4 digit cip codes medicina, law, theology

1. What the four‑digit CIP level means — why it matters

The CIP taxonomy is hierarchical: two‑digit series are broad fields, four‑digit series represent intermediate program groupings (“programs within a career sector”), and six‑digit codes identify very specific instructional awards or occupations; institutions and federal reporting often use the four‑digit level for program grouping and comparisons ^{[1] [4]}. Practically, assigning the correct four‑digit code matters for federal reporting (IPEDS), financial aid tracking, workforce analysis, and immigration/STEM designations that sometimes reference CIP ranges ^{[2] [5]}.

2. Where to look up authoritative four‑digit CIP codes

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)/IPEDS CIP code site is the primary lookup for the official codes and descriptions; NCES publishes a searchable browse and search interface for the CIP taxonomy ^{[6] [7] [2]}. State higher‑education data portals and institutional research offices also publish extracts and mapping guides derived from NCES; consult a state portal (e.g., Texas THED) or a college’s CIP guidance when you want locally used codes or examples ^{[8] [9]}.

3. Why a simple keyword search may not yield “Medicina,” “Law,” “Theology” directly

The CIP taxonomy uses English program titles and standardized phrases; some disciplines are grouped under neighboring two‑digit series or under slightly different wording (for example, “Health Professions and Related Programs” contains many four‑digit fields for nursing and allied health) ^[9]. The snippets provided do not show a direct four‑digit label for the Spanish “Medicina” or an exact “Theology” entry; therefore, available sources do not list the exact four‑digit codes for those Spanish/lay terms in the supplied material (available sources do not mention specific four‑digit codes for “Medicina,” “Law,” or “Theology”).

4. Typical CIP neighborhoods for each discipline (how researchers map them)

• Medicine/clinical medical degrees typically live within the Health Professions and Related Programs series (two‑digit 51) or in closely related categories; that series contains many four‑digit groupings and 6‑digit specializations ^[9].
• Law programs are commonly grouped within the “Legal Professions and Studies” two‑digit series (often 22 in CIP taxonomy historically), though the provided snippets don’t show the exact four‑digit label (available sources do not provide a direct snippet of the law four‑digit code in the results).
• Theology and religious studies are usually located within the “Theology and Religious Vocations” two‑digit area or within humanities groupings depending on CIP edition; specific four‑digit labels are not shown in these snippets (available sources do not provide the exact theology four‑digit code).

5. Practical next steps to get the exact four‑digit codes

Use the NCES/IPEDS CIP browse or search pages to type the program name (e.g., “Medicine,” “Law,” “Theology”) and retrieve the canonical two-, four- and six‑digit codes and descriptions ^{[6] [7] [2]}. If you need institution‑specific assignments (how a given university labels its degree), consult that institution’s registrar or institutional research/CIP guidance ^{[3] [9]}.

6. Caveats, ambiguity and competing practices

CIP is a statistical taxonomy, not a perfect one‑to‑one match for every program title; NCES notes that program descriptions are “generic categories” and institutions choose the most appropriate code ^[3]. States and agencies sometimes treat technical programs at the four‑digit or six‑digit level differently (e.g., Texas groups some programs at four‑digit or six‑digit levels based on discipline needs) ^[4]. Also, updates to CIP (most recently in 2020 and tracked by NCES/IPEDS) can add new codes or tweak groupings, so check the current NCES site for the edition you need ^{[1] [10]}.

If you want, I can: (a) run targeted searches on the NCES CIP browse for the exact four‑digit entries for “Medicine,” “Law,” and “Theology”; or (b) give likely four‑digit candidates based on the 2020 CIP taxonomy and cite the exact NCES entries. Which do you prefer?