costs, Occupations, and Incomes of Ph.D.’s

The Humanities Indicators project recently released a series of reports on the life cycle of doctoral degree recipients in every field, shedding light on the challenges involved in earning the degree, and the occupational outcomes and incomes of those with a Ph.D.

Data Forum

Nov 9, 2016

Assessing the Humanities

Marking the start of the 2016 National Humanities Conference, the Indicators released several updates about the public humanities this morning, describing the financial condition of key humanities institutions.

Bulletin

Aug 22, 2016

The Humanities in Higher Education

The humanities face a variety of challenges in higher education, as reflected both in declining numbers of college majors and in openings for new faculty, according to recent findings from the Humanities Indicators.

In the News

Jun 28, 2016

The No-Jobs Myth

Tenured faculty must get vocally involved at every level of governance in the ways that our institutions hire, compensate and retain educators, argues Carolyn Betensky.

Source

Inside Higher Education

In the News

Jun 13, 2016

Why arts education matters

Despite evidence that points unmistakably to the workplace advantages of a well-rounded education, disciplines in the arts and humanities still lose ground in the national battle for curricular relevance.

Source

The Huffington Post

In the News

Jun 6, 2016

The Disappearing Humanities Jobs

New analysis from the Academy's Humanities Indicators project shows dramatic decreases in open positions for professors. Health professions faculty jobs, once equal in number to those in humanities, now far outnumber them.

Source

Inside Higher Ed

Data Forum

May 16, 2016

Advancing Research on Humanities Education in the Nation’s Community Colleges

Given growing national attention to community colleges—particularly to the professional and vocational training they provide—the Humanities Indicators convened 22 experts to discuss how to measure the state of the humanities in this sector.

Bulletin

Mar 24, 2016

Humanities Indicators Tracking the Field

Over the past year, the Humanities Indicators of the American Academy (http://humanitiesindicators.org) have been offering evidence for many of the urgent questions facing the humanities field.

Bulletin

Jun 1, 2015

New Report Explores the State of the Humanities in Higher Education

The latest report from the Academy's Humanities Indicators project examines the shrinking share of degrees at the baccalaureate level but also notes signs of stability or improvement for the humanities fields, including evidence of rising interest in the humanities at the pre-baccalaureate level, increases in funding, and a steady stream of new academic books.

Data Forum

Mar 3, 2015

Danger Signs for the Academic Job Market in Humanities?

In an effort to place the job advertisements in the broader context of the humanities field, staff members at the Humanities Indicators gathered up the numbers reported by the larger societies back to 2001.

Data Forum

Mar 3, 2015

The Usefulness of Societies’ Job Listings Data

Ronald Ehrenberg assesses the merits of the society job advertisements as data for measuring trends in academic employment for the humanities and offers some guidance on how they should be read.

Press Release

Sep 8, 2014

New Report: The Humanities Weathered the Recession, but Still Struggle with Digital and Workforce Issues

How did humanities departments fare during the recent recession? How are departments coming to terms with fast-changing technologies, and preparing their students for the workforce? Today the American Academy of Arts and Sciences is releasing the results of a wide-ranging survey of 12 disciplines that offers answers to those questions and many others on the state of the humanities in higher education.

Data Forum

Aug 18, 2014

Enclosed in a College Major? Variations in Course-taking among the Fields

One of the recurring questions the Humanities Indicators receives concerns the extent to which students are engaging with the humanities as undergraduates—a subject for which there is precious little data. The best available information comes from an occasional survey of college graduates, which includes a painstaking review of the college transcripts of a nationally representative sample of college graduates.

Data Forum

Aug 18, 2014

Who Takes Humanities Courses in College?

Compared with our knowledge about students who take courses in the sciences, we know very little about who takes humanities courses in college. With the sciences, most of what we know is about majors rather than courses taken because data on majors are more readily available. Therefore having basic information about relative course-taking by students who majored in particular subjects is extremely important.

Data Forum

Aug 18, 2014

Toward Breadth in Baccalaureate Education

Those of us who teach undergraduates are familiar with the trend revealed in these data. Baccalaureate graduates typically have earned more course credits in the humanities (about 17% as defined here) than in STEM fields (about 13%). STEM majors earn fewer credits in the humanities than do students majoring in other areas; and students majoring in the humanities, business, social sciences, and education apparently earn no more than a required minimum of their credits in STEM courses.

Bulletin

Aug 1, 2014

The Academy Rolls Out Three New Research Tools

The American Academy introduced a fully revised Humanities Indicators website (http://HumanitiesIndicators.org), a new report showing contraction across a number of funding streams for the field, and a new data forum designed to spur further dialogue about the state of the humanities.

Press Release

Sep 3, 2013

Humanities Report Card Follows The Heart of the Matter, with Data on the Value and Challenges Facing the Humanities

With the national conversation generated by "The Heart of the Matter" still ongoing, the American Academy's Humanities Indicators has put forth a report card to provide a snapshot of current data illustrating where the humanities are today.

Press Release

Apr 18, 2011

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities Award $640,000 to the American Academy to Advance Comprehensive Data Collection for the Humanities

Grants will support the Academy’s Humanities Indicators (www.HumanitiesIndicators.org), the first comprehensive collection of statistical data about the humanities in the United States.

Press Release

Mar 22, 2010

Eighty-eight Representatives Seek Increase in NEH Funding

Academy’s Humanities Indicators Cited in “Dear Colleague” Letter

Press Release

Mar 1, 2010

Humanities Enjoy Strong Student Demand but Declining Conditions for Faculty

New Data Available on College and University Humanities Departments

Press Release

Feb 22, 2010

Humanities Indicators Receive Obama Administration Support

Fiscal 2011 Budget Calls for Partnership with American Academy to Sustain a Robust Humanities Data Infrastructure

Press Release

Jan 7, 2009

American Academy of Arts and Sciences Launches Humanities Indicators Prototype

This online data set – the first of its kind – attracted extensive attention in the news media and in the blogosphere and the website received more than 250,000 hits originating from 38 countries. The prototype includes 74 indicators and more than 200 tables and charts.

Bulletin

Jan 1, 2009

Humanities Indicators Prototype Launched

In 2002, the Academy’s Initiative on Humanities and Culture issued its first Occasional Paper, Making the Humanities Count–a study of the need for a systematic and sustained effort to collect data on the state of the humanities in the United States. The Academy took up the challenge, and on January 7, 2009, it launched a prototype set of statistics: the Humanities Indicators.

Press Release

Feb 7, 2006

Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Grant Will Help Create Humanities Indicators

The Academy, in conjunction with a consortium of national humanities organizations, will create a prototype set of indicators – statistical data about the people who work in the humanities and about the work they do – to provide a comprehensive picture of the state of the humanities in the United States, from primary to higher education to public humanities activities.

Press Release

Jun 21, 2004

New Report Provides First Comprehensive Look at Foundation Support for the Humanities

Giving by private foundations to the humanities more than doubled during the past decade, according to a new study conducted and published by the Foundation Center in collaboration with the American Academy of Arts & Sciences

Press Release

Jan 8, 2003

American Academy's Humanities Indicators Project Receives Hewlett Foundation Grant

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences has received a $750,000 grant from The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation to advance the Academy's work on statistical indicators for the humanities.

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Project Outcomes

The Humanities Indicators project releases frequent data updates throughout the year pushed to subscribers and periodic publications that package interesting data that responds to questions and concerns in the field, or support other Academy projects.

The Humanities Indicators staff serve as a resource for college administrators, policymakers, and the media, answering questions about the trends, and occasionally providing data runs tailored to their specific needs.

The ongoing media references to the Humanities Indicators demonstrate that they continue to be a valuable resource for informing the public and stimulating debate about trends in the humanities. From 2014-2018 the Indicators were cited over 400 times in the press. Recent coverage has included The Hill, Inside Higher Ed, NBC News, The Washington Post, The Chronicle of Higher Education, WBUR, The Atlantic, The Guardian, The Jerusalem Post, and BBC.

The recent Humanities Indicators report, The State of the Humanities 2018: Graduates in the Workforce & Beyond, was downloaded by over 10,000 unique users.

Humanities Indicators Media Coverage

Project Information

The Humanities Indicators are funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The project was developed with generous support from the National Endowment for the Humanities; Elihu Rose and the Madison Charitable Fund; John P. Birkelund; Peck Stackpoole Foundation; Rockefeller Foundation; Sara Lee Foundation; Teagle Foundation; Walter B. Hewlett and the William R. Hewlett Trust; and William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this website do not necessarily represent those of the funders.

Project Date

2007

Contact Information

Robert B. Townsend

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