Figure

II-20d: Doctoral Degree Completions in the Humanities, by Discipline, 1987–2022

Data Source and Other Information

Source: Office of Education/U.S. Department of Education: Survey of Earned Degrees; Higher Education General Information System; and Integrated Postsecondary Data System. Data analyzed and presented by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Humanities Indicators (www.humanitiesindicators.org).

About the Data

All data for years 1987 and later have been tabulated using the Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP). For an explanation of the advantages of using the CIP to tally humanities degree completions, see the Note on the Data Used to Calculate Humanities Degree Counts and Shares.

For an inventory of the specific degree programs that together constitute the academic humanities as they are conceptualized by the Humanities Indicators, see the Degree Program Code Catalog. 

See also the Note on the Definition of Advanced Degrees.

Related Indicators

For the proportion of all graduate degrees that are conferred in the humanities as compared to other fields, see “Humanities’ Share of All Advanced Degrees Conferred.”

For information on the demographics of students earning graduate-level humanities degrees, see “Racial/Ethnic Distribution of Advanced Degrees in the Humanities” and “Gender Distribution of Advanced Degrees in the Humanities.”

Other indicators pertaining to graduate education in the humanities can be found under the topics “Disciplinary Distribution of Advanced Degrees in the Humanities,”“Humanities Degree Completions: An International Comparison,” “Paying for Doctoral Study in the Humanities,” “Years to Attainment of a Humanities Doctorate,” and “Attrition in Humanities Doctorate Programs.”

For the most recent Humanities Departmental Survey findings relating to graduate education, see “4. Graduate Students.”

For trends in humanities undergraduate degree completions, see “Associate’s Degrees in the Humanities” and “Bachelor’s Degrees in the Humanities.”

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The Humanities Indicators and Departmental Survey have been made possible in part by grants from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this website do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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