- The overall number of bachelor’s degrees awarded in the United States has been growing steadily for more than a decade, increasing 39 percent from 2004 to 2017.
- Psychology baccalaureates grew even faster, from about 87,000 in 2004 to almost 125,000 in 2017, a gain of 43 percent.1
- However, psychology baccalaureate growth slowed and then plateaued beginning in 2013. In 2017, for the first time in years, the number declined, with 1,262 fewer psychology baccalaureates awarded in 2017 (124,497) than in 2016 (125,759).
- Since 2013, there have been similar declines in baccalaureate degrees awarded in other social science disciplines.2 However, baccalaureates awarded in other STEM fields, such as engineering and biological sciences, grew consistently from 2004 to 2017. In computer sciences, the number declined between 2004 and 2009 but has grown each year since.
Want more information? See CWS’s interactive data tools: www.apa.org/workforce/data-tools/degrees-psychology or contact cws@apa.org.
1 U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). (2004–17). Completions surveys [Data files and dictionaries]. Retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/use-the-dataopens in new window .
2 "Other social sciences" is identified as CIP code 45 in IPEDS and includes the disciplines of political science, economics, sociology, anthropology and geography, among others.
