Newer information icon. Newer information is available.
Table 12. First-time, full-time graduate students in science, engineering, and health in all institutions, by detailed field: 2007–13
Field 2007a 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
All surveyed fields 122,449 130,635 134,756 136,487 136,610 137,767 143,326
   Science and engineering 100,990 108,819 115,755 118,492 120,135 121,856 127,725
      Science 72,725 78,227 83,252 84,689 86,810 87,523 90,286
         Agricultural sciences 2,356 2,597 2,994 3,121 3,053 3,040 3,128
         Biological sciences 13,749 14,528 15,443 16,038 16,599 17,080 16,554
            Anatomy 194 146 181 154 153 175 114
            Biochemistry 945 966 949 880 900 972 913
            Biology 3,005 3,221 3,421 3,494 3,491 3,346 3,154
            Biometry and epidemiology 1,171 1,147 1,198 1,510 1,584 1,908 2,022
            Biophysics 183 199 161 190 173 151 160
            Botany 331 304 340 339 334 368 364
            Cell biology 1,254 1,372 1,461 1,500 1,451 1,352 1,281
            Ecology 337 355 285 335 288 303 253
            Entomology and parasitology 161 167 193 193 190 195 221
            Genetics 319 370 405 402 417 364 367
            Microbiology, immunology, and virology 724 772 799 789 845 838 813
            Nutrition 1,035 1,110 1,121 1,275 1,156 1,156 1,123
            Pathology 266 321 266 230 227 231 196
            Pharmacology 437 487 577 549 518 519 478
            Physiology 669 690 751 727 772 901 947
            Zoology 215 145 133 119 128 139 147
            Biological sciences nec 2,503 2,756 3,202 3,352 3,972 4,162 4,001
         Communication 1,531 1,912 2,119 2,089 2,367 2,366 2,323
         Computer sciences 9,256 10,434 10,557 10,583 10,995 11,688 15,397
         Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences 2,749 2,904 3,153 3,445 3,408 3,451 3,382
            Atmospheric sciences 243 263 250 279 266 300 291
            Geosciences 1,405 1,429 1,682 1,887 1,839 1,868 1,940
            Oceanography 402 466 517 502 520 481 476
            Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences nec 699 746 704 777 783 802 675
         Family and consumer sciences and human sciences 492 579 633 741 832 809 819
         Mathematical sciences 4,432 4,591 4,888 5,193 5,594 5,738 6,011
            Mathematics and applied mathematics 3,352 3,409 3,611 3,801 4,108 4,064 4,139
            Statistics 1,080 1,182 1,277 1,392 1,486 1,674 1,872
         Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary studies 771 1,140 1,412 1,759 1,384 1,374 1,240
         Neuroscience 273 304 395 505 728 839 782
         Physical sciences 6,711 6,892 7,276 7,577 7,762 7,615 7,542
            Astronomy 207 225 250 234 267 235 210
            Chemistry 3,938 4,161 4,331 4,557 4,585 4,487 4,429
            Physics 2,523 2,406 2,571 2,663 2,766 2,783 2,761
            Physical sciences nec 43 100 124 123 144 110 142
         Psychologyb 10,476 11,082 10,980 10,231 10,218 10,455 10,467
            Clinical psychology 2,227 2,064 2,136 2,025 1,897 1,841 1,795
            Psychology, general 3,438 3,635 3,300 3,024 3,115 3,240 3,109
            Psychology nec 4,811 5,383 5,544 5,182 5,206 5,374 5,563
         Social sciences 19,929 21,264 23,402 23,407 23,870 23,068 22,641
            Agricultural economics 491 573 610 510 528 498 484
            Anthropology (cultural and social) 1,310 1,444 1,452 1,454 1,407 1,459 1,436
            Economics (except agricultural) 3,179 3,263 3,855 3,926 4,045 4,022 3,861
            Geography 897 1,013 1,017 1,042 1,043 999 1,009
            History and philosophy of science 151 205 119 94 85 78 53
            Linguistics 535 557 632 645 680 709 707
            Political science 7,627 8,152 9,736 9,637 10,618 10,277 10,152
            Sociology 1,610 1,795 1,671 1,685 1,742 1,548 1,521
            Sociology and anthropology 120 93 90 44 41 49 46
            Social sciences nec 4,009 4,169 4,220 4,370 3,681 3,429 3,372
      Engineering 28,265 30,592 32,503 33,803 33,325 34,333 37,439
         Aerospace engineering 962 1,116 1,176 1,196 1,239 991 1,138
         Agricultural engineering 224 256 296 346 353 321 357
         Architecture 1,533 1,979 2,273 2,263 970 630 634
         Biomedical engineering 1,565 1,648 1,833 2,011 2,141 2,261 2,182
         Chemical engineering 1,566 1,713 1,910 2,047 2,039 2,216 2,433
         Civil engineering 3,662 4,073 4,878 5,079 5,003 5,119 5,127
         Electrical engineering 8,920 9,042 8,831 9,237 9,790 10,439 12,387
         Engineering science 339 398 309 356 363 416 366
         Industrial engineering 2,626 3,015 2,908 2,783 2,837 2,767 3,047
         Mechanical engineering 3,937 4,297 4,814 5,055 4,832 5,344 5,843
         Metallurgical and materials engineering 1,086 1,170 1,302 1,431 1,561 1,609 1,571
         Mining engineering 33 48 45 54 94 65 77
         Nuclear engineering 237 259 265 330 280 267 282
         Petroleum engineering 220 261 306 265 323 371 357
         Engineering nec 1,355 1,317 1,357 1,350 1,500 1,517 1,638
   Healthb 21,459 21,816 19,001 17,995 16,475 15,911 15,601
      Clinical medicine 5,225 6,213 6,141 6,545 6,581 6,423 6,568
         Anesthesiology 189 209 124 106 0 0 7
         Cardiology 22 2 9 10 14 9 6
         Endocrinology 7 20 8 7 9 9 5
         Gastroenterology 0 3 1 2 1 0 0
         Hematology 3 5 1 0 1 2 0
         Neurology 283 216 244 157 28 33 0
         Obstetrics and gynecology 30 28 29 27 30 30 25
         Oncology and cancer research 34 34 47 39 40 30 7
         Ophthalmology 80 0 0 1 0 0 0
         Otorhinolaryngology 2 0 0 2 0 0 0
         Pediatrics 88 62 49 54 34 21 0
         Preventive medicine and community health 3,839 4,771 4,898 5,311 5,638 5,867 6,107
         Psychiatry 12 30 38 44 38 40 0
         Pulmonary disease 1 3 0 0 1 4 6
         Radiology 74 74 87 99 79 93 64
         Surgery 4 4 6 21 11 6 0
         Clinical medicine nec 557 752 600 665 657 279 341
      Other healthb 16,234 15,603 12,860 11,450 9,894 9,488 9,033
         Dental sciences 389 410 475 421 487 496 530
         Nursing 3,950 3,584 2,315 1,386 902 814 430
         Pharmaceutical sciences 732 691 756 662 674 608 649
         Speech pathology and audiology 4,620 4,691 4,683 4,729 4,681 4,569 4,687
         Veterinary sciences 524 439 342 334 272 273 275
         Other health nec 6,019 5,788 4,289 3,918 2,878 2,728 2,462

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. 2007 data presented in this table are the data collected in 2007, which were labeled as "2007new" in the past publications. See appendix A in http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf10307/ for more detail on the changes made in 2007.
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 2013, as of 8 August 2014.