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Table 9. Graduate students in science, engineering, and health in all institutions, by detailed field: 2009–14

Field 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014olda 2014newa
All surveyed fields 631,645 632,652 626,820 627,243 633,010 650,738 666,586
Science and engineering 545,685 556,532 560,941 561,418 570,300 587,161 601,883
Science 401,008 407,291 414,440 413,033 417,251 425,148 437,395
Agricultural sciences 15,200 15,656 16,129 16,234 16,429 16,947 17,505
Biological sciences 73,304 74,928 75,423 76,447 76,649 76,029 78,490
Anatomy 833 849 762 700 527 535 554
Biochemistry 5,271 5,308 5,183 5,245 4,970 5,025 5,025
Biology 16,840 17,210 16,911 16,321 16,004 16,117 16,697
Biometry and epidemiology 5,739 6,398 6,786 7,800 8,478 8,224 8,326
Biophysics 1,042 1,072 1,016 976 952 877 877
Botany and plant biology 1,831 1,863 1,915 1,852 1,878 1,877 1,877
Cell and molecular biology 7,153 7,047 6,905 6,799 6,543 6,151 6,214
Ecology 1,746 1,828 1,713 1,667 1,437 1,416 1,416
Entomology and parasitology 1,079 1,116 1,119 1,187 1,278 1,304 1,304
Genetics 2,242 2,333 2,403 2,342 2,315 2,375 2,411
Microbiology, immunology, and virology 4,968 4,896 5,031 4,950 4,961 4,654 4,670
Nutrition 5,330 5,548 5,345 5,336 5,387 5,583 5,868
Pathology 1,450 1,376 1,313 1,196 1,112 1,036 1,036
Pharmacology and toxicology 3,163 3,101 3,053 3,088 2,979 2,916 2,916
Physiology 2,866 2,879 3,000 3,046 3,224 3,303 3,415
Zoology 875 896 1,060 1,083 1,188 1,046 1,093
Biosciences nec 10,876 11,208 11,908 12,859 13,416 13,590 14,791
Communication 9,418 9,825 11,029 11,010 11,114 11,382 11,942
Computer sciences 51,161 51,546 51,234 51,789 56,339 68,766 76,546
Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences 14,839 15,655 15,820 16,069 15,816 15,423 15,710
Atmospheric sciences 1,355 1,455 1,513 1,546 1,534 1,455 1,466
Geosciences 7,539 8,251 8,361 8,659 8,754 8,809 8,821
Ocean sciences 2,633 2,556 2,680 2,642 2,682 2,508 2,666
Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences nec 3,312 3,393 3,266 3,222 2,846 2,651 2,757
Family and consumer sciences and human sciences 3,794 4,191 4,509 4,110 4,014 4,180 4,302
Mathematics and statistics 22,226 23,136 23,801 24,575 24,804 25,502 25,874
Mathematics and applied mathematics 17,204 17,589 18,157 18,577 18,323 18,592 18,863
Statistics 5,022 5,547 5,644 5,998 6,481 6,910 7,011
Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary studies 6,557 7,944 6,537 6,038 5,892 6,417 7,196
Neurobiology and neuroscience 2,356 2,798 4,117 4,547 4,795 4,923 4,923
Physical sciences 38,149 38,973 39,694 39,928 40,019 40,196 40,332
Astronomy and astrophysics 1,409 1,331 1,345 1,278 1,250 1,241 1,241
Chemistry 22,094 22,436 22,802 23,117 22,949 22,892 22,936
Physics 14,060 14,507 14,829 14,940 15,239 15,490 15,564
Physical sciences nec 586 699 718 593 581 573 591
Psychologyb 56,184 53,419 54,486 54,117 54,102 50,938 48,833
Clinical psychology 13,113 12,155 10,468 9,971 9,909 9,212 8,781
Psychology, general 15,148 14,022 17,326 17,073 15,960 15,513 12,643
Psychology nec 27,923 27,242 26,692 27,073 28,233 26,213 27,409
Social sciences 107,820 109,220 111,661 108,169 107,278 104,445 105,742
Agricultural economics 2,222 2,180 2,095 2,045 1,916 1,931 1,931
Anthropology 8,359 8,528 8,406 8,247 8,172 7,914 7,955
Economics (except agricultural) 13,993 14,317 14,920 14,959 14,819 14,509 14,604
Geography 4,810 5,059 5,188 5,016 4,891 4,792 4,810
History and philosophy of science 1,006 705 597 508 391 365 371
Linguistics 3,170 3,132 3,219 3,256 3,509 3,489 3,489
Political science and government 43,919 45,045 49,660 48,855 48,411 47,388 47,370
Sociology 9,731 9,883 9,671 8,887 8,960 8,552 8,637
Sociology and anthropology 576 329 288 270 228 197 197
Social sciences nec 20,034 20,042 17,617 16,126 15,981 15,308 16,378
Engineering 144,677 149,241 146,501 148,385 153,049 162,013 164,488
Aerospace engineering 5,266 5,540 5,691 5,069 5,181 5,116 5,116
Agricultural engineering 1,303 1,457 1,656 1,552 1,642 1,717 1,740
Architecture 6,804 6,795 3,111 2,363 2,176 1,812 1,817
Biomedical engineering 7,904 8,497 9,175 9,157 9,198 9,510 9,510
Chemical engineering 8,188 8,668 8,828 9,222 9,698 9,853 9,870
Civil engineering 18,638 19,559 19,596 19,922 20,110 20,660 20,789
Electrical engineering 41,218 41,336 41,580 42,347 45,562 50,051 51,909
Engineering science, mechanics, and physics 2,168 2,071 2,101 2,227 2,142 2,151 2,162
Industrial and manufacturing engineering 15,825 15,205 14,494 14,469 14,363 14,659 14,845
Mechanical engineering 21,243 22,509 21,883 23,088 24,087 25,508 25,651
Metallurgical and materials engineering 5,863 6,274 6,649 6,985 7,144 7,473 7,518
Mining engineering 312 419 500 356 357 396 396
Nuclear engineering 1,243 1,459 1,499 1,513 1,459 1,467 1,467
Petroleum engineering 1,190 1,295 1,301 1,525 1,609 2,056 2,056
Engineering nec 7,512 8,157 8,437 8,590 8,321 9,584 9,642
Healthb 85,960 76,120 65,879 65,825 62,710 63,577 64,703
Clinical medicine 24,125 25,699 26,634 26,798 26,362 26,914 27,048
Anesthesiology 402 325 8 3 7 17 17
Cardiovascular science 50 51 61 44 32 28 28
Endocrinology 50 53 56 52 42 45 45
Gastroenterology 15 7 7 2 0 0 0
Hematology 11 6 1 5 1 0 0
Neurology 1,323 1,056 219 171 0 0 0
Obstetrics and gynecology 89 79 100 91 68 18 18
Oncology and cancer research 272 232 255 248 103 51 51
Ophthalmology 1 5 2 2 0 36 36
Otorhinolaryngology 4 4 2 2 1 0 0
Pediatrics 186 211 132 125 0 0 0
Preventive medicine and community health 18,797 20,445 23,001 23,700 23,909 24,285 24,369
Psychiatry 233 260 88 100 0 0 0
Pulmonary disease 13 12 14 12 11 0 0
Radiology 385 396 339 335 201 117 149
Surgery 40 59 30 35 8 5 5
Clinical medicine nec 2,254 2,498 2,319 1,871 1,979 2,312 2,330
Other healthb 61,835 50,421 39,245 39,027 36,348 36,663 37,655
Communication disorders sciences 14,641 14,645 14,203 13,918 14,113 14,331 14,826
Dental sciences 1,770 1,661 1,764 1,707 1,914 1,877 1,877
Nursing science 21,355 12,107 7,269 7,449 4,969 4,784 4,824
Pharmaceutical sciences 4,443 4,291 4,056 4,256 4,137 4,293 4,419
Veterinary sciences 2,170 2,211 1,894 1,794 1,919 1,979 1,979
Other health nec 17,456 15,506 10,059 9,903 9,296 9,399 9,730
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.
b Beginning in 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, Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering, 2014.