A Look at Health Sciences Subbaccalaureate Students

Today, the National Center for Education Statistics released a new report that examines the enrollment and demographic characteristics of subbaccalaureate (certificate and associate’s degree) health sciences students. Key findings include: Among the occupational fields that students study at the subbaccalaureate level, health sciences is the most common, enrolling 35 percent of occupational education students. Relative to subbaccalaureate students in general, a lower proportion of health sciences students enrolled in public 2-year institutions and a higher proportion enrolled in private, for-profit institutions. Although 58 percent of subbaccalaureate students were female, this number increased to 83 percent within the health sciences. The proportion of students in health sciences who were Black was greater than that among subbaccalaureate students generally. The report uses data from the 2015–16 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:16).