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Table 11. Full-time 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 461,185 457,292 459,498 468,953 484,880 492,170 506,262
Science and engineering 409,107 411,168 414,384 424,508 440,523 447,096 459,405
Science 299,315 303,015 304,795 309,756 317,881 322,714 331,293
Agricultural sciences 11,087 11,448 11,375 11,634 12,038 12,319 13,071
Biological sciences 62,770 62,773 63,921 63,615 63,043 64,638 66,347
Anatomy 800 726 650 503 500 519 565
Biochemistry 4,909 4,771 4,781 4,559 4,592 4,592 4,391
Biology 13,084 12,832 12,352 11,988 11,901 12,255 12,137
Biometry and epidemiology 4,868 4,933 5,837 6,343 6,432 6,474 7,000
Biophysics 1,033 972 932 898 849 849 897
Botany and plant biology 1,679 1,729 1,710 1,712 1,669 1,669 1,696
Cell and molecular biology 6,621 6,517 6,440 6,167 5,759 5,819 6,020
Ecology 1,471 1,372 1,324 1,063 1,032 1,032 1,006
Entomology and parasitology 933 910 990 1,067 1,106 1,106 1,091
Genetics 2,254 2,318 2,276 2,253 2,310 2,343 2,336
Microbiology, immunology, and virology 4,569 4,643 4,612 4,617 4,340 4,345 4,242
Nutrition 3,776 3,625 3,630 3,609 3,574 3,780 3,816
Pathology 1,272 1,218 1,151 1,058 1,013 1,013 1,004
Pharmacology and toxicology 2,756 2,714 2,743 2,656 2,594 2,594 2,532
Physiology 2,678 2,681 2,777 2,954 3,065 3,158 3,459
Zoology 589 686 666 649 690 708 687
Biosciences nec 9,478 10,126 11,050 11,519 11,617 12,382 13,468
Communication 6,274 6,913 6,978 7,117 7,205 7,544 7,173
Computer sciences 32,782 32,861 34,108 39,268 49,161 52,069 58,329
Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences 12,318 12,404 12,617 12,339 12,342 12,462 12,286
Atmospheric sciences 1,193 1,197 1,277 1,263 1,251 1,262 1,201
Geosciences 6,352 6,450 6,686 6,734 6,900 6,911 7,053
Ocean sciences 2,130 2,199 2,158 2,147 2,092 2,169 2,081
Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences nec 2,643 2,558 2,496 2,195 2,099 2,120 1,951
Family and consumer sciences and human sciences 2,377 2,616 2,410 2,535 2,551 2,577 2,497
Mathematics and statistics 17,606 18,303 18,990 19,510 20,320 20,445 21,153
Mathematics and applied mathematics 13,427 14,014 14,264 14,320 14,692 14,785 14,866
Statistics 4,179 4,289 4,726 5,190 5,628 5,660 6,287
Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary studies 5,063 4,103 3,987 3,873 4,284 4,862 5,387
Neurobiology and neuroscience 2,682 3,911 4,333 4,576 4,703 4,703 4,775
Physical sciences 34,856 35,643 35,868 35,979 36,168 36,266 36,374
Astronomy and astrophysics 1,292 1,325 1,245 1,226 1,219 1,219 1,256
Chemistry 20,011 20,403 20,672 20,553 20,523 20,565 20,584
Physics 13,085 13,413 13,522 13,767 13,992 14,047 14,075
Physical sciences nec 468 502 429 433 434 435 459
Psychology 38,571 38,548 38,325 38,204 36,489 34,683 35,478
Clinical psychology 9,378 8,094 7,630 7,891 7,375 7,057 7,007
Psychology, general 10,716 12,872 12,897 12,105 11,766 9,902 9,880
Psychology nec 18,477 17,582 17,798 18,208 17,348 17,724 18,591
Social sciences 72,929 73,492 71,883 71,106 69,577 70,146 68,423
Agricultural economics 1,825 1,767 1,692 1,591 1,598 1,598 1,677
Anthropology 6,596 6,471 6,454 6,414 6,210 6,248 5,873
Economics (except agricultural) 11,879 12,391 12,476 12,429 12,369 12,426 12,262
Geography 3,373 3,383 3,319 3,325 3,343 3,354 3,195
History and philosophy of science 476 425 420 358 329 332 341
Linguistics 2,419 2,589 2,629 2,707 2,668 2,668 2,540
Political science and government 26,850 28,554 28,439 27,772 27,550 27,478 26,706
Sociology 7,222 7,148 6,761 6,787 6,553 6,590 6,384
Sociology and anthropology 171 173 139 141 120 120 148
Social sciences nec 12,118 10,591 9,554 9,582 8,837 9,332 9,297
Engineering 109,792 108,153 109,589 114,752 122,642 124,382 128,112
Aerospace engineering 4,211 4,251 3,813 3,897 3,907 3,907 4,039
Agricultural engineering 1,198 1,372 1,254 1,256 1,389 1,412 1,380
Architecture 6,079 2,772 2,045 1,933 1,583 1,588 1,379
Biomedical engineering 7,418 7,931 7,978 8,092 8,336 8,336 8,595
Chemical engineering 7,516 7,639 8,059 8,522 8,622 8,629 8,835
Civil engineering 14,191 14,363 14,580 14,728 15,169 15,219 15,443
Electrical engineering 29,977 30,735 31,526 34,660 38,453 39,868 40,519
Engineering science, mechanics, and physics 1,502 1,574 1,705 1,575 1,568 1,575 1,371
Industrial and manufacturing engineering 8,371 8,251 8,115 8,336 9,002 9,106 10,215
Mechanical engineering 16,625 16,084 17,000 17,940 18,956 19,015 20,320
Metallurgical and materials engineering 5,551 5,877 6,126 6,252 6,584 6,625 6,826
Mining engineering 361 414 241 267 307 307 300
Nuclear engineering 1,123 1,165 1,162 1,169 1,201 1,201 1,198
Petroleum engineering 1,063 1,064 1,289 1,318 1,662 1,662 1,560
Engineering nec 4,606 4,661 4,696 4,807 5,903 5,932 6,132
Health 52,078 46,124 45,114 44,445 44,357 45,074 46,857
Clinical medicine 17,704 17,853 17,195 17,408 17,430 17,440 18,565
Anesthesiology 321 5 3 7 17 17 26
Cardiovascular science 48 54 41 27 28 28 35
Endocrinology 48 48 46 39 42 42 44
Gastroenterology 7 7 2 0 0 0 0
Hematology 4 1 5 1 0 0 0
Neurology 1,039 211 169 0 0 0 0
Obstetrics and gynecology 55 75 73 50 5 5 1
Oncology and cancer research 229 248 240 102 51 51 31
Ophthalmology 5 2 2 0 36 36 0
Otorhinolaryngology 3 1 1 0 0 0 0
Pediatrics 183 117 113 0 0 0 0
Preventive medicine and community health 13,312 14,913 14,913 15,718 15,501 15,461 16,268
Psychiatry 122 88 100 0 0 0 0
Pulmonary disease 12 14 12 11 0 0 0
Radiology 284 261 262 181 109 141 132
Surgery 49 20 25 1 0 0 0
Clinical medicine nec 1,983 1,788 1,188 1,271 1,641 1,659 2,028
Other health 34,374 28,271 27,919 27,037 26,927 27,634 28,292
Communication disorders sciences 12,554 12,116 11,867 12,071 12,440 12,875 13,239
Dental sciences 1,494 1,553 1,528 1,701 1,630 1,630 1,653
Nursing science 4,980 3,294 3,403 2,160 2,191 2,176 2,322
Pharmaceutical sciences 3,032 2,836 2,987 3,110 3,191 3,305 3,433
Veterinary sciences 1,651 1,271 1,250 1,359 1,248 1,248 1,286
Other health nec 10,663 7,201 6,884 6,636 6,227 6,400 6,359
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.