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Table 20. Full-time graduate students in science, engineering, and health in doctorate-granting institutions, by field and primary mechanism of support: 2006–12

Field and primary mechanism of support 2006 2007olda 2007newa 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
All surveyed fields 393,138 403,722 409,421 422,287 428,856 433,252 430,623 433,177
   Fellowships 36,332 37,862 38,149 38,363 38,769 39,719 41,146 41,859
   Research assistantships 112,825 113,253 114,067 116,310 119,393 121,525 120,267 117,510
   Teaching assistantships 74,204 76,038 78,080 81,399 80,028 81,154 82,114 84,309
   Traineeships 14,277 13,123 13,180 12,975 12,693 12,263 12,423 11,529
   Other types of support 155,500 163,446 165,945 173,240 177,973 178,591 174,673 177,970
      Self-support 127,741 134,541 136,738 145,620 149,613 150,312 146,783 148,501
      Other 27,759 28,905 29,207 27,620 28,360 28,279 27,890 29,469
   Science and engineering 331,382 342,430 350,133 362,344 376,569 386,384 388,995 392,563
      Fellowships 33,345 34,430 35,158 35,625 36,158 37,260 39,059 39,825
      Research assistantships 105,604 106,018 107,360 109,825 112,936 115,028 114,109 111,969
      Teaching assistantships 70,003 71,459 73,762 77,384 76,589 77,631 78,679 80,638
      Traineeships 9,724 9,249 9,558 9,882 9,930 9,790 10,447 9,811
      Other types of support 112,706 121,274 124,295 129,628 140,956 146,675 146,701 150,320
         Self-support 92,023 99,950 102,651 108,688 118,059 123,298 123,016 124,867
         Other 20,683 21,324 21,644 20,940 22,897 23,377 23,685 25,453
      Science 246,248 252,596 259,222 267,267 275,074 279,950 283,914 285,611
         Fellowships 26,194 26,612 27,290 27,651 28,013 28,508 30,174 30,830
         Research assistantships 70,556 71,015 72,020 72,654 73,186 73,986 73,931 72,755
         Teaching assistantships 57,960 59,063 61,252 64,103 63,655 64,407 65,440 67,389
         Traineeships 8,732 8,328 8,637 9,003 9,041 8,927 9,515 8,925
         Other types of support 82,806 87,578 90,023 93,856 101,179 104,122 104,854 105,712
            Self-support 68,102 72,492 74,680 78,630 84,219 86,860 87,483 87,465
            Other 14,704 15,086 15,343 15,226 16,960 17,262 17,371 18,247
         Agricultural sciences 8,977 9,103 9,276 9,564 10,246 10,505 10,889 10,815
            Fellowships 555 654 678 691 719 712 795 858
            Research assistantships 5,319 5,383 5,544 5,528 5,492 5,633 5,763 5,569
            Teaching assistantships 1,163 1,172 1,188 1,295 1,353 1,415 1,464 1,539
            Traineeships 50 33 33 25 31 43 59 22
            Other types of support 1,890 1,861 1,833 2,025 2,651 2,702 2,808 2,827
               Self-support 1,439 1,474 1,425 1,579 2,147 2,218 2,279 2,235
               Other 451 387 408 446 504 484 529 592
         Biological sciences 57,082 58,011 58,327 58,501 59,235 60,028 59,764 61,061
            Fellowships 6,760 6,618 6,651 6,743 6,497 6,735 6,856 7,387
            Research assistantships 24,783 24,682 24,448 23,890 23,735 24,149 23,633 22,928
            Teaching assistantships 9,022 9,349 9,359 9,215 9,231 9,248 9,502 10,190
            Traineeships 5,510 5,581 5,615 5,889 5,890 5,562 5,699 5,150
            Other types of support 11,007 11,781 12,254 12,764 13,882 14,334 14,074 15,406
               Self-support 7,650 8,535 9,046 9,595 10,134 10,704 10,682 11,639
               Other 3,357 3,246 3,208 3,169 3,748 3,630 3,392 3,767
         Communicationa ne ne 4,049 4,642 5,429 5,588 6,053 6,175
            Fellowships ne ne 170 216 292 280 315 275
            Research assistantships ne ne 549 588 582 485 678 713
            Teaching assistantships ne ne 1,698 2,034 2,111 2,247 2,294 2,328
            Traineeships ne ne 25 12 19 27 25 26
            Other types of support ne ne 1,607 1,792 2,425 2,549 2,741 2,833
               Self-support ne ne 1,421 1,523 2,088 2,266 2,361 2,466
               Other ne ne 186 269 337 283 380 367
         Computer sciences 26,937 28,285 27,874 28,850 29,669 30,080 30,407 31,739
            Fellowships 1,463 1,472 1,456 1,672 1,882 1,501 1,651 1,702
            Research assistantships 7,084 7,155 6,921 7,225 7,454 7,760 7,787 7,563
            Teaching assistantships 4,374 4,484 4,446 4,696 4,563 4,446 4,354 4,385
            Traineeships 181 157 157 148 167 188 186 153
            Other types of support 13,835 15,017 14,894 15,109 15,603 16,185 16,429 17,936
               Self-support 11,776 12,915 12,806 13,191 13,429 14,007 14,211 15,508
               Other 2,059 2,102 2,088 1,918 2,174 2,178 2,218 2,428
         Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences 11,102 10,973 10,570 10,874 11,211 11,868 11,973 12,199
            Fellowships 1,300 1,267 1,179 1,275 1,259 1,293 1,384 1,379
            Research assistantships 4,664 4,601 4,409 4,487 4,628 4,878 4,787 4,686
            Teaching assistantships 2,704 2,625 2,568 2,728 2,674 2,696 2,706 2,850
            Traineeships 106 70 74 79 67 77 68 90
            Other types of support 2,328 2,410 2,340 2,305 2,583 2,924 3,028 3,194
               Self-support 1,971 2,002 1,948 1,974 2,168 2,430 2,476 2,682
               Other 357 408 392 331 415 494 552 512
         Family and consumer sciences and human sciencesa ne ne 1,489 1,754 1,903 2,118 2,348 2,169
            Fellowships ne ne 90 117 133 143 132 111
            Research assistantships ne ne 334 385 434 407 429 509
            Teaching assistantships ne ne 429 517 464 585 655 539
            Traineeships ne ne 9 0 1 15 28 26
            Other types of support ne ne 627 735 871 968 1,104 984
               Self-support ne ne 577 602 759 808 915 786
               Other ne ne 50 133 112 160 189 198
         Mathematical sciences 14,995 15,311 15,013 15,636 16,328 16,917 17,587 18,192
            Fellowships 1,529 1,550 1,541 1,573 1,708 1,720 1,754 1,734
            Research assistantships 1,765 1,841 1,784 1,821 1,931 1,981 2,053 2,094
            Teaching assistantships 8,064 8,226 8,178 8,547 8,494 8,643 8,747 9,149
            Traineeships 98 125 128 156 139 176 205 183
            Other types of support 3,539 3,569 3,382 3,539 4,056 4,397 4,828 5,032
               Self-support 2,888 3,042 2,859 3,016 3,478 3,825 4,180 4,326
               Other 651 527 523 523 578 572 648 706
         Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary studiesa ne ne 2,076 2,818 3,420 4,482 3,790 3,807
            Fellowships ne ne 261 531 626 850 377 314
            Research assistantships ne ne 514 527 615 830 1,024 1,006
            Teaching assistantships ne ne 280 406 483 674 650 671
            Traineeships ne ne 39 46 45 56 82 182
            Other types of support ne ne 982 1,308 1,651 2,072 1,657 1,634
               Self-support ne ne 843 1,050 1,380 1,757 1,427 1,265
               Other ne ne 139 258 271 315 230 369
         Neurosciencea na na 1,529 1,908 2,261 2,682 3,909 4,333
            Fellowships na na 372 381 462 655 898 1,027
            Research assistantships na na 634 832 955 997 1,473 1,684
            Teaching assistantships na na 199 177 198 214 330 424
            Traineeships na na 211 349 426 506 767 787
            Other types of support na na 113 169 220 310 441 411
               Self-support na na 68 96 84 150 220 233
               Other na na 45 73 136 160 221 178
         Physical sciences 32,368 32,548 32,327 32,747 33,671 34,280 35,056 35,282
            Fellowships 3,073 3,119 3,106 2,862 2,895 3,314 3,585 3,788
            Research assistantships 13,809 13,795 13,676 13,961 14,354 14,217 14,185 13,959
            Teaching assistantships 12,449 12,489 12,474 12,939 12,788 12,951 13,181 13,579
            Traineeships 436 417 415 390 432 395 414 335
            Other types of support 2,601 2,728 2,656 2,595 3,202 3,403 3,691 3,621
               Self-support 1,760 1,850 1,779 1,930 2,357 2,601 2,682 2,555
               Other 841 878 877 665 845 802 1,009 1,066
         Psychologyb 32,944 34,801 34,286 35,866 34,585 33,566 33,496 32,830
            Fellowships 2,543 2,307 2,252 2,130 2,027 2,062 2,093 2,125
            Research assistantships 5,284 5,592 5,424 5,646 5,251 5,144 4,942 4,923
            Teaching assistantships 6,259 6,276 6,171 6,381 6,348 6,236 6,162 6,226
            Traineeships 1,032 929 920 913 1,042 1,004 885 933
            Other types of support 17,826 19,697 19,519 20,796 19,917 19,120 19,414 18,623
               Self-support 15,298 16,341 16,171 18,009 17,234 16,456 16,986 16,218
               Other 2,528 3,356 3,348 2,787 2,683 2,664 2,428 2,405
         Social sciences 61,843 63,564 62,406 64,107 67,116 67,836 68,642 67,009
            Fellowships 8,971 9,625 9,534 9,460 9,513 9,243 10,334 10,130
            Research assistantships 7,848 7,966 7,783 7,764 7,755 7,505 7,177 7,121
            Teaching assistantships 13,925 14,442 14,262 15,168 14,948 15,052 15,395 15,509
            Traineeships 1,319 1,016 1,011 996 782 878 1,097 1,038
            Other types of support 29,780 30,515 29,816 30,719 34,118 35,158 34,639 33,211
               Self-support 25,320 26,333 25,737 26,065 28,961 29,638 29,064 27,552
               Other 4,460 4,182 4,079 4,654 5,157 5,520 5,575 5,659
      Engineering 85,134 89,834 90,911 95,077 101,495 106,434 105,081 106,952
         Fellowships 7,151 7,818 7,868 7,974 8,145 8,752 8,885 8,995
         Research assistantships 35,048 35,003 35,340 37,171 39,750 41,042 40,178 39,214
         Teaching assistantships 12,043 12,396 12,510 13,281 12,934 13,224 13,239 13,249
         Traineeships 992 921 921 879 889 863 932 886
         Other types of support 29,900 33,696 34,272 35,772 39,777 42,553 41,847 44,608
            Self-support 23,921 27,458 27,971 30,058 33,840 36,438 35,533 37,402
            Other 5,979 6,238 6,301 5,714 5,937 6,115 6,314 7,206
         Aerospace engineering 3,291 3,379 3,379 3,588 3,845 4,187 4,200 3,767
            Fellowships 302 386 386 334 319 363 428 348
            Research assistantships 1,387 1,478 1,478 1,566 1,706 1,735 1,708 1,621
            Teaching assistantships 459 502 502 517 488 472 488 483
            Traineeships 40 33 33 34 36 31 42 45
            Other types of support 1,103 980 980 1,137 1,296 1,586 1,534 1,270
               Self-support 789 725 725 869 1,013 1,251 1,286 1,046
               Other 314 255 255 268 283 335 248 224
         Agricultural engineering 893 917 917 1,022 1,084 1,198 1,372 1,250
            Fellowships 34 40 40 62 73 59 100 89
            Research assistantships 604 628 628 751 751 775 798 702
            Teaching assistantships 68 61 61 50 32 63 100 94
            Traineeships 11 36 36 0 2 5 24 5
            Other types of support 176 152 152 159 226 296 350 360
               Self-support 119 95 95 122 172 257 296 295
               Other 57 57 57 37 54 39 54 65
         Architecturea na na 3,981 5,092 5,988 5,959 2,754 2,037
            Fellowships na na 335 395 387 486 261 180
            Research assistantships na na 330 306 330 372 246 210
            Teaching assistantships na na 723 900 848 879 436 405
            Traineeships na na 10 1 4 4 1 0
            Other types of support na na 2,583 3,490 4,419 4,218 1,810 1,242
               Self-support na na 2,225 2,933 3,626 3,480 1,409 842
               Other na na 358 557 793 738 401 400
         Biomedical engineering 5,641 5,885 5,908 6,260 6,840 7,375 7,847 7,931
            Fellowships 812 815 819 938 1,014 1,102 1,218 1,360
            Research assistantships 2,432 2,548 2,559 2,969 3,259 3,444 3,456 3,300
            Teaching assistantships 480 518 518 535 527 554 586 620
            Traineeships 360 361 361 347 382 427 493 389
            Other types of support 1,557 1,643 1,651 1,471 1,658 1,848 2,094 2,262
               Self-support 1,370 1,336 1,336 1,222 1,435 1,619 1,858 1,850
               Other 187 307 315 249 223 229 236 412
         Chemical engineering 6,185 6,249 6,433 6,722 7,058 7,472 7,594 8,014
            Fellowships 677 772 814 864 834 860 987 1,005
            Research assistantships 3,652 3,598 3,702 3,789 4,063 4,158 3,973 4,070
            Teaching assistantships 742 765 810 835 841 816 853 876
            Traineeships 114 72 69 78 90 90 73 82
            Other types of support 1,000 1,042 1,038 1,156 1,230 1,548 1,708 1,981
               Self-support 757 793 787 912 992 1,256 1,407 1,596
               Other 243 249 251 244 238 292 301 385
         Civil engineeringa 12,836 14,352 11,063 11,619 13,120 13,719 13,898 14,117
            Fellowships 1,035 1,235 931 938 950 1,056 1,049 1,125
            Research assistantships 4,339 4,461 4,262 4,386 4,893 4,949 4,820 4,638
            Teaching assistantships 2,129 2,283 1,604 1,825 1,774 1,922 2,009 1,942
            Traineeships 148 158 148 175 103 32 43 58
            Other types of support 5,185 6,215 4,118 4,295 5,400 5,760 5,977 6,354
               Self-support 4,448 5,311 3,484 3,624 4,660 4,947 5,119 5,375
               Other 737 904 634 671 740 813 858 979
         Electrical engineering 26,259 27,522 27,646 27,813 27,792 28,605 29,600 30,528
            Fellowships 1,520 1,769 1,767 1,666 1,604 1,620 1,767 1,765
            Research assistantships 9,834 9,623 9,706 10,070 10,475 10,553 10,303 10,089
            Teaching assistantships 3,806 3,805 3,831 3,927 3,793 3,634 3,855 3,685
            Traineeships 90 48 48 54 43 73 50 59
            Other types of support 11,009 12,277 12,294 12,096 11,877 12,725 13,625 14,930
               Self-support 9,165 10,348 10,368 10,530 10,470 11,469 12,015 12,878
               Other 1,844 1,929 1,926 1,566 1,407 1,256 1,610 2,052
         Engineering science 1,639 1,437 1,402 1,444 1,450 1,478 1,545 1,673
            Fellowships 298 233 224 194 164 175 169 194
            Research assistantships 750 571 557 618 721 687 700 667
            Teaching assistantships 189 183 176 118 133 155 249 239
            Traineeships 29 23 23 19 7 14 7 12
            Other types of support 373 427 422 495 425 447 420 561
               Self-support 266 285 284 340 306 321 342 420
               Other 107 142 138 155 119 126 78 141
         Industrial engineering 6,171 6,727 7,109 7,852 7,878 7,829 7,737 7,744
            Fellowships 413 347 419 420 430 395 403 397
            Research assistantships 1,556 1,539 1,631 1,905 1,747 1,762 1,680 1,604
            Teaching assistantships 952 968 996 1,063 1,000 960 989 1,018
            Traineeships 54 62 62 51 45 64 49 66
            Other types of support 3,196 3,811 4,001 4,413 4,656 4,648 4,616 4,659
               Self-support 2,493 3,231 3,449 3,742 3,900 3,807 3,676 3,904
               Other 703 580 552 671 756 841 940 755
         Mechanical engineering 12,408 12,913 12,903 13,456 15,215 16,257 15,758 16,701
            Fellowships 981 1,078 1,076 1,176 1,318 1,412 1,331 1,339
            Research assistantships 5,610 5,586 5,582 5,525 6,220 6,685 6,346 6,323
            Teaching assistantships 2,229 2,316 2,317 2,389 2,441 2,570 2,522 2,631
            Traineeships 89 62 54 67 132 80 96 109
            Other types of support 3,499 3,871 3,874 4,299 5,104 5,510 5,463 6,299
               Self-support 2,849 3,268 3,270 3,595 4,351 4,648 4,487 5,260
               Other 650 603 604 704 753 862 976 1,039
         Metallurgical and materials engineering 4,606 4,647 4,593 4,784 5,166 5,519 5,839 6,088
            Fellowships 547 565 532 487 498 546 606 662
            Research assistantships 2,847 2,814 2,829 2,996 3,119 3,298 3,396 3,229
            Teaching assistantships 455 496 451 416 438 443 450 528
            Traineeships 28 29 32 37 31 23 33 33
            Other types of support 729 743 749 848 1,080 1,209 1,354 1,636
               Self-support 582 578 586 638 878 1,041 1,174 1,376
               Other 147 165 163 210 202 168 180 260
         Mining engineering 177 199 132 201 205 353 412 240
            Fellowships 7 16 16 7 8 20 13 10
            Research assistantships 62 86 74 112 108 178 221 160
            Teaching assistantships 30 26 20 35 32 44 39 21
            Traineeships 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
            Other types of support 78 71 22 47 57 111 139 49
               Self-support 50 56 19 40 42 105 123 40
               Other 28 15 3 7 15 6 16 9
         Nuclear engineering 910 960 951 941 968 1,123 1,165 1,162
            Fellowships 141 142 142 141 158 187 194 186
            Research assistantships 470 480 472 476 499 593 591 612
            Teaching assistantships 62 85 85 76 89 92 99 108
            Traineeships 6 8 8 12 9 13 14 12
            Other types of support 231 245 244 236 213 238 267 244
               Self-support 133 143 142 134 133 149 151 142
               Other 98 102 102 102 80 89 116 102
         Petroleum engineering 642 786 786 822 988 1,058 1,057 1,287
            Fellowships 60 55 55 27 55 53 62 53
            Research assistantships 314 410 410 435 524 550 534 590
            Teaching assistantships 85 80 80 124 118 118 144 200
            Traineeships 3 5 5 0 0 0 0 0
            Other types of support 180 236 236 236 291 337 317 444
               Self-support 127 164 164 187 216 266 238 340
               Other 53 72 72 49 75 71 79 104
         Engineering nec 3,476 3,861 3,708 3,461 3,898 4,302 4,303 4,413
            Fellowships 324 365 312 325 333 418 297 282
            Research assistantships 1,191 1,181 1,120 1,267 1,335 1,303 1,406 1,399
            Teaching assistantships 357 308 336 471 380 502 420 399
            Traineeships 20 24 32 4 5 7 7 16
            Other types of support 1,584 1,983 1,908 1,394 1,845 2,072 2,173 2,317
               Self-support 773 1,125 1,037 1,170 1,646 1,822 1,952 2,038
               Other 811 858 871 224 199 250 221 279
   Healtha, b 61,756 61,292 59,288 59,943 52,287 46,868 41,628 40,614
      Fellowships 2,987 3,432 2,991 2,738 2,611 2,459 2,087 2,034
      Research assistantships 7,221 7,235 6,707 6,485 6,457 6,497 6,158 5,541
      Teaching assistantships 4,201 4,579 4,318 4,015 3,439 3,523 3,435 3,671
      Traineeships 4,553 3,874 3,622 3,093 2,763 2,473 1,976 1,718
      Other types of support 42,794 42,172 41,650 43,612 37,017 31,916 27,972 27,650
         Self-support 35,718 34,591 34,087 36,932 31,554 27,014 23,767 23,634
         Other 7,076 7,581 7,563 6,680 5,463 4,902 4,205 4,016

na = not applicable; data were not collected at this level of detail. ne = not eligible; data were not collected for this field prior to 2007.
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. “2007new” presents data as collected in 2007; “2007old” shows data as they would have been collected in prior years. The science fields Communication and Family and consumer sciences and human sciences were newly eligible in 2007; data for these two fields begin in 2007new. The science field Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary studies was also added to the code list in 2007; some data reported in this field were reported under other fields before 2007 and are included in those fields in 2007old. Neuroscience is reported as a separate field of science in 2007new; data were reported under health field Neurology in 2007old and previous years. Architecture is reported as a separate field of engineering in 2007new; data were reported under Civil engineering in 2007old and previous years. See appendix A in http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf10307/ for more detail.
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 2012, as of December 2013.