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Table 9. Graduate students in science, engineering, and health in all institutions, by detailed field: 2010–15

Field 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014olda 2014newa 2015
All surveyed fields 632,652 626,820 627,243 633,010 650,738 666,586 685,397
Science and engineering 556,532 560,941 561,418 570,300 587,161 601,883 618,008
Science 407,291 414,440 413,033 417,251 425,148 437,395 448,654
Agricultural sciences 15,656 16,129 16,234 16,429 16,947 17,505 18,610
Biological sciences 74,928 75,423 76,447 76,649 76,029 78,490 80,096
Anatomy 849 762 700 527 535 554 594
Biochemistry 5,308 5,183 5,245 4,970 5,025 5,025 4,793
Biology 17,210 16,911 16,321 16,004 16,117 16,697 16,612
Biometry and epidemiology 6,398 6,786 7,800 8,478 8,224 8,326 8,987
Biophysics 1,072 1,016 976 952 877 877 919
Botany and plant biology 1,863 1,915 1,852 1,878 1,877 1,877 1,869
Cell and molecular biology 7,047 6,905 6,799 6,543 6,151 6,214 6,450
Ecology 1,828 1,713 1,667 1,437 1,416 1,416 1,302
Entomology and parasitology 1,116 1,119 1,187 1,278 1,304 1,304 1,285
Genetics 2,333 2,403 2,342 2,315 2,375 2,411 2,412
Microbiology, immunology, and virology 4,896 5,031 4,950 4,961 4,654 4,670 4,571
Nutrition 5,548 5,345 5,336 5,387 5,583 5,868 5,705
Pathology 1,376 1,313 1,196 1,112 1,036 1,036 1,046
Pharmacology and toxicology 3,101 3,053 3,088 2,979 2,916 2,916 2,817
Physiology 2,879 3,000 3,046 3,224 3,303 3,415 3,795
Zoology 896 1,060 1,083 1,188 1,046 1,093 998
Biosciences nec 11,208 11,908 12,859 13,416 13,590 14,791 15,941
Communication 9,825 11,029 11,010 11,114 11,382 11,942 11,759
Computer sciences 51,546 51,234 51,789 56,339 68,766 76,546 86,192
Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences 15,655 15,820 16,069 15,816 15,423 15,710 15,447
Atmospheric sciences 1,455 1,513 1,546 1,534 1,455 1,466 1,387
Geosciences 8,251 8,361 8,659 8,754 8,809 8,821 8,876
Ocean sciences 2,556 2,680 2,642 2,682 2,508 2,666 2,574
Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences nec 3,393 3,266 3,222 2,846 2,651 2,757 2,610
Family and consumer sciences and human sciences 4,191 4,509 4,110 4,014 4,180 4,302 4,134
Mathematics and statistics 23,136 23,801 24,575 24,804 25,502 25,874 26,444
Mathematics and applied mathematics 17,589 18,157 18,577 18,323 18,592 18,863 18,737
Statistics 5,547 5,644 5,998 6,481 6,910 7,011 7,707
Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary studies 7,944 6,537 6,038 5,892 6,417 7,196 8,138
Neurobiology and neuroscience 2,798 4,117 4,547 4,795 4,923 4,923 5,002
Physical sciences 38,973 39,694 39,928 40,019 40,196 40,332 40,386
Astronomy and astrophysics 1,331 1,345 1,278 1,250 1,241 1,241 1,273
Chemistry 22,436 22,802 23,117 22,949 22,892 22,936 22,840
Physics 14,507 14,829 14,940 15,239 15,490 15,564 15,609
Physical sciences nec 699 718 593 581 573 591 664
Psychology 53,419 54,486 54,117 54,102 50,938 48,833 49,740
Clinical psychology 12,155 10,468 9,971 9,909 9,212 8,781 8,779
Psychology, general 14,022 17,326 17,073 15,960 15,513 12,643 12,716
Psychology nec 27,242 26,692 27,073 28,233 26,213 27,409 28,245
Social sciences 109,220 111,661 108,169 107,278 104,445 105,742 102,706
Agricultural economics 2,180 2,095 2,045 1,916 1,931 1,931 2,056
Anthropology 8,528 8,406 8,247 8,172 7,914 7,955 7,625
Economics (except agricultural) 14,317 14,920 14,959 14,819 14,509 14,604 14,299
Geography 5,059 5,188 5,016 4,891 4,792 4,810 4,434
History and philosophy of science 705 597 508 391 365 371 379
Linguistics 3,132 3,219 3,256 3,509 3,489 3,489 3,370
Political science and government 45,045 49,660 48,855 48,411 47,388 47,370 45,781
Sociology 9,883 9,671 8,887 8,960 8,552 8,637 8,272
Sociology and anthropology 329 288 270 228 197 197 207
Social sciences nec 20,042 17,617 16,126 15,981 15,308 16,378 16,283
Engineering 149,241 146,501 148,385 153,049 162,013 164,488 169,354
Aerospace engineering 5,540 5,691 5,069 5,181 5,116 5,116 5,345
Agricultural engineering 1,457 1,656 1,552 1,642 1,717 1,740 1,630
Architecture 6,795 3,111 2,363 2,176 1,812 1,817 1,565
Biomedical engineering 8,497 9,175 9,157 9,198 9,510 9,510 9,761
Chemical engineering 8,668 8,828 9,222 9,698 9,853 9,870 10,008
Civil engineering 19,559 19,596 19,922 20,110 20,660 20,789 20,978
Electrical engineering 41,336 41,580 42,347 45,562 50,051 51,909 52,940
Engineering science, mechanics, and physics 2,071 2,101 2,227 2,142 2,151 2,162 1,708
Industrial and manufacturing engineering 15,205 14,494 14,469 14,363 14,659 14,845 16,284
Mechanical engineering 22,509 21,883 23,088 24,087 25,508 25,651 27,314
Metallurgical and materials engineering 6,274 6,649 6,985 7,144 7,473 7,518 7,741
Mining engineering 419 500 356 357 396 396 407
Nuclear engineering 1,459 1,499 1,513 1,459 1,467 1,467 1,449
Petroleum engineering 1,295 1,301 1,525 1,609 2,056 2,056 2,021
Engineering nec 8,157 8,437 8,590 8,321 9,584 9,642 10,203
Health 76,120 65,879 65,825 62,710 63,577 64,703 67,389
Clinical medicine 25,699 26,634 26,798 26,362 26,914 27,048 28,606
Anesthesiology 325 8 3 7 17 17 26
Cardiovascular science 51 61 44 32 28 28 36
Endocrinology 53 56 52 42 45 45 47
Gastroenterology 7 7 2 0 0 0 0
Hematology 6 1 5 1 0 0 0
Neurology 1,056 219 171 0 0 0 0
Obstetrics and gynecology 79 100 91 68 18 18 16
Oncology and cancer research 232 255 248 103 51 51 32
Ophthalmology 5 2 2 0 36 36 0
Otorhinolaryngology 4 2 2 1 0 0 0
Pediatrics 211 132 125 0 0 0 0
Preventive medicine and community health 20,445 23,001 23,700 23,909 24,285 24,369 25,608
Psychiatry 260 88 100 0 0 0 0
Pulmonary disease 12 14 12 11 0 0 0
Radiology 396 339 335 201 117 149 140
Surgery 59 30 35 8 5 5 5
Clinical medicine nec 2,498 2,319 1,871 1,979 2,312 2,330 2,696
Other health 50,421 39,245 39,027 36,348 36,663 37,655 38,783
Communication disorders sciences 14,645 14,203 13,918 14,113 14,331 14,826 15,214
Dental sciences 1,661 1,764 1,707 1,914 1,877 1,877 1,854
Nursing science 12,107 7,269 7,449 4,969 4,784 4,824 5,388
Pharmaceutical sciences 4,291 4,056 4,256 4,137 4,293 4,419 4,464
Veterinary sciences 2,211 1,894 1,794 1,919 1,979 1,979 2,054
Other health nec 15,506 10,059 9,903 9,296 9,399 9,730 9,809
nec = not elsewhere classified.
a 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 two private for-profit institutions offering mostly practitioner-based graduate degrees were determined to be ineligible.
SOURCE: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering.