The Degree League
Ten of America's largest college majors ranked by degrees conferred, from 1971 to the present — a league table where position is everything and the crossings tell the story. Education started on top and slid to the bottom half; business seized first place around 1981 and has never been challenged; health professions marched from mid-table to second; and computer science, which entered in last place, keeps climbing.
What does it show?
Half a century of college majors as a league table: education topped it in 1971, business took first place by 1981 and never gave it back, health professions climbed to second, and computer science entered dead last and keeps rising.
Methodology
Ten large fields of study ranked by bachelor's degrees conferred in each benchmark year of Digest table 322.10 (five-year intervals through 2005-06, annual once the table turns annual). Rank hides magnitude, so each point carries the field's share of all bachelor's degrees, shown in tooltips. Fields outside the ten tracked here are not ranked.