Associate’s Degrees in the Liberal Arts and Humanities
- In 2018, the nation’s colleges conferred 413,246 associate’s degrees in liberal arts and the humanities, the highest level on record (with most of these degrees classified by conferring institutions as “liberal arts” or “liberal studies”; Indicator II-01a). The number of associate’s degrees conferred in these disciplines increased almost every year from 1987 to 2018, rising by an average of 4.3% annually.
- Traditionally, the largest number of associate’s degrees has been awarded in vocational and professional fields, however growth in these fields was less than the rise in liberal arts and humanities (and occasionally negative) for most years of the 1987–2012 time period.3 The number of degrees in vocational and professional fields declined steadily from 2012 until 2018. The 332,741 vocational/professional degrees awarded in 2018 was the smallest number since 2009. As a result of these trends, beginning in 2015 more associate’s degrees were awarded in the liberal arts and humanities than in the vocational and professional fields, and the gap widened over the next three years.
- Associate’s degree conferrals in the health/medical and natural sciences declined slightly in recent years, from a high of 244,785 degrees in 2012 to 225,295 in 2018.
- Degrees conferred in subjects with a substantial amount of training in the humanities rose from 25.7% of the associate’s degrees awarded in 1987 to 43.7% in 2018 (Indicator II-01b). In comparison, over the same period the share of all associate’s degrees awarded to students in vocational and professional fields fell from 55.9% to 31.7%.
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Integrated Postsecondary Education 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.
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Integrated Postsecondary Education 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.
Endnotes
- 1The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center found that one in four students who started their postsecondary education at a two-year public institution in 2008 transferred to a four-year institution. Additionally, 18% of students who started their studies in a four-year institution either transferred to or took classes at a two-year institution. (Doug Shapiro et al.,Transfer and Mobility: A National View of Student Movement in Postsecondary Institutions, Fall 2008 Cohort [Herndon, VA: National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, 2015], fig. 8.)
- 2The course requirements for an associate’s degree in liberal studies cover an array of subject areas. Nevertheless, a review of course requirements at community colleges by Humanities Indicators staff found that these institutions typically assign more than a third of the necessary credit hours for liberal and general studies degrees to humanities subjects, with history courses often counting toward both humanities and social science requirements.
- 3Degree conferrals in the professional fields were dominated by degrees in business and professions related to law and criminal justice.
