Back to Data Tables
Excel icon Download to excel

Table 20. Full-time graduate students in science, engineering, and health in doctorate-granting institutions, by field and primary mechanism of support: 2010–15

Field and primary mechanism of support 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014olda 2014newa 2015
All surveyed fields 433,252 430,623 433,177 439,950 451,884 452,801 464,695
Fellowships 39,719 41,146 41,859 43,251 42,645 42,851 43,188
Research assistantships 121,525 120,267 117,510 114,549 113,536 113,790 114,682
Teaching assistantships 81,154 82,114 84,309 86,807 88,693 88,977 90,414
Traineeships 12,263 12,423 11,529 10,434 11,122 11,157 11,062
Other types of support 178,591 174,673 177,970 184,909 195,888 196,026 205,349
Self-support 150,312 146,783 148,501 155,679 165,267 165,222 172,437
Other 28,279 27,890 29,469 29,230 30,621 30,804 32,912
Science and engineering 386,384 388,995 392,563 400,213 412,683 414,209 425,174
Fellowships 37,260 39,059 39,825 41,183 40,561 40,754 41,038
Research assistantships 115,028 114,109 111,969 109,167 108,137 108,383 109,554
Teaching assistantships 77,631 78,679 80,638 83,108 84,918 85,190 86,616
Traineeships 9,790 10,447 9,811 8,951 9,557 9,592 9,418
Other types of support 146,675 146,701 150,320 157,804 169,510 170,290 178,548
Self-support 123,298 123,016 124,867 132,863 143,391 143,946 150,424
Other 23,377 23,685 25,453 24,941 26,119 26,344 28,124
Science 279,950 283,914 285,611 288,494 294,413 294,446 302,069
Fellowships 28,508 30,174 30,830 31,923 30,914 31,095 31,681
Research assistantships 73,986 73,931 72,755 70,562 69,635 69,841 70,581
Teaching assistantships 64,407 65,440 67,389 69,104 70,409 70,624 71,470
Traineeships 8,927 9,515 8,925 8,064 8,448 8,483 8,301
Other types of support 104,122 104,854 105,712 108,841 115,007 114,403 120,036
Self-support 86,860 87,483 87,465 90,855 96,152 95,330 100,088
Other 17,262 17,371 18,247 17,986 18,855 19,073 19,948
Agricultural sciences 10,505 10,889 10,815 11,034 11,463 11,509 12,300
Fellowships 712 795 858 913 1,026 1,033 957
Research assistantships 5,633 5,763 5,569 5,633 5,765 5,784 6,039
Teaching assistantships 1,415 1,464 1,539 1,511 1,605 1,624 1,838
Traineeships 43 59 22 42 41 41 40
Other types of support 2,702 2,808 2,827 2,935 3,026 3,027 3,426
Self-support 2,218 2,279 2,235 2,369 2,472 2,473 2,792
Other 484 529 592 566 554 554 634
Biological sciences 60,028 59,764 61,061 60,848 60,212 60,861 62,507
Fellowships 6,735 6,856 7,387 7,609 7,937 8,071 8,075
Research assistantships 24,149 23,633 22,928 22,300 21,044 21,102 21,500
Teaching assistantships 9,248 9,502 10,190 10,168 9,781 9,831 10,062
Traineeships 5,562 5,699 5,150 4,855 4,745 4,777 4,834
Other types of support 14,334 14,074 15,406 15,916 16,705 17,080 18,036
Self-support 10,704 10,682 11,639 12,362 12,958 13,220 13,948
Other 3,630 3,392 3,767 3,554 3,747 3,860 4,088
Communication 5,588 6,053 6,175 6,383 6,552 6,661 6,297
Fellowships 280 315 275 369 308 308 282
Research assistantships 485 678 713 686 717 718 760
Teaching assistantships 2,247 2,294 2,328 2,541 2,532 2,532 2,459
Traineeships 27 25 26 18 17 17 23
Other types of support 2,549 2,741 2,833 2,769 2,978 3,086 2,773
Self-support 2,266 2,361 2,466 2,329 2,475 2,586 2,398
Other 283 380 367 440 503 500 375
Computer sciences 30,080 30,407 31,739 35,297 42,254 43,937 49,104
Fellowships 1,501 1,651 1,702 1,818 1,784 1,785 1,742
Research assistantships 7,760 7,787 7,563 7,535 7,625 7,696 8,045
Teaching assistantships 4,446 4,354 4,385 4,844 5,652 5,652 5,942
Traineeships 188 186 153 127 212 215 242
Other types of support 16,185 16,429 17,936 20,973 26,981 28,589 33,133
Self-support 14,007 14,211 15,508 18,643 24,243 25,837 30,146
Other 2,178 2,218 2,428 2,330 2,738 2,752 2,987
Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences 11,868 11,973 12,199 11,943 11,966 11,990 11,818
Fellowships 1,293 1,384 1,379 1,438 1,459 1,459 1,477
Research assistantships 4,878 4,787 4,686 4,439 4,476 4,483 4,320
Teaching assistantships 2,696 2,706 2,850 2,883 2,962 2,964 3,039
Traineeships 77 68 90 100 90 90 92
Other types of support 2,924 3,028 3,194 3,083 2,979 2,994 2,890
Self-support 2,430 2,476 2,682 2,483 2,421 2,436 2,246
Other 494 552 512 600 558 558 644
Family and consumer sciences and human sciences 2,118 2,348 2,169 2,347 2,347 2,347 2,249
Fellowships 143 132 111 112 121 121 69
Research assistantships 407 429 509 576 552 552 541
Teaching assistantships 585 655 539 663 601 601 619
Traineeships 15 28 26 29 43 43 25
Other types of support 968 1,104 984 967 1,030 1,030 995
Self-support 808 915 786 754 709 709 781
Other 160 189 198 213 321 321 214
Mathematics and statistics 16,917 17,587 18,192 18,696 19,475 19,537 20,337
Fellowships 1,720 1,754 1,734 1,836 1,783 1,783 1,710
Research assistantships 1,981 2,053 2,094 1,939 1,799 1,805 1,731
Teaching assistantships 8,643 8,747 9,149 9,366 9,549 9,576 9,828
Traineeships 176 205 183 169 185 185 182
Other types of support 4,397 4,828 5,032 5,386 6,159 6,188 6,886
Self-support 3,825 4,180 4,326 4,667 5,453 5,482 6,044
Other 572 648 706 719 706 706 842
Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary studies 4,482 3,790 3,807 3,690 4,009 4,291 4,777
Fellowships 850 377 314 351 372 402 399
Research assistantships 830 1,024 1,006 991 1,047 1,051 1,072
Teaching assistantships 674 650 671 639 676 706 751
Traineeships 56 82 182 132 131 131 150
Other types of support 2,072 1,657 1,634 1,577 1,783 2,001 2,405
Self-support 1,757 1,427 1,265 1,236 1,473 1,475 1,861
Other 315 230 369 341 310 526 544
Neurobiology and neuroscience 2,682 3,909 4,333 4,575 4,665 4,665 4,728
Fellowships 655 898 1,027 1,174 1,165 1,165 1,171
Research assistantships 997 1,473 1,684 1,785 1,824 1,824 1,824
Teaching assistantships 214 330 424 425 392 392 433
Traineeships 506 767 787 703 711 711 712
Other types of support 310 441 411 488 573 573 588
Self-support 150 220 233 304 325 325 320
Other 160 221 178 184 248 248 268
Physical sciences 34,280 35,056 35,282 35,424 35,688 35,762 35,751
Fellowships 3,314 3,585 3,788 3,907 3,821 3,822 3,914
Research assistantships 14,217 14,185 13,959 13,236 13,292 13,316 13,299
Teaching assistantships 12,951 13,181 13,579 14,193 14,430 14,478 14,412
Traineeships 395 414 335 374 392 392 336
Other types of support 3,403 3,691 3,621 3,714 3,753 3,754 3,790
Self-support 2,601 2,682 2,555 2,629 2,715 2,715 2,697
Other 802 1,009 1,066 1,085 1,038 1,039 1,093
Psychology 33,566 33,496 32,830 32,194 30,884 28,322 29,002
Fellowships 2,062 2,093 2,125 2,221 2,134 2,141 2,205
Research assistantships 5,144 4,942 4,923 4,562 4,354 4,356 4,510
Teaching assistantships 6,236 6,162 6,226 6,171 6,524 6,555 6,291
Traineeships 1,004 885 933 790 798 798 752
Other types of support 19,120 19,414 18,623 18,450 17,074 14,472 15,244
Self-support 16,456 16,986 16,218 16,144 14,781 12,262 12,646
Other 2,664 2,428 2,405 2,306 2,293 2,210 2,598
Social sciences 67,836 68,642 67,009 66,063 64,898 64,564 63,199
Fellowships 9,243 10,334 10,130 10,175 9,004 9,005 9,680
Research assistantships 7,505 7,177 7,121 6,880 7,140 7,154 6,940
Teaching assistantships 15,052 15,395 15,509 15,700 15,705 15,713 15,796
Traineeships 878 1,097 1,038 725 1,083 1,083 913
Other types of support 35,158 34,639 33,211 32,583 31,966 31,609 29,870
Self-support 29,638 29,064 27,552 26,935 26,127 25,810 24,209
Other 5,520 5,575 5,659 5,648 5,839 5,799 5,661
Engineering 106,434 105,081 106,952 111,719 118,270 119,763 123,105
Fellowships 8,752 8,885 8,995 9,260 9,647 9,659 9,357
Research assistantships 41,042 40,178 39,214 38,605 38,502 38,542 38,973
Teaching assistantships 13,224 13,239 13,249 14,004 14,509 14,566 15,146
Traineeships 863 932 886 887 1,109 1,109 1,117
Other types of support 42,553 41,847 44,608 48,963 54,503 55,887 58,512
Self-support 36,438 35,533 37,402 42,008 47,239 48,616 50,336
Other 6,115 6,314 7,206 6,955 7,264 7,271 8,176
Aerospace engineering 4,187 4,200 3,767 3,857 3,856 3,856 3,991
Fellowships 363 428 348 374 357 357 339
Research assistantships 1,735 1,708 1,621 1,573 1,535 1,535 1,633
Teaching assistantships 472 488 483 440 500 500 497
Traineeships 31 42 45 52 70 70 72
Other types of support 1,586 1,534 1,270 1,418 1,394 1,394 1,450
Self-support 1,251 1,286 1,046 1,163 1,116 1,116 1,161
Other 335 248 224 255 278 278 289
Agricultural engineering 1,198 1,372 1,250 1,256 1,389 1,412 1,380
Fellowships 59 100 89 88 150 153 165
Research assistantships 775 798 702 621 726 729 713
Teaching assistantships 63 100 94 86 90 107 124
Traineeships 5 24 5 2 0 0 3
Other types of support 296 350 360 459 423 423 375
Self-support 257 296 295 384 364 364 290
Other 39 54 65 75 59 59 85
Architecture 5,959 2,754 2,037 1,919 1,565 1,568 1,367
Fellowships 486 261 180 165 157 157 163
Research assistantships 372 246 210 147 128 128 110
Teaching assistantships 879 436 405 430 357 357 329
Traineeships 4 1 0 1 3 3 7
Other types of support 4,218 1,810 1,242 1,176 920 923 758
Self-support 3,480 1,409 842 766 714 717 621
Other 738 401 400 410 206 206 137
Biomedical engineering 7,375 7,847 7,931 8,015 8,246 8,246 8,494
Fellowships 1,102 1,218 1,360 1,304 1,331 1,331 1,425
Research assistantships 3,444 3,456 3,300 3,278 3,282 3,282 3,323
Teaching assistantships 554 586 620 692 770 770 850
Traineeships 427 493 389 374 413 413 383
Other types of support 1,848 2,094 2,262 2,367 2,450 2,450 2,513
Self-support 1,619 1,858 1,850 2,000 2,010 2,010 2,094
Other 229 236 412 367 440 440 419
Chemical engineering 7,472 7,594 8,014 8,490 8,580 8,587 8,785
Fellowships 860 987 1,005 1,058 1,135 1,135 1,059
Research assistantships 4,158 3,973 4,070 4,084 4,002 4,002 4,043
Teaching assistantships 816 853 876 918 896 896 1,018
Traineeships 90 73 82 77 74 74 76
Other types of support 1,548 1,708 1,981 2,353 2,473 2,480 2,589
Self-support 1,256 1,407 1,596 1,922 2,123 2,128 2,192
Other 292 301 385 431 350 352 397
Civil engineering 13,719 13,898 14,117 14,300 14,651 14,660 14,908
Fellowships 1,056 1,049 1,125 1,220 1,246 1,246 1,008
Research assistantships 4,949 4,820 4,638 4,584 4,590 4,590 4,761
Teaching assistantships 1,922 2,009 1,942 1,970 2,023 2,023 2,037
Traineeships 32 43 58 84 56 56 82
Other types of support 5,760 5,977 6,354 6,442 6,736 6,745 7,020
Self-support 4,947 5,119 5,375 5,452 5,635 5,643 5,735
Other 813 858 979 990 1,101 1,102 1,285
Electrical engineering 28,605 29,600 30,528 33,246 36,044 37,406 37,756
Fellowships 1,620 1,767 1,765 1,848 1,903 1,905 1,849
Research assistantships 10,553 10,303 10,089 9,874 9,895 9,911 9,830
Teaching assistantships 3,634 3,855 3,685 4,127 4,231 4,253 4,189
Traineeships 73 50 59 58 137 137 122
Other types of support 12,725 13,625 14,930 17,339 19,878 21,200 21,766
Self-support 11,469 12,015 12,878 15,545 17,629 18,950 19,514
Other 1,256 1,610 2,052 1,794 2,249 2,250 2,252
Engineering science, mechanics, and physics 1,478 1,545 1,673 1,540 1,541 1,541 1,369
Fellowships 175 169 194 169 184 184 163
Research assistantships 687 700 667 699 612 612 573
Teaching assistantships 155 249 239 260 278 278 246
Traineeships 14 7 12 2 4 4 13
Other types of support 447 420 561 410 463 463 374
Self-support 321 342 420 283 347 347 271
Other 126 78 141 127 116 116 103
Industrial and manufacturing engineering 7,829 7,737 7,744 7,971 8,573 8,573 9,485
Fellowships 395 403 397 424 394 394 405
Research assistantships 1,762 1,680 1,604 1,572 1,426 1,426 1,463
Teaching assistantships 960 989 1,018 985 1,071 1,071 1,089
Traineeships 64 49 66 44 79 79 83
Other types of support 4,648 4,616 4,659 4,946 5,603 5,603 6,445
Self-support 3,807 3,676 3,904 4,234 5,000 5,000 5,699
Other 841 940 755 712 603 603 746
Mechanical engineering 16,257 15,758 16,701 17,599 18,440 18,488 19,742
Fellowships 1,412 1,331 1,339 1,311 1,411 1,411 1,356
Research assistantships 6,685 6,346 6,323 6,141 5,975 5,983 6,083
Teaching assistantships 2,570 2,522 2,631 2,747 2,879 2,897 3,125
Traineeships 80 96 109 119 157 157 160
Other types of support 5,510 5,463 6,299 7,281 8,018 8,040 9,018
Self-support 4,648 4,487 5,260 6,265 6,992 7,014 7,596
Other 862 976 1,039 1,016 1,026 1,026 1,422
Metallurgical and materials engineering 5,519 5,839 6,088 6,220 6,562 6,603 6,792
Fellowships 546 606 662 660 735 742 757
Research assistantships 3,298 3,396 3,229 3,293 3,481 3,494 3,545
Teaching assistantships 443 450 528 584 591 591 639
Traineeships 23 33 33 48 57 57 50
Other types of support 1,209 1,354 1,636 1,635 1,698 1,719 1,801
Self-support 1,041 1,174 1,376 1,419 1,481 1,499 1,555
Other 168 180 260 216 217 220 246
Mining engineering 353 412 240 265 307 307 300
Fellowships 20 13 10 27 18 18 27
Research assistantships 178 221 160 105 128 128 134
Teaching assistantships 44 39 21 56 48 48 66
Traineeships 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Other types of support 111 139 49 77 113 113 73
Self-support 105 123 40 43 95 95 53
Other 6 16 9 34 18 18 20
Nuclear engineering 1,123 1,165 1,162 1,169 1,201 1,201 1,198
Fellowships 187 194 186 200 189 189 192
Research assistantships 593 591 612 555 593 593 626
Teaching assistantships 92 99 108 132 126 126 129
Traineeships 13 14 12 16 32 32 33
Other types of support 238 267 244 266 261 261 218
Self-support 149 151 142 174 171 171 138
Other 89 116 102 92 90 90 80
Petroleum engineering 1,058 1,057 1,287 1,315 1,662 1,662 1,560
Fellowships 53 62 53 78 83 83 89
Research assistantships 550 534 590 616 668 668 620
Teaching assistantships 118 144 200 178 202 202 228
Traineeships 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Other types of support 337 317 444 443 709 709 623
Self-support 266 238 340 328 570 570 481
Other 71 79 104 115 139 139 142
Engineering nec 4,302 4,303 4,413 4,557 5,653 5,653 5,978
Fellowships 418 297 282 334 354 354 360
Research assistantships 1,303 1,406 1,399 1,463 1,461 1,461 1,516
Teaching assistantships 502 420 399 399 447 447 580
Traineeships 7 7 16 10 27 27 33
Other types of support 2,072 2,173 2,317 2,351 3,364 3,364 3,489
Self-support 1,822 1,952 2,038 2,030 2,992 2,992 2,936
Other 250 221 279 321 372 372 553
Health 46,868 41,628 40,614 39,737 39,201 38,592 39,521
Fellowships 2,459 2,087 2,034 2,068 2,084 2,097 2,150
Research assistantships 6,497 6,158 5,541 5,382 5,399 5,407 5,128
Teaching assistantships 3,523 3,435 3,671 3,699 3,775 3,787 3,798
Traineeships 2,473 1,976 1,718 1,483 1,565 1,565 1,644
Other types of support 31,916 27,972 27,650 27,105 26,378 25,736 26,801
Self-support 27,014 23,767 23,634 22,816 21,876 21,276 22,013
Other 4,902 4,205 4,016 4,289 4,502 4,460 4,788
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.