As industries change and interests shift, some bachelor’s degrees grow more popular while others become less so. We already saw how the rankings changed over the decades. Now here’s the degrees that have changed the most since 1995.



Biggest Shifts for Bachelor’s Degrees Comparing 1995 to 2017 +150% Parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies +100% These degrees became more popular. Computer and information sciences Health professions and related programs +50% Homeland security, law enforcement, and firefighting Legal professions and studies Communication, journalism, and related programs Biological and biomedical sciences Mathematics and statistics Engineering Visual and performing arts 0% Area, ethnic, cultural, gender, and group studies Transportation and materials moving Philosophy and religious studies Liberal arts and sciences and humanities Social sciences and history These degrees became less popular. Foreign languages, literatures, and linguistics Engineering technologies Architecture and related services −50% English language and literature/letters Education 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 +150% Parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies +100% Computer and info. sciences Health professions +50% Law enforcement, firefighting Legal professions Communication, journalism Biological and biomedical Mathematics and statistics Engineering Visual and performing arts 0% Ethnic, cultural studies Transportation, materials Philosophy and religion Liberal arts and sciences Social sciences and history Foreign languages, lit. Engineering technologies Architecture −50% English language and lit. Education

The data comes from the National Center for Education Statistics. Again, these are the degrees that showed the most change rather than degrees that were most popular. See the rankings chart for the latter. For each time segment, I calculated percentage and compared it against the percentage for 1995.

Parks and rec is killing it, more than doubling since 1995. Education and English not so much, each with a decline of about half, which I have a feeling has a lot do with more options.