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As the total number of credits taken by high school students has increased since 1990, so have the number of credits taken in key humanities subjects and the share of students earning credits in these subjects.1

Endnotes

  • 1In 1990, the mean number of credits taken by high school students was 23.6. By 2019, the number had risen to 28.1. (U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, “2019 NAEP High School Transcript Study Results: Coursetaking—Total Credits,” https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/hstsreport/#coursetaking_0_0_el (accessed 4/19/2022). To ensure that totals are consistent over time and across institutions, credits are reported in Carnegie units (one of which is equal to 120 hours of classroom instruction).
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* Includes civics/government/politics, economics, psychology, sociology, U.S. and world history, and world geography.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), "2019 NAEP High School Transcript Study Results: Coursetaking—Academic Course Credits,” https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/hstsreport/#coursetaking_0_2_el (accessed 4/19/2022). Data presented by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Humanities Indicators (www.humanitiesindicators.org).

This indicator focuses on trends in course-taking in public and private high schools. To ensure that the estimates are consistent over time and across institutions, credits are reported in Carnegie units (one of which is equal to 120 hours of classroom instruction).

Social studies, as defined by the National Center for Education Statistics (the collector of the data on which this indicator is based), includes history, as well as several subjects that are not treated as part of the humanities for the purposes of the Humanities Indicators. (For an explanation of the way in which the “humanities” is conceptualized by the Humanities Indicators, please see the scope statement.)

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Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), National Assessment of Educational Progress, High School Transcript Study. These estimates were prepared by Brian Cramer (NCES) and Rob Perkins (Westat) at the request of the Humanities Indicators (HI). The HI thanks them for their generous assistance. Data presented by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Humanities Indicators (www.humanitiesindicators.org).

Social studies, as defined by the National Center for Education Statistics (the collector of the data on which this indicator is based), includes history, as well as several subjects that are not treated as part of the humanities for the purposes of the Humanities Indicators. (For an explanation of the way in which the “humanities” is conceptualized by the Humanities Indicators, please see the scope statement.)

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