Data/Research: College Academics

Experts

American Educational Research Association: Critical Issues in Curriculum and Cultural Studies Special Interest Group (A national research society focused on education)

Michael Bastedo, an education professor and director at the University of Michigan (Expertise: general history of higher ed.)

Gray Associates (The firm has data on demand for new academic programs. See Robert Atkins: Bob.Atkins@grayassociates.com.)

Cheryl Mango, a history and philosophy professor at Virginia State University.
(Expertise: the history of curricula at Historically Black Colleges and Universities)

John Thelin, author of A History of American Higher Education 

Resources

For the history of what’s been studied at a single institution, check out:

• HathiTrust
• Archive.org
• Google Books
• A college’s library catalog for old course guides
  • For instance, Hampton University catalogues are https://bit.ly/3FdZkjw https://bit.ly/39Oz68z and https://bit.ly/3m9qtv

Data

National Center for Education Statistics (NCES): History: 120 Years of American Education: A Statistical Portrait, 1993 — tables 29 – 32 cover fields of study from 1959 to 1990.

Current Digest Tables from NCES, Chapter 3, sections 318–325.

Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) monitors majors/fields of study. Find data on specific colleges. (See EWA’s how-to video on using the database.)

College Scorecard: Find data on earnings of those who earned credentials or degrees in each program. (View EWA’s how-to videos: Part I and Part II.)