U.S. higher education: master's degrees by field of research 2020

In the academic year of 2020/21, about 202,334 Master's degrees were earned in business across the United States, making it the most common master's degree earned. In that same year, another 47,257 Master's degrees were earned in engineering.

Number of master's degrees earned in the United States in 2020/21, by field of research

Field of research	Number of degrees
Business	202,334
Education	153,756
Health professions and related programs	142,025
Computer and information sciences	54,174
Public administration and social services	49,388
Engineering	47,257
Psychology	31,776
Social sciences and history	19,845
Biological and biomedical sciences	19,433
Visual and performing arts	15,743
Theology and religious vocations	13,228
Mathematics and statistics	12,583
Multi/interdisciplinary studies	12,365
Homeland security, law enforcement, and firefighting	11,326
Communication, journalism, and related programs	10,805
Parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies	9,880
English language and literature/letters	7,850
Agriculture and natural resources	7,404
Legal professions and studies	7,038
Physical sciences and science technologies	6,778
Engineering technologies	6,375
Architecture and related services	6,321
Library science	5,473
Family and consumer sciences/human sciences	3,137
Foreign languages, literatures, and linguistics	2,884
Philosophy and religious studies	2,073
Liberal arts and sciences, general studies, and humanities	2,044
Area, ethnic, cultural, gender, and group studies	1,446
Military technologies and applied sciences	958
Transportation and materials moving	670
Communications technologies	517
Precision production	8