This Issue Brief examines postsecondary vocational education within the context of all undergraduate education. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has traditionally reported data on postsecondary vocational education using a taxonomy that divides subbaccalaureate postsecondary education into academic and vocational areas of study (Choy and Horn 1992; Levesque et al. 2000). To better reflect the correspondence between instructional fields and the educational requirements of careers in today's economy, NCES recently developed the new taxonomy described in this Issue Brief. The new taxonomy classifies all undergraduate majors as academic majors or career majors. Because federal law defines vocational education as instruction for careers below the baccalaureate level, the new taxonomy further divides career majors into subbaccalaureate and baccalaureate level majors. At the baccalaureate level, career majors are considered nonvocational and at the subbaccalaureate level they are considered vocational.