Degree holders were less likely to lose their jobs during the recent recession, and the number of jobs requiring degrees grew faster during the recovery.
However, applications for maths degrees grew by 87%, far outstripping most other subjects, and yet the number of institutions offering the discipline fell.
In most cases, these stand-alone degrees grew out of existing M.B.A. programs with the aim of graduating managers who understand both strategy and information systems.
In contrast, the number of institutions providing English degrees grew from 99 to 120, while those offering drama rose from 70too 102.
Among Hispanics, the share of adults holding bachelor's degrees grew from 11.1 percent in 2001 to 14.1 percent last year, and among blacks it climbed from 15.7 percent to 19.9 percent.
According to the World Bank, while general graduate degree programs, which include the humanities and social sciences, still have the highest enrollment, the number of students seeking technical degrees grew six times faster from 2000 to 2004.
But even more significant, as the number of women with law degrees grows, they may be more likely to pursue careers in business and politics where legal training has often been a springboard to positions of power.
Romney has two Harvard degrees, grew up with a father who was an auto executive and a governor, and, according to an analysis this week by The Wall Street Journal's Market Watch, has a net worth that is 40 times greater than the president's.
Women prefer to add other female users until their degrees grow larger than 150.
Nonetheless, the Harvard study points out that "online-only" bachelors degrees grew from 0.5percentt of the total in 2000 to over 6percentt by 2012.
