Institutional Distribution of Doctoral Degrees in the Humanities
- Humanities doctorates are conferred primarily by very high research universities, which awarded 80% of the degrees in the field in 2013 (Indicator II-24a), down from 84% in 1987 (Indicator II-24b).
- The share of all humanities doctorates awarded by very high research universities in 2013 was substantial (81%) compared to the proportion of doctoral degrees awarded by such institutions in other fields. Only in the arts disciplines did very high research institutions award a larger proportion of the degrees. In comparison, approximately 60% of the doctorates in the social and behavioral sciences are conferred by these institutions, and less than half of the doctoral degrees awarded in business and education (Indicator II-24c).
- In addition to conferring the majority of the humanities degrees at the doctoral level, very high research universities award a larger share of their doctoral degrees to humanities students than does any other type of institution. In 2013, just over 10% of the doctoral degrees conferred by very high research universities went to students in the humanities (Indicator II-24d). While this is almost three points lower than the percentage recorded for doctoral degrees awarded in 2000, it is markedly higher than the percentage of doctoral degrees awarded to humanities students at any other type of institution.
- The proportion of all humanities doctoral degrees conferred by public colleges and universities increased from 57% to almost 63% from 1987 to 2013 (Indicator II-24e). Private not-for-profit institutions awarded almost all of the remaining doctoral degrees in the field. (As of 2013, only 10 doctoral degrees in the humanities have been recorded as conferred by for-profit colleges and universities.)
- While public colleges and universities award a larger share of all doctoral degrees in the humanities, from 2008 to 2013, private colleges and universities were somewhat more likely to award their doctoral degrees to humanities students than to students in other fields (Indicator II-24f). As of 2013, private not-for-profit colleges and universities awarded 9% of their degrees to students in the humanities, as compared to 8% of the degrees awarded by public colleges and universities.
II-24a: Distribution of 2013 Humanities Doctoral Degree Completions among Carnegie Institution Types*
* Institutions have been categorized using the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching’s of college and university types.
Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Data System; accessed via the National Science Foundation’s online data system, .
See the Note on the Data Used to Calculate Humanities Degree Counts and Shares and the Note on the Definition of Advanced Degrees. For a detailed explanation of the types of institutions in each category, see the on the site maintained by Indiana University’s Center for Postsecondary Research.
* Institutions have been categorized using the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching’s of college and university types.
Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Data System; accessed via the National Science Foundation’s online data system, .
See the Note on the Data Used to Calculate Humanities Degree Counts and Shares and the Note on the Definition of Advanced Degrees. For a detailed explanation of the types of institutions in each category, see the on the site maintained by Indiana University’s Center for Postsecondary Research.
* Institutions have been categorized using the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching’s of college and university types.
Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Data System; accessed via the National Science Foundation’s online data system, .
See the Note on the Data Used to Calculate Humanities Degree Counts and Shares and the Note on the Definition of Advanced Degrees. For a detailed explanation of the types of institutions in each category, see the on the site maintained by Indiana University’s Center for Postsecondary Research.
* Institutions have been categorized using the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching’s of college and university types.
Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Data System; accessed via the National Science Foundation’s Online Integrated Science and Engineering Resources Data System, .
See the Note on the Data Used to Calculate Humanities Degree Counts and Shares and the Note on the Definition of Advanced Degrees. For a detailed explanation of the types of institutions in each category, see the on the site maintained by Indiana University’s Center for Postsecondary Research.
* Institutions have been categorized according to the .
Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Data System; accessed via the National Science Foundation’s Online Integrated Science and Engineering Resources Data System, .
* Institutions have been categorized according to the .
Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Data System; accessed via the National Science Foundation’s Online Integrated Science and Engineering Resources Data System, .
