This report presents data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the Higher Education General Information Survey (HEGIS), both conducted by NCES. To maintain comparability over time, only data for higher education (4-year and 2-year) institutions are analyzed in this report. Although the number of U.S. residents aged 18 to 29 peaked in 1983, the number of associate, bachelor's, and master's degrees earned by students increased between 1977 and 1994. It is not clear from the data presented in this report if this increase may be attributed to a higher percentage of 18- to 29-year-olds earning higher education degrees, to a greater number of students other than 29 receiving degrees during this time, or both. Other trends in the data presented in this report are varied and complex. Some fields grew quickly from 1970 to 1994, while others peaked and declined.
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