Putting Chicago To Work

Top College Majors by Race & S*x (2022–2023) | What America’s College Graduates Are Studying

What majors are America’s college graduates earning degrees in?

This series examines the top bachelor’s degree fields by race and s*x during the 2022–2023 academic year, using data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). Rather than looking only at overall college attainment, these graphics show which fields of study students actually completed, including separate breakdowns for Black men, Black women, White men, and White women.

This series also includes comparisons showing:
• The top 10 majors by race and s*x
• The share of bachelor’s degrees earned by men and women across racial and ethnic groups
• Education degrees awarded by race and s*x
• National gender differences in bachelor’s degree completion

Important: These statistics reflect bachelor’s degrees awarded during the 2022–2023 academic year only. They are not lifetime educational attainment figures and should not be interpreted as the percentage of adults who hold a college degree.

Understanding what people study provides additional context beyond simply knowing whether they earned a degree and can help inform discussions about career pathways, workforce trends, and educational outcomes.

Source

* National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
* Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), Completions Survey
* Bachelor’s Degrees Awarded, Academic Year 2022–2023
* U.S. Department of Education

Education Pays: Why More Education Means More Money for Men (BLS 2025)

One of the most common arguments I hear is, “Black men don’t go to college because they’re all in the skilled trades.” The data does not support that claim.

Black men are represented in the skilled trades, but they are not the largest group in those occupations. White men make up the largest share of the skilled-trade workforce, followed by Hispanic men. Black men rank third, accounting for approximately 13% of men working in skilled trades.

More importantly, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics consistently shows that men’s median earnings increase as educational attainment increases. In 2025, men with a bachelor’s degree earned a median of $1,811 per week, compared with $1,073 per week for men whose highest education was a high school diploma. Men with advanced degrees earned $2,215 per week.

This does not mean skilled trades are bad careers. Many trades provide excellent incomes and rewarding work. However, using skilled trades as a blanket explanation for lower college attendance among Black men ignores two facts: (1) Black men are not the dominant group in skilled trades, and (2) on average, men with higher levels of education earn substantially more over their careers.

The data is clear: education remains one of the strongest predictors of higher earnings.

Sources:

* U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Median Weekly Earnings of Full-Time Wage and Salary Workers Age 25+ by S*x and Educational Attainment, 2025 Annual Averages (Table A-3).
* U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Occupational Outlook Handbook & Employment Projections Program (Construction, Transportation, Production, Installation, Maintenance, Repair, and Related Occupations).