Chart 3. Distribution of the registered nurse population by highest nursing or nursing-related educational preparation, 1980-2004*


Stacked Bar chart with 7 groups and 4 items per group.
Group 1, 1980, Total value of 1652.0 
Item 1, Diploma value of 903 which is 54.7% of 1980 
Item 2, Associate Degree value of 295 which is 17.9% of 1980 
Item 3, Baccalaureate Degree value of 368 which is 22.3% of 1980 
Item 4, Masters and Doctorate Degree value of 86 which is 5.2% of 1980 
Group 2, 1984, Total value of 1877.0 
Item 1, Diploma value of 855 which is 45.6% of 1984 
Item 2, Associate Degree value of 430 which is 22.9% of 1984 
Item 3, Baccalaureate Degree value of 481 which is 25.6% of 1984 
Item 4, Masters and Doctorate Degree value of 111 which is 5.9% of 1984 
Group 3, 1988, Total value of 2020.0 
Item 1, Diploma value of 821 which is 40.6% of 1988 
Item 2, Associate Degree value of 512 which is 25.3% of 1988 
Item 3, Baccalaureate Degree value of 557 which is 27.6% of 1988 
Item 4, Masters and Doctorate Degree value of 130 which is 6.4% of 1988 
Group 4, 1992, Total value of 2237.0 
Item 1, Diploma value of 755 which is 33.8% of 1992 
Item 2, Associate Degree value of 632 which is 28.3% of 1992 
Item 3, Baccalaureate Degree value of 671 which is 30.0% of 1992 
Item 4, Masters and Doctorate Degree value of 179 which is 8.0% of 1992 
Group 5, 1996, Total value of 2557.0 
Item 1, Diploma value of 697 which is 27.3% of 1996 
Item 2, Associate Degree value of 812 which is 31.8% of 1996 
Item 3, Baccalaureate Degree value of 800 which is 31.3% of 1996 
Item 4, Masters and Doctorate Degree value of 248 which is 9.7% of 1996 
Group 6, 2000, Total value of 2684.0 
Item 1, Diploma value of 602 which is 22.4% of 2000 
Item 2, Associate Degree value of 926 which is 34.5% of 2000 
Item 3, Baccalaureate Degree value of 881 which is 32.8% of 2000 
Item 4, Masters and Doctorate Degree value of 275 which is 10.2% of 2000 
Group 7, 2004, Total value of 2862.0 
Item 1, Diploma value of 510 which is 17.8% of 2004 
Item 2, Associate Degree value of 981 which is 34.3% of 2004 
Item 3, Baccalaureate Degree value of 994 which is 34.7% of 2004 
Item 4, Masters and Doctorate Degree value of 377 which is 13.2% of 2004 

*The totals in each bar may not equal the estimated numbers of RNs in each survey year due to incomplete information provided by respondents and the effect of rounding. Only those provided initial RN educational preparation information are included in the calculations used for this chart. 

back