The bar chart illustrates how many students applied to four faculty areas at three US universities in 1990, 2000 and 2010.
Overall, applications to Biology and Engineering fell significantly over the period, whereas Business and Social Work became increasingly popular. Engineering was the most sought-after subject in the start , but by the end Business had taken its place.
Biology and Engineering both experienced consistent declines. Biology applications halved from 3,000 in 1990 to 1,500 in 2000, then dropped further to 900 in 2010. Engineering started as the most popular faculty with 4,000 applications, but fell to 2,500 in 2000 and plummeted to just 600 by 2010, the lowest figure on the chart.
In contrast, Business applications climbed steadily from 2,000 to 3,000 and finally reached 4,000 in 2010, matching Engineering’s 1990 peak. Social Work remained the least popular faculty for most of the period, but it still grew from 1,000 applications in 1990 to 1,400 in 2000 and about 1,900 in 2010, almost doubling overall.
