Education degrees have plummeted by 50% since 1970, signaling a grim future for America's once-top major: Data

Who will teach America's kids? As teacher shortages riddle the education system, some states have been forced to answer the question by slashing or altering requirements to help get aspiring educators into the classroom faster than before, a move that's concerning to some.

At the backdrop of the crisis, data from the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) shows a possible culprit, or at least one of several that could be fueling the grim outlook as degrees conferred in education – once the number one major in America – have slipped by nearly 50% between the 1970-1971 academic year to the 2020-2021 academic year despite the overall number of college students increasing by nearly 150% in the same timeframe.

At the time, it was the most popular major, coming in at 176,307 degrees conferred with social sciences/history and business degrees coming in second and third with 155,324 and 115,396 degrees conferred, respectively.