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Table 12. First-time, full-time 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 134,756 136,487 136,610 137,767 143,326 150,653 154,219
Science and engineering 115,755 118,492 120,135 121,856 127,725 134,896 137,783
Science 83,252 84,689 86,810 87,523 90,286 93,710 96,113
Agricultural sciences 2,994 3,121 3,053 3,040 3,128 3,233 3,364
Biological sciences 15,443 16,038 16,599 17,080 16,554 16,543 17,203
Anatomy 181 154 153 175 114 123 131
Biochemistry 949 880 900 972 913 910 910
Biology 3,421 3,494 3,491 3,346 3,154 3,111 3,231
Biometry and epidemiology 1,198 1,510 1,584 1,908 2,022 2,093 2,111
Biophysics 161 190 173 151 160 140 140
Botany and plant biology 340 339 334 368 364 324 324
Cell and molecular biology 1,461 1,500 1,451 1,352 1,281 1,061 1,077
Ecology 285 335 288 303 253 239 239
Entomology and parasitology 193 193 190 195 221 226 226
Genetics 405 402 417 364 367 430 447
Microbiology, immunology, and virology 799 789 845 838 813 836 837
Nutrition 1,121 1,275 1,156 1,156 1,123 1,185 1,267
Pathology 266 230 227 231 196 186 186
Pharmacology and toxicology 577 549 518 519 478 468 468
Physiology 751 727 772 901 947 1,013 1,047
Zoology 133 119 128 139 147 130 143
Biosciences nec 3,202 3,352 3,972 4,162 4,001 4,068 4,419
Communication 2,119 2,089 2,367 2,366 2,323 2,577 2,704
Computer sciences 10,557 10,583 10,995 11,688 15,397 19,606 20,658
Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences 3,153 3,445 3,408 3,451 3,382 3,377 3,441
Atmospheric sciences 250 279 266 300 291 296 302
Geosciences 1,682 1,887 1,839 1,868 1,940 1,973 1,983
Ocean sciences 517 502 520 481 476 466 499
Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences nec 704 777 783 802 675 642 657
Family and consumer sciences and human sciences 633 741 832 809 819 734 740
Mathematics and statistics 4,888 5,193 5,594 5,738 6,011 6,347 6,386
Mathematics and applied mathematics 3,611 3,801 4,108 4,064 4,139 4,191 4,225
Statistics 1,277 1,392 1,486 1,674 1,872 2,156 2,161
Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary studies 1,412 1,759 1,384 1,374 1,240 1,442 1,691
Neurobiology and neuroscience 395 505 728 839 782 818 818
Physical sciences 7,276 7,577 7,762 7,615 7,542 7,314 7,347
Astronomy and astrophysics 250 234 267 235 210 206 206
Chemistry 4,331 4,557 4,585 4,487 4,429 4,245 4,261
Physics 2,571 2,663 2,766 2,783 2,761 2,718 2,734
Physical sciences nec 124 123 144 110 142 145 146
Psychologyb 10,980 10,231 10,218 10,455 10,467 9,995 9,839
Clinical psychology 2,136 2,025 1,897 1,841 1,795 1,598 1,560
Psychology, general 3,300 3,024 3,115 3,240 3,109 2,995 2,769
Psychology nec 5,544 5,182 5,206 5,374 5,563 5,402 5,510
Social sciences 23,402 23,407 23,870 23,068 22,641 21,724 21,922
Agricultural economics 610 510 528 498 484 490 490
Anthropology 1,452 1,454 1,407 1,459 1,436 1,380 1,401
Economics (except agricultural) 3,855 3,926 4,045 4,022 3,861 3,929 3,946
Geography 1,017 1,042 1,043 999 1,009 974 976
History and philosophy of science 119 94 85 78 53 64 64
Linguistics 632 645 680 709 707 691 691
Political science and government 9,736 9,637 10,618 10,277 10,152 9,546 9,553
Sociology 1,671 1,685 1,742 1,548 1,521 1,536 1,553
Sociology and anthropology 90 44 41 49 46 43 43
Social sciences nec 4,220 4,370 3,681 3,429 3,372 3,071 3,205
Engineering 32,503 33,803 33,325 34,333 37,439 41,186 41,670
Aerospace engineering 1,176 1,196 1,239 991 1,138 1,238 1,238
Agricultural engineering 296 346 353 321 357 405 409
Architecture 2,273 2,263 970 630 634 510 514
Biomedical engineering 1,833 2,011 2,141 2,261 2,182 2,318 2,318
Chemical engineering 1,910 2,047 2,039 2,216 2,433 2,408 2,408
Civil engineering 4,878 5,079 5,003 5,119 5,127 5,392 5,411
Electrical engineering 8,831 9,237 9,790 10,439 12,387 13,707 14,097
Engineering science, mechanics, and physics 309 356 363 416 366 414 417
Industrial and manufacturing engineering 2,908 2,783 2,837 2,767 3,047 3,679 3,710
Mechanical engineering 4,814 5,055 4,832 5,344 5,843 6,412 6,428
Metallurgical and materials engineering 1,302 1,431 1,561 1,609 1,571 1,620 1,630
Mining engineering 45 54 94 65 77 95 95
Nuclear engineering 265 330 280 267 282 304 304
Petroleum engineering 306 265 323 371 357 523 523
Engineering nec 1,357 1,350 1,500 1,517 1,638 2,161 2,168
Healthb 19,001 17,995 16,475 15,911 15,601 15,757 16,436
Clinical medicine 6,141 6,545 6,581 6,423 6,568 6,543 6,967
Anesthesiology 124 106 0 0 7 11 11
Cardiovascular science 9 10 14 9 6 3 3
Endocrinology 8 7 9 9 5 5 5
Gastroenterology 1 2 1 0 0 0 0
Hematology 1 0 1 2 0 0 0
Neurology 244 157 28 33 0 0 0
Obstetrics and gynecology 29 27 30 30 25 0 0
Oncology and cancer research 47 39 40 30 7 9 9
Ophthalmology 0 1 0 0 0 6 6
Otorhinolaryngology 0 2 0 0 0 0 0
Pediatrics 49 54 34 21 0 0 0
Preventive medicine and community health 4,898 5,311 5,638 5,867 6,107 6,029 6,418
Psychiatry 38 44 38 40 0 0 0
Pulmonary disease 0 0 1 4 6 0 0
Radiology 87 99 79 93 64 32 51
Surgery 6 21 11 6 0 0 0
Clinical medicine nec 600 665 657 279 341 448 464
Other healthb 12,860 11,450 9,894 9,488 9,033 9,214 9,469
Communication disorders sciences 4,683 4,729 4,681 4,569 4,687 4,848 5,028
Dental sciences 475 421 487 496 530 443 443
Nursing science 2,315 1,386 902 814 430 456 412
Pharmaceutical sciences 756 662 674 608 649 729 764
Veterinary sciences 342 334 272 273 275 241 241
Other health nec 4,289 3,918 2,878 2,728 2,462 2,497 2,581
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.