Newer information icon. Newer information is available.
Table 17. Graduate students in science, engineering, and health in public doctorate-granting institutions, by detailed field: 2007–13
Field 2007a 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
All surveyed fields 387,725 396,733 399,013 402,741 399,959 400,950 400,717
   Science and engineering 324,148 333,478 345,236 353,439 356,869 357,583 360,415
      Science 233,884 238,463 245,153 250,472 255,327 255,417 254,644
         Agricultural sciences 12,016 12,521 13,224 13,793 14,172 14,379 14,398
         Biological sciences 46,594 46,699 46,533 47,208 47,606 48,727 48,524
            Anatomy 510 456 528 519 427 442 329
            Biochemistry 4,075 3,659 3,634 3,660 3,508 3,484 3,271
            Biology 9,464 10,001 10,008 9,976 9,691 9,590 9,410
            Biometry and epidemiology 3,260 3,357 3,134 3,684 4,478 4,940 5,369
            Biophysics 745 676 641 645 611 592 549
            Botany 1,742 1,726 1,753 1,789 1,814 1,742 1,757
            Cell biology 4,396 4,581 4,522 4,437 4,064 3,968 3,689
            Ecology 1,645 1,649 1,383 1,444 1,338 1,398 1,248
            Entomology and parasitology 1,043 1,047 1,047 1,084 1,089 1,118 1,151
            Genetics 1,228 1,233 1,247 1,343 1,441 1,413 1,394
            Microbiology, immunology, and virology 3,273 3,195 3,140 3,056 3,121 3,069 3,092
            Nutrition 3,457 3,579 3,603 3,652 3,457 3,453 3,549
            Pathology 867 859 824 830 780 764 677
            Pharmacology 2,010 1,982 2,058 1,965 1,953 2,002 1,925
            Physiology 1,691 1,774 1,854 1,942 2,008 1,988 2,003
            Zoology 1,102 919 869 889 1,053 1,076 1,182
            Biological sciences nec 6,086 6,006 6,288 6,293 6,773 7,688 7,929
         Communication 5,094 5,675 6,319 6,359 6,757 6,756 6,730
         Computer sciences 27,026 27,698 29,133 29,838 30,338 30,299 32,491
         Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences 11,051 11,218 11,489 12,239 12,183 12,234 12,060
            Atmospheric sciences 1,120 1,328 1,287 1,378 1,428 1,471 1,455
            Geosciences 5,586 5,580 5,960 6,523 6,560 6,723 6,829
            Oceanography 2,056 2,028 2,033 1,914 1,986 1,834 1,867
            Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences nec 2,289 2,282 2,209 2,424 2,209 2,206 1,909
         Family and consumer sciences and human sciences 2,291 2,645 2,675 3,138 3,506 3,316 3,284
         Mathematical sciences 14,883 15,288 15,957 16,523 16,927 17,144 17,038
            Mathematics and applied mathematics 11,521 11,553 12,275 12,516 12,828 12,904 12,583
            Statistics 3,362 3,735 3,682 4,007 4,099 4,240 4,455
         Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary studies 2,944 3,586 4,115 5,045 4,629 4,131 3,990
         Neuroscience 1,007 1,168 1,308 1,673 2,276 2,476 2,519
         Physical sciences 26,234 26,566 27,342 27,770 28,298 28,693 28,613
            Astronomy 697 704 821 707 695 746 717
            Chemistry 15,137 15,373 15,872 16,025 16,302 16,731 16,504
            Physics 10,016 10,085 10,295 10,661 10,866 10,867 11,070
            Physical sciences nec 384 404 354 377 435 349 322
         Psychologyb 23,220 23,681 22,917 22,228 23,325 23,784 23,098
            Clinical psychology 3,084 3,001 3,174 3,284 3,373 3,131 3,154
            Psychology, general 8,608 8,909 8,185 7,476 7,749 8,025 7,398
            Psychology nec 11,528 11,771 11,558 11,468 12,203 12,628 12,546
         Social sciences 61,524 61,718 64,141 64,658 65,310 63,478 61,899
            Agricultural economics 1,910 2,045 2,130 2,083 2,013 1,939 1,816
            Anthropology (cultural and social) 5,741 5,848 5,913 6,039 5,998 5,865 5,812
            Economics (except agricultural) 7,956 8,132 8,783 8,900 9,173 8,975 8,763
            Geography 3,771 3,807 3,848 4,022 4,109 3,936 3,820
            History and philosophy of science 663 733 706 407 324 312 243
            Linguistics 2,079 2,207 2,260 2,214 2,325 2,342 2,561
            Political science 20,663 20,444 21,582 22,370 23,851 23,533 23,038
            Sociology 6,213 6,643 6,559 6,726 6,660 6,387 6,249
            Sociology and anthropology 579 542 467 231 202 173 152
            Social sciences nec 11,949 11,317 11,893 11,666 10,655 10,016 9,445
      Engineering 90,264 95,015 100,083 102,967 101,542 102,166 105,771
         Aerospace engineering 3,275 3,533 3,929 4,163 4,251 4,069 4,097
         Agricultural engineering 1,059 1,173 1,230 1,277 1,406 1,301 1,385
         Architecture 3,610 4,597 5,362 5,389 2,465 1,892 1,719
         Biomedical engineering 4,308 4,783 4,873 5,152 5,468 5,570 5,539
         Chemical engineering 5,248 5,458 5,717 5,914 5,953 6,022 6,285
         Civil engineering 12,349 12,974 14,233 14,820 14,849 14,912 15,004
         Electrical engineering 26,833 27,218 27,594 27,495 28,229 28,435 30,812
         Engineering science 1,059 1,255 1,361 1,297 1,354 1,442 1,376
         Industrial engineering 8,714 9,491 9,137 8,547 8,434 8,745 8,961
         Mechanical engineering 12,795 13,321 14,502 15,632 15,331 15,593 16,269
         Metallurgical and materials engineering 4,027 4,144 4,389 4,680 4,996 5,141 5,277
         Mining engineering 211 283 302 408 498 355 355
         Nuclear engineering 1,058 1,065 1,110 1,315 1,352 1,374 1,320
         Petroleum engineering 887 854 1,009 1,105 1,127 1,351 1,450
         Engineering nec 4,831 4,866 5,335 5,773 5,829 5,964 5,922
   Healthb 63,577 63,255 53,777 49,302 43,090 43,367 40,302
      Clinical medicine 13,275 14,232 14,385 15,472 15,807 16,184 15,382
         Anesthesiology 388 157 104 11 3 3 7
         Cardiology 0 25 24 29 31 34 25
         Endocrinology 40 44 50 52 55 52 42
         Gastroenterology 19 7 13 2 5 2 0
         Hematology 8 5 8 5 1 5 1
         Neurology 814 671 637 454 87 65 0
         Obstetrics and gynecology 14 5 8 11 9 81 58
         Oncology and cancer research 171 124 149 127 150 153 99
         Ophthalmology 379 1 1 5 2 2 0
         Otorhinolaryngology 12 14 4 1 2 2 1
         Pediatrics 231 147 114 119 124 125 0
         Preventive medicine and community health 9,115 10,389 10,872 12,078 13,366 14,090 13,783
         Psychiatry 173 133 165 177 19 24 0
         Pulmonary disease 10 12 13 12 14 12 11
         Radiology 264 273 306 284 242 249 126
         Surgery 24 18 28 48 17 27 1
         Clinical medicine nec 1,613 2,207 1,889 2,057 1,680 1,258 1,228
      Other healthb 50,302 49,023 39,392 33,830 27,283 27,183 24,920
         Dental sciences 1,298 1,333 1,303 1,216 1,425 1,309 1,405
         Nursing 20,303 18,975 11,690 7,540 5,138 5,502 3,435
         Pharmaceutical sciences 3,589 3,211 3,483 3,435 3,371 3,394 3,205
         Speech pathology and audiology 9,593 9,543 9,624 9,470 8,618 8,362 8,682
         Veterinary sciences 2,124 2,244 1,981 1,997 1,757 1,659 1,763
         Other health nec 13,395 13,717 11,311 10,172 6,974 6,957 6,430

nec = not elsewhere classified.
a In 2007, eligible fields were reclassified, newly eligible fields were added, and the survey was redesigned to improve coverage and coding of eligible units. 2007 data presented in this table are the data collected in 2007, which were labeled as "2007new" in the past publications. See appendix A in http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf10307/ for more detail on the changes made in 2007.
b Beginning with 2008, more rigorous follow-up was done with institutions regarding the exclusion of practitioner-oriented graduate degree programs in Psychology and in Other health (a subfield of health). This change may affect interpretation of trends in these fields.
SOURCE: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, NSF-NIH Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering.
Data from survey cycle Fall 2013, as of 8 August 2014.