Over the decades, we can see the shifts (and non-shifts) in professional priorities and interests by looking at what college students are studying. The National Center for Education Statistics has kept a running tally of conferred bachelor’s degrees since 1970.
Changing ranks for fields of study
Based on degrees conferred by postsecondary institutions from 1970 through 2024
Business has been at the top since 1980 and seems poised to stay there for a while. There were 368,000 business degrees conferred in 2024, which was almost 50% more than the next most common field, which was health with 253,000.
Education fell from its top spot in the 1970s and then really fell in the 2010s. The math and statistics category makes me sad.
The steady ascent of parks, recreation, and fitness seems impressive. Computer science and related climbed highest, which makes sense, but I am curious what happens over the next decade.
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