
Each year, the National Science Foundation collects data on obligations to colleges and universities from federal agencies. Obligations differ from expenditures, in that funds obligated during one fiscal year may be spent by the recipient in later years. Obligation amounts include direct federal support, so that amounts subcontracted to other institutions are included. Those funds received through subcontracts from prime contractors are excluded. Also excluded from the data are certain types of financial assistance, such as the U.S. Department of Education's Federal Family Education Loans and obligations to the U.S. service academies. For purposes of tabulations in this publication, university-administered federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs) are now excluded from state totals.
The universe of academic institutions for this survey is based on the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (see above). Institutions without federal support were excluded and some systems were combined into single reporting units.
Further information on Federal Support to Universities, Colleges, and Nonprofit Institutions may be obtained from:
Science and Engineering Activities Program
Division of Science Resources Studies
National Science Foundation
4201 Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, VA 22230
http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/fedsuppt/
The Survey of Earned Doctorates Awarded in the United States has collected basic statistics from the universe of doctoral recipients in the United States each year since 1958. It has been supported by five federal agencies: the National Science Foundation, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Education; the National Endowment for the Humanities; the U.S. States Department of Agriculture; and the National Institutes of Health.
A survey form is distributed with the assistance of graduate deans, to each person completing the requirements for a doctorate. Of the 40,710 new research doctorates granted in 2003, the response rate was 91 percent. The questionnaire obtains information on sex, race/ethnicity, marital status, citizenship, handicaps, dependents, specialty field of doctorate, educational institutions attended, time spent in completion of doctorate, financial support, educational debt, postgraduation plans, and educational attainment of parents.
Further information on the Survey of Earned Doctorates Awarded in the United States may be obtained from:
Science and Engineering Education and
Human Resources Program
Division of Science Resources Studies
National Science Foundation
4201 Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, VA 22230
http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/ssed/start.htm
http://www.norc.uchicago.edu/issues/docdata.htm
The Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering, also known as the graduate student survey (GSS), is an annual survey at the academic department level of all U.S. institutions offering graduate programs in any science, engineering, or health field. It is an establishment-based survey that provides data on the number and characteristics of graduate science and engineering students enrolled in approximately 600 U.S. academic institutions.
Data for the 2002 GSS were collected at the beginning of academic year 2002–03. The survey collected data from all branch campuses, affiliated research centers, and separately organized components, such as medical or dental schools, nursing schools, and schools of public health. Only those graduate students enrolled for credit in an S&E master's or doctoral program in the fall of 2002 were included in the survey. M.D., D.O., D.V.M., or D.D.S. candidates, interns, and residents were counted if they were concurrently working on a science and engineering master's or doctoral degree or were enrolled in a joint M.D./Ph.D. program.
The final 2002 survey universe consisted of 715 reporting units (schools) at 594 graduate institutions: 234 master's-granting institutions and 481 reporting units associated with 360 doctorate-granting institutions.
Further information on the Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering may be obtained from:
Julia Oliver
GSS Survey Manager
Division of Science Resources Statistics
National Science Foundation
4201 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 965
Arlington, VA 22230
http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/showsrvy.cfm?srvy_CatID=2&srvy_Seri=2