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Table 311.90. | Graduate enrollment in programs in engineering, physical and biological sciences, mathematical and computer sciences, social sciences, and research-based health fields in degree-granting postsecondary institutions, by discipline: Fall 2007 through fall 2014 |
Discipline | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 20141 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
Total, all surveyed disciplines | 619,499 | 631,489 | 631,645 | 632,652 | 626,820 | 627,243 | 633,010 | 666,586 |
Engineering | 131,676 | 137,856 | 144,677 | 149,241 | 146,501 | 148,385 | 153,049 | 164,488 |
Aerospace | 4,616 | 4,902 | 5,266 | 5,540 | 5,691 | 5,069 | 5,181 | 5,116 |
Agricultural | 1,126 | 1,233 | 1,303 | 1,457 | 1,656 | 1,552 | 1,642 | 1,740 |
Architecture | 4,601 | 5,905 | 6,804 | 6,795 | 3,111 | 2,363 | 2,176 | 1,817 |
Biomedical | 6,904 | 7,339 | 7,904 | 8,497 | 9,175 | 9,157 | 9,198 | 9,510 |
Chemical | 7,584 | 7,892 | 8,188 | 8,668 | 8,828 | 9,222 | 9,698 | 9,870 |
Civil | 16,071 | 16,931 | 18,638 | 19,559 | 19,596 | 19,922 | 20,110 | 20,789 |
Electrical | 40,588 | 41,164 | 41,218 | 41,336 | 41,580 | 42,347 | 45,562 | 51,909 |
Engineering science | 1,806 | 2,099 | 2,168 | 2,071 | 2,101 | 2,227 | 2,142 | 2,162 |
Industrial/manufacturing | 14,474 | 15,692 | 15,825 | 15,205 | 14,494 | 14,469 | 14,363 | 14,845 |
Mechanical | 18,347 | 19,585 | 21,243 | 22,509 | 21,883 | 23,088 | 24,087 | 25,651 |
Metallurgical/materials | 5,314 | 5,539 | 5,863 | 6,274 | 6,649 | 6,985 | 7,144 | 7,518 |
Mining | 222 | 290 | 312 | 419 | 500 | 356 | 357 | 396 |
Nuclear | 1,180 | 1,201 | 1,243 | 1,459 | 1,499 | 1,513 | 1,459 | 1,467 |
Petroleum | 1,014 | 1,009 | 1,190 | 1,295 | 1,301 | 1,525 | 1,609 | 2,056 |
Other engineering | 7,829 | 7,075 | 7,512 | 8,157 | 8,437 | 8,590 | 8,321 | 9,642 |
Physical sciences | 36,824 | 37,319 | 38,149 | 38,973 | 39,694 | 39,928 | 40,019 | 40,332 |
Astronomy | 1,232 | 1,275 | 1,409 | 1,331 | 1,345 | 1,278 | 1,250 | 1,241 |
Chemistry | 21,298 | 21,574 | 22,094 | 22,436 | 22,802 | 23,117 | 22,949 | 22,936 |
Physics | 13,816 | 13,862 | 14,060 | 14,507 | 14,829 | 14,940 | 15,239 | 15,564 |
Other physical sciences | 478 | 608 | 586 | 699 | 718 | 593 | 581 | 591 |
Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences | 14,100 | 14,389 | 14,839 | 15,655 | 15,820 | 16,069 | 15,816 | 15,710 |
Atmospheric sciences | 1,178 | 1,400 | 1,355 | 1,455 | 1,513 | 1,546 | 1,534 | 1,466 |
Geosciences | 7,020 | 7,089 | 7,539 | 8,251 | 8,361 | 8,659 | 8,754 | 8,821 |
Oceanography | 2,615 | 2,634 | 2,633 | 2,556 | 2,680 | 2,642 | 2,682 | 2,666 |
Other earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences |
3,287 | 3,266 | 3,312 | 3,393 | 3,266 | 3,222 | 2,846 | 2,757 |
Family and consumer science/ human science |
2,780 | 3,549 | 3,794 | 4,191 | 4,509 | 4,110 | 4,014 | 4,302 |
Mathematical sciences | 20,975 | 21,400 | 22,226 | 23,136 | 23,801 | 24,575 | 24,804 | 25,874 |
Mathematics and applied mathematics | 16,528 | 16,449 | 17,204 | 17,589 | 18,157 | 18,577 | 18,323 | 18,863 |
Statistics | 4,447 | 4,951 | 5,022 | 5,547 | 5,644 | 5,998 | 6,481 | 7,011 |
Multidisciplinary/interdisciplinary studies |
4,484 | 5,559 | 6,557 | 7,944 | 6,537 | 6,038 | 5,892 | 7,196 |
Neuroscience | 1,584 | 2,012 | 2,356 | 2,798 | 4,117 | 4,547 | 4,795 | 4,923 |
Communication | 7,303 | 8,444 | 9,418 | 9,825 | 11,029 | 11,010 | 11,114 | 11,942 |
Computer sciences | 48,246 | 49,553 | 51,161 | 51,546 | 51,234 | 51,789 | 56,339 | 76,546 |
Life sciences | 188,760 | 189,033 | 174,464 | 166,704 | 157,431 | 158,506 | 155,788 | 160,698 |
Agricultural sciences | 13,528 | 14,153 | 15,200 | 15,656 | 16,129 | 16,234 | 16,429 | 17,505 |
Biological sciences | 71,932 | 72,666 | 73,304 | 74,928 | 75,423 | 76,447 | 76,649 | 78,490 |
Anatomy | 867 | 764 | 833 | 849 | 762 | 700 | 527 | 554 |
Biochemistry | 5,853 | 5,473 | 5,271 | 5,308 | 5,183 | 5245 | 4,970 | 5,025 |
Biology | 15,898 | 16,514 | 16,840 | 17,210 | 16,911 | 16321 | 16,004 | 16,697 |
Biometry/epidemiology | 5,694 | 5,971 | 5,739 | 6,398 | 6,786 | 7800 | 8,478 | 8,326 |
Biophysics | 1,193 | 1,084 | 1,042 | 1,072 | 1,016 | 976 | 952 | 877 |
Botany | 1,821 | 1,803 | 1,831 | 1,863 | 1,915 | 1852 | 1,878 | 1,877 |
Cell biology | 6,839 | 7,096 | 7,153 | 7,047 | 6,905 | 6799 | 6,543 | 6,214 |
Ecology | 2,026 | 2,026 | 1,746 | 1,828 | 1,713 | 1667 | 1,437 | 1,416 |
Entomology/parasitology | 1,078 | 1,079 | 1,079 | 1,116 | 1,119 | 1187 | 1,278 | 1,304 |
Genetics | 2,120 | 2,120 | 2,242 | 2,333 | 2,403 | 2342 | 2,315 | 2,411 |
Microbiology, immunology, and virology |
5,212 | 5,054 | 4,968 | 4,896 | 5,031 | 4,950 | 4,961 | 4,670 |
Nutrition | 4,890 | 5,177 | 5,330 | 5,548 | 5,345 | 5,336 | 5,387 | 5,868 |
Pathology | 1,580 | 1,618 | 1,450 | 1,376 | 1,313 | 1,196 | 1,112 | 1,036 |
Pharmacology | 3,013 | 3,005 | 3,163 | 3,101 | 3,053 | 3,088 | 2,979 | 2,916 |
Physiology | 2,738 | 2,863 | 2,866 | 2,879 | 3,000 | 3,046 | 3,224 | 3,415 |
Zoology | 1,108 | 925 | 875 | 896 | 1,060 | 1,083 | 1,188 | 1,093 |
Other biosciences | 10,002 | 10,094 | 10,876 | 11,208 | 11,908 | 12,859 | 13,416 | 14,791 |
Health fields2 | 103,300 | 102,214 | 85,960 | 76,120 | 65,879 | 65,825 | 62,710 | 64,703 |
Clinical medicine fields | 22,751 | 23,939 | 24,125 | 25,699 | 26,634 | 26,798 | 26,362 | 27,048 |
Other health fields3 | 80,549 | 78,275 | 61,835 | 50,421 | 39,245 | 39,027 | 36,348 | 37,655 |
Psychology3 | 59,617 | 58,991 | 56,184 | 53,419 | 54,486 | 54,117 | 54,102 | 48,833 |
Social sciences | 103,150 | 103,384 | 107,820 | 109,220 | 111,661 | 108,169 | 107,278 | 105,742 |
Agricultural economics | 1,989 | 2,132 | 2,222 | 2,180 | 2,095 | 2,045 | 1,916 | 1,931 |
Economics (except agricultural) | 12,597 | 12,971 | 13,993 | 14,317 | 14,920 | 14,959 | 14,819 | 14,604 |
Geography | 4,660 | 4,745 | 4,810 | 5,059 | 5,188 | 5,016 | 4,891 | 4,810 |
Linguistics | 2,879 | 3,095 | 3,170 | 3,132 | 3,219 | 3,256 | 3,509 | 3,489 |
Political science | 41,349 | 40,871 | 43,919 | 45,045 | 49,660 | 48,855 | 48,411 | 47,370 |
Sociology and anthropology | 18,453 | 18,988 | 18,666 | 18,740 | 18,365 | 17,404 | 17,360 | 16,789 |
Other social sciences | 21,223 | 20,582 | 21,040 | 20,747 | 18,214 | 16,634 | 16,372 | 16,378 |
1 In 2014, the survey frame was updated following a comprehensive frame evaluation study. The study identified potentially eligible but not previously surveyed academic institutions in the United States with master's- or doctorate-granting programs in science, engineering, or health. A total of 151 newly eligible institutions were added, and 2 institutions offering mostly practitioner-based graduate degrees were determined to be ineligible. | ||||||||
2 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. | ||||||||
3 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 all institutions in the United States and its territories (Guam and Puerto Rico) that grant research-based master's degrees or doctorates in science, engineering, and selected health fields. | ||||||||
SOURCE: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, NSF-NIH Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering, 2007 through 2014. (This table was prepared April 2016.) |