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Table 311.90. | Graduate enrollment in science and engineering programs in degree-granting postsecondary institutions, by discipline: Fall 1999 through fall 2011 |
Discipline of engineering or science | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 20071 | 20081 | 20091 | 20101 | 20111 | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | ||||||||
Total, all science and engineering disciplines |
493,256 | 2 | 493,311 | 2 | 509,607 | 2 | 540,404 | 2 | 567,121 | 2 | 574,463 | 2 | 582,226 | 2 | 597,643 | 2 | 619,499 | 631,489 | 631,645 | 632,652 | 626,820 |
Engineering | 101,691 | 104,112 | 109,493 | 119,668 | 127,377 | 123,566 | 120,565 | 123,041 | 131,676 | 137,856 | 144,677 | 149,241 | 146,501 | ||||||||
Aerospace | 3,349 | 3,407 | 3,451 | 3,685 | 4,048 | 4,089 | 4,170 | 4,482 | 4,616 | 4,902 | 5,266 | 5,540 | 5,691 | ||||||||
Agricultural | 986 | 943 | 947 | 952 | 1,058 | 1,041 | 1,059 | 1,073 | 1,126 | 1,233 | 1,303 | 1,457 | 1,656 | ||||||||
Architecture3 | † | † | † | † | † | † | † | † | 4,601 | 5,905 | 6,804 | 6,795 | 3,111 | ||||||||
Biomedical | 3,069 | 3,197 | 3,599 | 4,338 | 5,301 | 5,807 | 6,067 | 6,482 | 6,904 | 7,339 | 7,904 | 8,497 | 9,175 | ||||||||
Chemical | 6,883 | 7,056 | 6,913 | 7,414 | 7,516 | 7,452 | 7,173 | 7,261 | 7,584 | 7,892 | 8,188 | 8,668 | 8,828 | ||||||||
Civil3 | 16,226 | 16,451 | 16,665 | 17,713 | 18,890 | 18,561 | 18,114 | 17,802 | 16,071 | 16,931 | 18,638 | 19,559 | 19,596 | ||||||||
Electrical | 31,822 | 33,611 | 36,100 | 39,948 | 41,763 | 38,995 | 37,450 | 38,265 | 40,588 | 41,164 | 41,218 | 41,336 | 41,580 | ||||||||
Engineering science | 1,627 | 1,632 | 1,798 | 2,121 | 2,240 | 2,198 | 1,951 | 2,046 | 1,806 | 2,099 | 2,168 | 2,071 | 2,101 | ||||||||
Industrial/manufacturing | 11,803 | 12,119 | 12,940 | 14,033 | 14,313 | 13,852 | 13,650 | 13,829 | 14,474 | 15,692 | 15,825 | 15,205 | 14,494 | ||||||||
Mechanical | 14,956 | 15,235 | 15,852 | 17,139 | 18,393 | 17,852 | 17,373 | 17,919 | 18,347 | 19,585 | 21,243 | 22,509 | 21,883 | ||||||||
Metallurgical/materials | 4,481 | 4,377 | 4,721 | 4,992 | 5,131 | 5,059 | 5,160 | 5,268 | 5,314 | 5,539 | 5,863 | 6,274 | 6,649 | ||||||||
Mining | 328 | 287 | 240 | 267 | 278 | 308 | 279 | 244 | 222 | 290 | 312 | 419 | 500 | ||||||||
Nuclear | 830 | 792 | 801 | 795 | 885 | 971 | 1,013 | 1,099 | 1,180 | 1,201 | 1,243 | 1,459 | 1,499 | ||||||||
Petroleum | 642 | 627 | 656 | 766 | 849 | 845 | 808 | 813 | 1,014 | 1,009 | 1,190 | 1,295 | 1,301 | ||||||||
Other engineering | 4,689 | 4,378 | 4,810 | 5,505 | 6,712 | 6,536 | 6,298 | 6,458 | 7,829 | 7,075 | 7,512 | 8,157 | 8,437 | ||||||||
Physical sciences | 30,691 | 30,385 | 31,038 | 32,341 | 34,298 | 35,761 | 36,375 | 36,901 | 36,824 | 37,319 | 38,149 | 38,973 | 39,694 | ||||||||
Astronomy | 832 | 888 | 916 | 990 | 1,080 | 1,119 | 1,191 | 1,211 | 1,232 | 1,275 | 1,409 | 1,331 | 1,345 | ||||||||
Chemistry | 18,416 | 18,105 | 18,366 | 19,045 | 20,049 | 20,776 | 21,101 | 21,351 | 21,298 | 21,574 | 22,094 | 22,436 | 22,802 | ||||||||
Physics | 10,869 | 10,841 | 11,248 | 11,701 | 12,555 | 13,298 | 13,472 | 13,722 | 13,816 | 13,862 | 14,060 | 14,507 | 14,829 | ||||||||
Other physical sciences | 574 | 551 | 508 | 605 | 614 | 568 | 611 | 617 | 478 | 608 | 586 | 699 | 718 | ||||||||
Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences |
14,083 | 13,941 | 13,841 | 14,240 | 14,620 | 15,131 | 14,836 | 14,920 | 14,100 | 14,389 | 14,839 | 15,655 | 15,820 | ||||||||
Atmospheric sciences | 913 | 963 | 924 | 1,036 | 1,150 | 1,086 | 1,146 | 1,079 | 1,178 | 1,400 | 1,355 | 1,455 | 1,513 | ||||||||
Geosciences | 6,637 | 6,596 | 6,544 | 6,712 | 6,889 | 7,358 | 7,212 | 7,177 | 7,020 | 7,089 | 7,539 | 8,251 | 8,361 | ||||||||
Oceanography | 2,624 | 2,668 | 2,585 | 2,618 | 2,695 | 2,801 | 2,760 | 2,770 | 2,615 | 2,634 | 2,633 | 2,556 | 2,680 | ||||||||
Other environmental sciences | 3,909 | 3,714 | 3,788 | 3,874 | 3,886 | 3,886 | 3,718 | 3,894 | 3,287 | 3,266 | 3,312 | 3,393 | 3,266 | ||||||||
Family and consumer science/ human science4 |
† | † | † | † | † | † | † | † | 2,780 | 3,549 | 3,794 | 4,191 | 4,509 | ||||||||
Mathematical sciences | 16,257 | 15,650 | 16,651 | 18,163 | 19,465 | 19,931 | 20,210 | 20,815 | 20,975 | 21,400 | 22,226 | 23,136 | 23,801 | ||||||||
Mathematics and applied mathematics |
13,521 | 12,823 | 13,569 | 14,702 | 15,569 | 15,964 | 16,106 | 16,649 | 16,528 | 16,449 | 17,204 | 17,589 | 18,157 | ||||||||
Statistics | 2,736 | 2,827 | 3,082 | 3,461 | 3,896 | 3,967 | 4,104 | 4,166 | 4,447 | 4,951 | 5,022 | 5,547 | 5,644 | ||||||||
Multidisciplinary/ interdisciplinary studies4 |
† | † | † | † | † | † | † | † | 4,484 | 5,559 | 6,557 | 7,944 | 6,537 | ||||||||
Neuroscience5 | † | † | † | † | † | † | † | † | 1,584 | 2,012 | 2,356 | 2,798 | 4,117 | ||||||||
Communication4 | † | † | † | † | † | † | † | † | 7,303 | 8,444 | 9,418 | 9,825 | 11,029 | ||||||||
Computer sciences | 42,478 | 47,350 | 52,196 | 55,269 | 53,696 | 50,016 | 47,978 | 47,653 | 48,246 | 49,553 | 51,161 | 51,546 | 51,234 | ||||||||
Life sciences | 151,345 | 148,080 | 150,252 | 159,356 | 170,374 | 178,600 | 185,553 | 194,313 | 188,760 | 189,033 | 174,464 | 166,704 | 157,431 | ||||||||
Agricultural sciences | 12,312 | 12,023 | 12,235 | 12,698 | 13,197 | 13,445 | 13,123 | 13,016 | 13,528 | 14,153 | 15,200 | 15,656 | 16,129 | ||||||||
Biological sciences | 56,959 | 56,282 | 57,639 | 61,088 | 64,701 | 66,565 | 68,479 | 69,941 | 71,932 | 72,666 | 73,304 | 74,928 | 75,423 | ||||||||
Anatomy | 749 | 795 | 735 | 906 | 908 | 897 | 938 | 961 | 867 | 764 | 833 | 849 | 762 | ||||||||
Biochemistry | 5,101 | 4,966 | 4,917 | 5,190 | 5,552 | 5,612 | 5,814 | 5,824 | 5,853 | 5,473 | 5,271 | 5,308 | 5,183 | ||||||||
Biology | 13,989 | 13,407 | 13,352 | 13,822 | 14,770 | 15,458 | 15,681 | 16,463 | 15,898 | 16,514 | 16,840 | 17,210 | 16,911 | ||||||||
Biometry/epidemiology | 3,704 | 3,615 | 3,817 | 4,071 | 4,439 | 4,674 | 4,805 | 4,789 | 5,694 | 5,971 | 5,739 | 6,398 | 6,786 | ||||||||
Biophysics | 710 | 751 | 877 | 953 | 1,032 | 1,180 | 1,183 | 1,203 | 1,193 | 1,084 | 1,042 | 1,072 | 1,016 | ||||||||
Botany | 1,974 | 1,904 | 1,921 | 1,973 | 1,901 | 1,831 | 1,860 | 1,850 | 1,821 | 1,803 | 1,831 | 1,863 | 1,915 | ||||||||
Cell biology | 4,637 | 4,820 | 4,911 | 5,375 | 5,689 | 5,830 | 6,177 | 6,553 | 6,839 | 7,096 | 7,153 | 7,047 | 6,905 | ||||||||
Ecology | 1,704 | 1,762 | 1,888 | 1,967 | 2,230 | 2,185 | 2,165 | 2,162 | 2,026 | 2,026 | 1,746 | 1,828 | 1,713 | ||||||||
Entomology/parasitology | 1,145 | 1,104 | 1,170 | 1,191 | 1,206 | 1,241 | 1,126 | 1,114 | 1,078 | 1,079 | 1,079 | 1,116 | 1,119 | ||||||||
Genetics | 1,783 | 1,712 | 1,841 | 1,909 | 2,073 | 2,129 | 2,155 | 2,154 | 2,120 | 2,120 | 2,242 | 2,333 | 2,403 | ||||||||
Microbiology, immunology, and virology |
4,815 | 4,814 | 4,798 | 5,208 | 5,256 | 5,375 | 5,401 | 5,324 | 5,212 | 5,054 | 4,968 | 4,896 | 5,031 | ||||||||
Nutrition | 4,508 | 4,413 | 4,429 | 4,539 | 4,695 | 4,771 | 4,817 | 5,042 | 4,890 | 5,177 | 5,330 | 5,548 | 5,345 | ||||||||
Pathology | 1,580 | 1,531 | 1,637 | 1,613 | 1,541 | 1,557 | 1,593 | 1,612 | 1,580 | 1,618 | 1,450 | 1,376 | 1,313 | ||||||||
Pharmacology | 2,757 | 2,963 | 3,140 | 3,234 | 3,357 | 3,122 | 3,114 | 2,985 | 3,013 | 3,005 | 3,163 | 3,101 | 3,053 | ||||||||
Physiology | 2,083 | 2,015 | 1,967 | 2,076 | 2,328 | 2,409 | 2,399 | 2,416 | 2,738 | 2,863 | 2,866 | 2,879 | 3,000 | ||||||||
Zoology | 1,523 | 1,445 | 1,411 | 1,349 | 1,301 | 1,236 | 1,264 | 1,145 | 1,108 | 925 | 875 | 896 | 1,060 | ||||||||
Other biosciences | 4,197 | 4,265 | 4,828 | 5,712 | 6,423 | 7,058 | 7,987 | 8,344 | 10,002 | 10,094 | 10,876 | 11,208 | 11,908 | ||||||||
Health fields6 | 82,074 | 79,775 | 80,378 | 85,570 | 92,476 | 98,590 | 103,951 | 111,356 | 103,300 | 102,214 | 85,960 | 76,120 | 65,879 | ||||||||
Medical fields5 | 17,276 | 16,407 | 17,363 | 19,166 | 20,574 | 20,866 | 21,414 | 23,441 | 22,751 | 23,939 | 24,125 | 25,699 | 26,634 | ||||||||
Other health fields7 | 64,798 | 63,368 | 63,015 | 66,404 | 71,902 | 77,724 | 82,537 | 87,915 | 80,549 | 78,275 | 61,835 | 50,421 | 39,245 | ||||||||
Dentistry | 1,467 | 1,430 | 1,494 | 1,446 | 1,654 | 1,946 | 1,748 | 1,614 | 1,688 | 1,643 | 1,770 | 1,661 | 1,764 | ||||||||
Nursing | 25,074 | 23,457 | 23,609 | 24,715 | 26,649 | 29,781 | 31,670 | 35,846 | 31,803 | 30,471 | 21,355 | 12,107 | 7,269 | ||||||||
Pharmaceutical sciences | 3,422 | 3,611 | 3,679 | 4,538 | 5,493 | 5,218 | 6,091 | 6,315 | 5,066 | 4,251 | 4,443 | 4,291 | 4,056 | ||||||||
Speech pathology/audiology | 13,600 | 13,636 | 13,193 | 13,368 | 13,694 | 14,045 | 14,821 | 14,847 | 16,229 | 15,968 | 14,641 | 14,645 | 14,203 | ||||||||
Veterinary sciences | 1,314 | 1,367 | 1,476 | 1,691 | 1,719 | 1,732 | 1,970 | 2,067 | 2,371 | 2,478 | 2,170 | 2,211 | 1,894 | ||||||||
Other health related | 19,921 | 19,867 | 19,564 | 20,646 | 22,693 | 25,002 | 26,237 | 27,226 | 23,392 | 23,464 | 17,456 | 15,506 | 10,059 | ||||||||
Psychology7 | 51,727 | 50,466 | 50,454 | 51,152 | 52,162 | 54,126 | 57,282 | 57,653 | 59,617 | 58,991 | 56,184 | 53,419 | 54,486 | ||||||||
Social sciences | 84,984 | 83,327 | 85,682 | 90,215 | 95,129 | 97,332 | 99,427 | 102,347 | 103,150 | 103,384 | 107,820 | 109,220 | 111,661 | ||||||||
Agricultural economics | 2,014 | 2,079 | 2,161 | 2,187 | 2,318 | 2,195 | 2,127 | 2,158 | 1,989 | 2,132 | 2,222 | 2,180 | 2,095 | ||||||||
Economics (except agricultural) | 10,562 | 10,748 | 11,408 | 12,009 | 12,316 | 12,318 | 11,805 | 12,132 | 12,597 | 12,971 | 13,993 | 14,317 | 14,920 | ||||||||
Geography | 4,250 | 4,036 | 4,304 | 4,383 | 4,721 | 4,809 | 4,800 | 4,750 | 4,660 | 4,745 | 4,810 | 5,059 | 5,188 | ||||||||
Linguistics | 2,799 | 2,674 | 2,744 | 2,875 | 3,028 | 2,941 | 3,187 | 3,074 | 2,879 | 3,095 | 3,170 | 3,132 | 3,219 | ||||||||
Political science | 31,372 | 31,131 | 31,805 | 34,934 | 36,880 | 39,023 | 40,780 | 41,784 | 41,349 | 40,871 | 43,919 | 45,045 | 49,660 | ||||||||
Sociology and anthropology | 17,340 | 17,023 | 17,111 | 17,146 | 17,689 | 17,539 | 17,616 | 18,022 | 18,453 | 18,988 | 18,666 | 18,740 | 18,365 | ||||||||
Other social sciences | 16,647 | 15,636 | 16,149 | 16,681 | 18,177 | 18,507 | 19,112 | 20,427 | 21,223 | 20,582 | 21,040 | 20,747 | 18,214 |
†Not applicable. | |||||||||||||||||||||
1 Data for 2007 and later years may not be comparable to previous years' data because some surveyed fields were reclassified, new fields were added, and the survey was redesigned to improve coverage and coding. | |||||||||||||||||||||
2 Because three fields were added to the survey in 2007, previous years' totals for all fields are not comparable to the totals for 2007 and later years. | |||||||||||||||||||||
3 Before 2007, architecture was included under civil engineering instead of being reported as a separate field of engineering. | |||||||||||||||||||||
4 Three science fields—family and consumer science/human science, multidisciplinary/interdisciplinary studies, and communication—were added to the survey in 2007; some of the data may have been reported under other fields prior to 2007. | |||||||||||||||||||||
5 Before 2007, neuroscience was included under the health/medical field of neurology instead of being reported as a separate field of science. | |||||||||||||||||||||
6 Excludes enrollments in practitioner-oriented programs, which have the primary purpose of providing the knowledge and skills required for credentials or licensure to practice in a medical or other health field. | |||||||||||||||||||||
7 For 2008 and later years, enrollment declines in psychology and in other health fields such as nursing may be due to more rigorous follow-up with institutions to exclude enrollments in practitioner-oriented graduate degree programs. Examples of excluded programs are those leading to DNP, PsyD, and DPT degrees. | |||||||||||||||||||||
NOTE: The survey on which this table is based includes institutions in other jurisdictions, including Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Some data have been revised from previously published figures. | |||||||||||||||||||||
SOURCE: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, NSF-NIH Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering, 1999 through 2011. (This table was prepared February 2014.) |