This issue brief examines postsecondary vocational education within the context of all undergraduate education, using a new taxonomy that classifies undergraduate majors as academic majors or career majors. The taxonomy further divides career majors into subbaccalaureate and baccalaureate level majors. At the baccalaureate level, career majors are considered nonvocational and at the subbaccalaureate level they are considered vocational. Using the new taxonomy, most baccalaureate and sub-baccalaureate students in 1999-2000 were enrolled in career-oriented majors, as opposed to academic majors. Sub-baccalaureate students were more likely than baccalaureate students to enroll in career majors, with about 7 out of 10 sub-baccalaureate students having vocational career majors. These findings are based on data from degree-seeking undergraduates in the 1999-2000 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study.
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