This report is based on final data from two Federal surveys. The first is the U.S. Department of Education's Completions Survey conducted annually by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) as part of the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). The second is the Survey of Earned Doctorates, conducted annually for the National Science Foundation (NSF) and other Federal agencies (five between 1997 and 2001). Each source is described in more detail in the following sections.
Data from the Completions Survey were used to report the number of bachelor's and master's degrees. The data on doctoral degrees in this report were derived from the Survey of Earned Doctorates, which surveyed all individuals earning research doctorates, rather than from the Completions Survey, which surveyed the institutions awarding the doctorates. The Survey of Earned Doctorate data were preferred because the data provided by individuals are more specific with respect to the field of specialization and are less likely to contain errors in data reporting and data entry than are the aggregate data provided by institutions. Furthermore, doctorate data provide 100 percent coverage for data by field and sex of individual recipients, whereas institutional data are subject to imputation for nonresponse. For a comparison of reporting on doctoral degrees in the Completions Survey and the Survey of Earned Doctorates, see National Science Foundation, Science and Engineering Doctorates: 1960-91, NSF 93-301, Detailed Statistical Tables (Washington, DC, 1993).
In this report the race/ethnicity of U.S. citizens (and permanent resident aliens) who were degree recipients during the 1992-2001 period are reported. The following five racial/ethnic categories were the standard in Federal Government surveys of institutions in this reporting period:
Black, non-HispanicA person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa (except those of Hispanic origin).
American Indian or Alaskan NativeA person having origins in any of the original peoples of North America and who maintains cultural identification through tribal affiliation or community recognition.
Asian or Pacific IslanderA person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, the Indian Subcontinent, or the Pacific Islands. These areas include, for example, China, Japan, Korea, the Philippine Islands, and Samoa.
HispanicA person of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.
White, non-HispanicA person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, North Africa, or the Middle East (except those of Hispanic origin).
Persons who are U.S. citizens or foreign citizens admitted for permanent residence are classified into the above categories. The ethnic category of Hispanic took precedence over the racial categories in the data collection. In addition, nonresident aliens, i.e., those admitted to the United States for temporary residence, are separately identified as a sixth category in the survey. The nonresident aliens are not reported in the aforementioned racial/ethnic groups. The definition used in the survey is as follows:
Nonresident alienA person who is not a citizen or national of the United States and who is in this country on a temporary basis and does not have the right to remain indefinitely. Resident aliens who are not citizens of the United States and who have been lawfully admitted for permanent residence (and who hold alien registration receipt cardsForm I-551/155) are to be reported in the appropriate racial/ethnic categories along with U.S. citizens.
Bachelor's and master's degree data presented in this report were derived from a survey conducted by NCESthe Completions Survey. This survey requested data on the number of associate's, bachelor's, master's, doctoral, and first professional degrees conferred by institutions of higher education. The data were requested by sex and field of study of recipient for each degree level. Data on the race/ethnicity of degree recipients were collected biennially by NCES for the Office of Civil Rights from 1987 through 1989 and annually since then. A limitation has been that data were collected only at the broad field level until 1995 according to the Federal racial/ethnic designations of degree recipients. This has affected one field primarilysocial sciences. Social sciences includes history in this report, for bachelor's and master's degree levels. History comprises 20-23 percent of the social sciences total at these degree levels.
The surveys were mailed to all accredited universities and colleges in the United States, including the U.S. territories, for completion by the institution. Followup for nonresponse and editing was conducted by letter and telephone. The overall response rate for institutions of higher education ranged from 92 and 97 percent between 1992 and 2001. Detailed national data were not released for the academic year ending 1999 by NCES.
For the bachelor's and master's degree data, the manner of collecting racial and ethnic data is left to the discretion of the institutions, provided that the system established results in reasonably accurate data. The information is gathered by NCES for the Office of Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education, in compliance with title I of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.
For institutions that did not report any racial/ethnic data by field, NCES imputed data on the basis of an earlier response for each institution, if available. Table A-1 indicates percentage of 2001 degree recipients in each race/ethnicity category for which race/ethnicity was imputed.
Table A-1. Percent of bachelor's and master's degree recipients imputed by race/ethnicity: 2000
|Table A-1 source data: Excel file|
In examining data on degrees awarded to minorities, it must be noted that 1-5 percent of all S&E degrees awarded in 1992-2001 were reported as awarded to individuals whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This unknown category could affect trends and observable changes in the number and share of awards received by minority students, particularly if there are shifts from year to year in the number of degree recipients with unknown race/ethnicity. As tables 1 and 2 in section B indicate, the share of degrees awarded to individuals whose race/ethnicity was unknown varied somewhat by degree level.
This NSF report differs from those published by NCES in that data for the U.S. territories and the commonwealth of Puerto Rico are included, whereas NCES excludes them from most of its published reports. Primarily, data for Hispanics are affected because institutions in Puerto Rico are included.
In the Survey of Earned Doctorates, information is collected during the period of July 1 of one year to June 30 of the next from all persons who have fulfilled the requirements for research doctorates. The survey was funded jointly by NSF and other Federal agencies (five in the period from 1997-2000): the U.S. Department of Education, the National Institutes of Health, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The survey forms are sent to all accredited doctorate-granting institutions for distribution by the graduate deans to all research doctorate recipients as they complete degree requirements. Information collected in the survey comprises demographic data, such as the student's sex, citizenship, ethnicity, and racial group; education history, including field of degrees; sources of graduate student support; employment status during the year preceding receipt of the doctorate; postgraduation plans; and background on parents' education. Approximately 92-95 percent of the doctorate recipients complete and return the survey forms. For nonrespondents, commencement programs constitute a source of skeletal information that is added to the file for the variables of sex, field of study, institution, year of doctorate, and educational background. Nonresponse for race/ethnicity is not imputed for individuals, but the percent unknown has been low (around 1-2 percent of those with known citizenship; citizenship was unknown for 2-8 percent of degree recipients). Because changes in nonresponse do exist, small changes in numbers should be interpreted with caution. Data are also updated annually from completed survey forms received late, so numbers may change very slightly in each edition.
 Broad field level refers to the 2-digit program levels in U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Classification of Instructional Programs (Washington, DC: GPO, 1991).