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Table 16. Graduate students in science, engineering, and health in doctorate-granting institutions, by detailed field: 2010–15

Field 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014olda 2014newa 2015
All surveyed fields 575,785 570,534 571,578 574,004 588,600 588,952 604,944
Science and engineering 508,114 511,759 513,206 518,888 532,926 534,429 548,655
Science 366,312 371,833 370,873 372,113 378,436 378,071 388,284
Agricultural sciences 14,561 15,078 15,226 15,400 15,975 16,067 17,169
Biological sciences 69,522 69,686 70,996 71,187 70,702 71,463 72,962
Anatomy 849 762 700 527 535 535 578
Biochemistry 5,190 5,030 5,107 4,802 4,873 4,873 4,626
Biology 14,103 13,840 13,476 13,187 13,422 13,659 13,757
Biometry and epidemiology 6,346 6,736 7,703 8,336 8,065 8,072 8,751
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 6,835 6,746 6,633 6,364 5,980 6,036 6,246
Ecology 1,713 1,589 1,575 1,353 1,320 1,320 1,241
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 2,402 2,404
Microbiology, immunology, and virology 4,859 4,980 4,897 4,893 4,600 4,600 4,521
Nutrition 4,867 4,605 4,644 4,722 4,968 5,022 4,923
Pathology 1,314 1,209 1,139 1,038 973 973 979
Pharmacology and toxicology 3,101 3,053 3,088 2,979 2,916 2,916 2,817
Physiology 2,847 2,932 2,983 3,153 3,233 3,293 3,643
Zoology 894 1,058 1,079 1,186 1,045 1,045 951
Biosciences nec 10,220 10,693 11,615 12,224 12,339 12,659 13,452
Communication 8,219 9,002 8,931 9,222 9,692 9,828 9,772
Computer sciences 45,860 46,120 46,547 49,725 58,478 60,929 68,197
Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences 14,756 14,887 15,169 14,906 14,511 14,635 14,433
Atmospheric sciences 1,443 1,496 1,530 1,519 1,441 1,441 1,361
Geosciences 7,800 7,909 8,198 8,282 8,307 8,307 8,352
Ocean sciences 2,455 2,579 2,520 2,568 2,403 2,434 2,366
Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences nec 3,058 2,903 2,921 2,537 2,360 2,453 2,354
Family and consumer sciences and human sciences 3,491 3,790 3,588 3,644 3,761 3,761 3,582
Mathematics and statistics 21,330 21,967 22,579 22,788 23,465 23,642 24,369
Mathematics and applied mathematics 16,029 16,541 16,813 16,534 16,814 16,911 16,977
Statistics 5,301 5,426 5,766 6,254 6,651 6,731 7,392
Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary studies 6,742 5,785 5,550 5,392 5,799 6,081 7,007
Neurobiology and neuroscience 2,798 4,088 4,547 4,760 4,851 4,851 4,914
Physical sciences 37,871 38,656 38,837 38,944 39,224 39,315 39,294
Astronomy and astrophysics 1,331 1,345 1,278 1,250 1,237 1,237 1,266
Chemistry 21,673 22,048 22,340 22,193 22,211 22,245 22,137
Physics 14,294 14,607 14,691 14,987 15,276 15,315 15,293
Physical sciences nec 573 656 528 514 500 518 598
Psychology 45,246 45,608 44,452 43,279 41,078 37,713 38,865
Clinical psychology 11,250 9,662 8,432 8,341 7,740 7,137 7,202
Psychology, general 11,248 14,748 14,378 13,613 13,473 10,299 10,538
Psychology nec 22,748 21,198 21,642 21,325 19,865 20,277 21,125
Social sciences 95,916 97,166 94,451 92,866 90,900 89,786 87,720
Agricultural economics 2,171 2,090 2,030 1,901 1,928 1,928 2,056
Anthropology 8,013 7,891 7,745 7,673 7,449 7,449 7,158
Economics (except agricultural) 13,450 13,940 13,990 13,883 13,679 13,699 13,423
Geography 4,401 4,542 4,379 4,306 4,243 4,243 3,961
History and philosophy of science 552 469 461 391 365 371 379
Linguistics 2,863 2,997 3,020 3,225 3,173 3,173 3,089
Political science and government 38,578 41,429 40,842 39,780 39,607 38,181 37,379
Sociology 8,695 8,578 8,240 8,284 7,961 7,961 7,587
Sociology and anthropology 305 268 255 213 187 187 202
Social sciences nec 16,888 14,962 13,489 13,210 12,308 12,594 12,486
Engineering 141,802 139,926 142,333 146,775 154,490 156,358 160,371
Aerospace engineering 5,474 5,605 4,986 5,101 5,025 5,025 5,256
Agricultural engineering 1,457 1,655 1,544 1,642 1,717 1,740 1,630
Architecture 6,647 3,085 2,340 2,150 1,786 1,789 1,547
Biomedical engineering 8,439 9,074 9,085 9,058 9,374 9,374 9,581
Chemical engineering 8,573 8,741 9,142 9,619 9,763 9,780 9,911
Civil engineering 18,499 18,528 18,810 18,987 19,417 19,431 19,696
Electrical engineering 38,609 39,400 40,390 43,218 46,534 48,246 48,699
Engineering science, mechanics, and physics 2,020 2,054 2,173 2,080 2,123 2,123 1,703
Industrial and manufacturing engineering 13,936 13,420 13,575 13,597 13,959 13,959 15,154
Mechanical engineering 21,519 20,988 22,228 23,201 24,454 24,508 25,938
Metallurgical and materials engineering 6,216 6,579 6,917 7,077 7,414 7,459 7,685
Mining engineering 408 498 355 355 396 396 407
Nuclear engineering 1,459 1,499 1,513 1,459 1,467 1,467 1,449
Petroleum engineering 1,289 1,292 1,520 1,605 2,056 2,056 2,021
Engineering nec 7,257 7,508 7,755 7,626 9,005 9,005 9,694
Health 67,671 58,775 58,372 55,116 55,674 54,523 56,289
Clinical medicine 24,068 25,358 25,335 24,621 24,951 23,595 24,621
Anesthesiology 66 8 3 7 17 17 26
Cardiovascular science 48 57 43 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 19,076 21,729 22,238 22,203 22,323 20,965 21,956
Psychiatry 260 88 100 0 0 0 0
Pulmonary disease 12 14 12 11 0 0 0
Radiology 396 339 335 201 117 117 109
Surgery 59 30 35 8 5 5 5
Clinical medicine nec 2,498 2,319 1,871 1,944 2,311 2,313 2,394
Other health 43,603 33,417 33,037 30,495 30,723 30,928 31,668
Communication disorders sciences 11,305 10,588 10,182 10,458 10,391 10,483 10,762
Dental sciences 1,661 1,764 1,707 1,914 1,877 1,877 1,854
Nursing science 10,415 6,578 6,950 4,501 4,458 4,477 4,969
Pharmaceutical sciences 4,280 4,048 4,211 4,130 4,287 4,320 4,344
Veterinary sciences 2,211 1,894 1,794 1,919 1,979 1,979 2,054
Other health nec 13,731 8,545 8,193 7,573 7,731 7,792 7,685
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.