Median Number of College Credits Earned in Selected Subjects by 2008 Graduates, by Student Major

There are relatively few data about the role of humanities instruction for students majoring in other fields, but an occasional study by the Department of Education indicates the humanities play a greater role than their share among undergraduate majors might suggest. The most recent data, which sampled students graduating with a bachelor’s degree in 2008, found that students were earning a larger percentage of course credits in the humanities (a median of 22% of all credits earned) than the field’s share of all undergraduate degree recipients (12%).