Peak Teacher: The Education Major's Long Decline
Education was once America's biggest major — nearly 194,000 bachelor's degrees in 1973, more than one of every five conferred. The series has declined through every decade since, punctuated by brief plateaus, and now sits under half its peak in a graduating class twice the size. It counts degrees in education as a field of study, so it understates newer pathways into teaching that skip the major.
What does it show?
America minted nearly 194,000 education majors in 1973 — more than one in five of all bachelor's degrees. Fifty years later the count is under half that, in a graduating class twice the size.
Methodology
Bachelor's degrees conferred in education, from Digest table 325.40, annual since 1970-71. The series counts degrees in education as a field of study, not new teachers certified; alternative routes into teaching have grown as the major shrank.