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Students are considered a vital part of the humanities enterprise, as evidenced by a spate of articles in 2013 noting with alarm a perceived decline in the number of humanities majors. A comparison of the 2007 and 2012 rounds of the Humanities Departmental Survey (HDS-1 and HDS-2) finds evidence of a modest decline in the number of majors over the five-year period. (Please note that the degree-granting departments and programs studied in the HDS were all at four-year colleges and universities.)

Undergraduate Students in HDS-1 Departments: Repeat Disciplines Only

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* Totals should not be compared directly with 2007 data since these totals do not include data for any departments that have been created in the interim. These totals can be interpreted as estimates of minima for all 2012–13 departments combined.
** The medians were not compared with medians from the previous study; no estimate of change is included.
† Some of the departments classified as LLE for HDS-1 have been reclassified as Classical Studies for HDS-2. Any comparisons are made using only departments classified as LLE for both HDS-1 and HDS-2.
Source: Susan White, Raymond Chu, and Roman Czujko, The 2012–13 Survey of Humanities Departments at Four-Year Institutions (College Park, MD: Statistical Research Center, American Institute of Physics, 2014). Study conducted for the American Academy of Arts Sciences’ Humanities Indicators Project.
The 95% confidence interval for the change in average per department from 2007 data is provided in italics; the width of the interval indicates the uncertainty in the estimate. “No δ” indicates any change exhibited is not statistically significant.

Undergraduate Students: New Disciplines Only

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Source: Susan White, Raymond Chu, and Roman Czujko, The 2012–13 Survey of Humanities Departments at Four-Year Institutions (College Park, MD: Statistical Research Center, American Institute of Physics, 2014). Study conducted for the American Academy of Arts Sciences’ Humanities Indicators Project.

Number of Graduate Students* in HDS-1 Departments, Fall 2012: Repeat Disciplines Only

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* Totals should not be compared directly with 2007 data since these totals do not include data for any departments that have been created in the interim. These totals can be interpreted as estimates of minima for all 2012–13 departments combined.
** The medians were not compared with medians from the previous study; no estimate of change is included.
† Some of the departments classified as LLE for HDS-1 have been reclassified as Classical Studies for HDS-2. Any comparisons are made using only departments classified as LLE for both HDS-1 and HDS-2.
Source: Susan White, Raymond Chu, and Roman Czujko, The 2012–13 Survey of Humanities Departments at Four-Year Institutions (College Park, MD: Statistical Research Center, American Institute of Physics, 2014). Study conducted for the American Academy of Arts Sciences’ Humanities Indicators Project.
The 95% confidence interval for the change in average per department from 2007 data is provided in italics; the width of the interval indicates the uncertainty in the estimate. “No δ” indicates any change exhibited is not statistically significant.

Financial Support for Full-Time First-Year Students in Humanities Doctoral Programs, Fall 2012

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* Only two responding departments offer a doctorate in this area; neither responded to this question.
Source: Susan White, Raymond Chu, and Roman Czujko, The 2012–13 Survey of Humanities Departments at Four-Year Institutions (College Park, MD: Statistical Research Center, American Institute of Physics, 2014). Study conducted for the American Academy of Arts Sciences’ Humanities Indicators Project.

Average Number of Bachelor’s Degrees Conferred (Academic Year 2011–12) and Juniors and Seniors with Declared Majors in Discipline per Humanities Department (Fall 2012), by Discipline

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* A combined department is one that grants degrees in English and also in languages and literatures other than English.
Source: Susan White, Raymond Chu, and Roman Czujko, The 2012–13 Survey of Humanities Departments at Four-Year Institutions, Tables 9a and b, pp. 16–17 (College Park, MD: Statistical Research Center, American Institute of Physics, 2014). Study conducted for the American Academy of Arts Sciences’ Humanities Indicators Project.

Average Number of Graduate Students per Humanities Department, by Discipline, Fall 2012

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* A combined department is one that grants degrees in English and also in languages and literatures other than English.
Source: Susan White, Raymond Chu, and Roman Czujko, The 2012–13 Survey of Humanities Departments at Four-Year Institutions, Tables 14a and b, pp. 22–23 (College Park, MD: Statistical Research Center, American Institute of Physics, 2014). Study conducted for the American Academy of Arts Sciences’ Humanities Indicators Project.

Percentage of Full-Time First-Year Students in Humanities Doctoral Programs Who Recieve Financial Support, by Extent of Support and Discipline, Fall 2012*

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*Only two of the responding combined departments offer a doctorate; neither responded to this question. A combined department is one that grants degrees in English and also in languages and literatures other than English.

Source: Susan White, Raymond Chu, and Roman Czujko, The 2012–13 Survey of Humanities Departments at Four-Year Institutions, Table 15, p. 24 (College Park, MD: Statistical Research Center, American Institute of Physics, 2014). Study conducted for the American Academy of Arts Sciences’ Humanities Indicators Project.
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