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Higher Education
Quartiles | Findings | Description
S&E degrees as share of higher education degrees conferred: 2003
S&E degrees as share of higher education degrees conferred: 2003
Quartiles
S&E degrees as share of higher education degrees conferred: 2003*
| 1st Quartile (42.7%–32.5%) |
2nd Quartile (32.0%–29.1%) |
3rd Quartile (28.9%–26.1%) |
4th Quartile (25.9%–19.5%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | Alaska | Delaware | Alabama |
| Colorado | Connecticut | Florida | Arizona |
| District of Columbia | Georgia | Idaho | Arkansas |
| Maine | Hawaii | Illinois | Kentucky |
| Maryland | Iowa | Indiana | Mississippi |
| Massachusetts | New Hampshire | Kansas | Missouri |
| Montana | New Mexico | Louisiana | Nebraska |
| New Jersey | North Carolina | Michigan | Nevada |
| Oregon | Pennsylvania | Minnesota | Ohio |
| Utah | Rhode Island | New York | Oklahoma |
| Vermont | South Dakota | North Dakota | Tennessee |
| Virginia | Washington | South Carolina | West Virginia |
| Wyoming | Wisconsin | Texas | |
| *States in alphabetical order, not data order.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System. See |
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Findings
- In 2003, more than 564,000 S&E bachelor’s, master's, and doctoral degrees were conferred nationwide; since 1993, S&E degrees have represented about 30% of all higher education degrees.
- There is a significant difference in the emphasis that states place on technical higher education. In some states, nearly 40% of their degrees are awarded in S&E fields; in others, fewer than 20% of their degrees are awarded in these fields.
- The District of Columbia has a high value of 43% because of the large S&E graduate programs in political science and public administration at several of its academic institutions.
Description
This indicator is a measure of the extent to which a state’s higher education programs are concentrated in science and engineering fields. The indicator is expressed as the percentage of higher education degrees that were conferred in S&E fields. High values for this indicator are from states that emphasize S&E fields in their higher education systems.
S&E fields include physical, life, earth, ocean, atmospheric, computer, and social sciences; mathematics; engineering; and psychology. For both S&E degrees and higher education degrees conferred, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees are included; associate’s degrees are excluded. Geographic location refers to the location of the degree-granting institution and does not reflect the state where students permanently reside. The year is the latter date of the academic year. For example, data for 2003 represent degrees conferred during the 2002–03 academic year.
