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Table 17. Graduate students in science, engineering, and health in public doctorate-granting institutions, by detailed field: 2009–14

Field 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014olda 2014newa
All surveyed fields 399,013 402,741 399,959 400,950 400,717 411,775 413,986
Science and engineering 345,236 353,439 356,869 357,583 360,415 371,264 373,365
Science 245,153 250,472 255,327 255,417 254,644 260,457 262,338
Agricultural sciences 13,224 13,793 14,172 14,379 14,398 14,910 14,986
Biological sciences 46,533 47,208 47,606 48,727 48,524 48,101 48,230
Anatomy 528 519 427 442 329 333 333
Biochemistry 3,634 3,660 3,508 3,484 3,271 3,312 3,312
Biology 10,008 9,976 9,691 9,590 9,410 9,741 9,774
Biometry and epidemiology 3,134 3,684 4,478 4,940 5,369 5,255 5,258
Biophysics 641 645 611 592 549 483 483
Botany and plant biology 1,753 1,789 1,814 1,742 1,757 1,756 1,756
Cell and molecular biology 4,522 4,437 4,064 3,968 3,689 3,492 3,547
Ecology 1,383 1,444 1,338 1,398 1,248 1,225 1,225
Entomology and parasitology 1,047 1,084 1,089 1,118 1,151 1,163 1,163
Genetics 1,247 1,343 1,441 1,413 1,394 1,445 1,445
Microbiology, immunology, and virology 3,140 3,056 3,121 3,069 3,092 2,907 2,907
Nutrition 3,603 3,652 3,457 3,453 3,549 3,673 3,673
Pathology 824 830 780 764 677 648 648
Pharmacology and toxicology 2,058 1,965 1,953 2,002 1,925 1,875 1,875
Physiology 1,854 1,942 2,008 1,988 2,003 2,116 2,116
Zoology 869 889 1,053 1,076 1,182 1,040 1,040
Biosciences nec 6,288 6,293 6,773 7,688 7,929 7,637 7,675
Communication 6,319 6,359 6,757 6,756 6,730 6,679 6,808
Computer sciences 29,133 29,838 30,338 30,299 32,491 38,819 39,520
Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences 11,489 12,239 12,183 12,234 12,060 11,736 11,767
Atmospheric sciences 1,287 1,378 1,428 1,471 1,455 1,377 1,377
Geosciences 5,960 6,523 6,560 6,723 6,829 6,808 6,808
Ocean sciences 2,033 1,914 1,986 1,834 1,867 1,682 1,713
Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences nec 2,209 2,424 2,209 2,206 1,909 1,869 1,869
Family and consumer sciences and human sciences 2,675 3,138 3,506 3,316 3,284 3,396 3,396
Mathematics and statistics 15,957 16,523 16,927 17,144 17,038 17,375 17,522
Mathematics and applied mathematics 12,275 12,516 12,828 12,904 12,583 12,734 12,801
Statistics 3,682 4,007 4,099 4,240 4,455 4,641 4,721
Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary studies 4,115 5,045 4,629 4,131 3,990 4,226 4,268
Neurobiology and neuroscience 1,308 1,673 2,276 2,476 2,519 2,637 2,637
Physical sciences 27,342 27,770 28,298 28,693 28,613 28,879 28,952
Astronomy and astrophysics 821 707 695 746 717 703 703
Chemistry 15,872 16,025 16,302 16,731 16,504 16,529 16,563
Physics 10,295 10,661 10,866 10,867 11,070 11,357 11,396
Physical sciences nec 354 377 435 349 322 290 290
Psychologyb 22,917 22,228 23,325 23,784 23,098 23,167 23,263
Clinical psychology 3,174 3,284 3,373 3,131 3,154 3,161 3,161
Psychology, general 8,185 7,476 7,749 8,025 7,398 7,500 7,537
Psychology nec 11,558 11,468 12,203 12,628 12,546 12,506 12,565
Social sciences 64,141 64,658 65,310 63,478 61,899 60,532 60,989
Agricultural economics 2,130 2,083 2,013 1,939 1,816 1,838 1,838
Anthropology 5,913 6,039 5,998 5,865 5,812 5,627 5,627
Economics (except agricultural) 8,783 8,900 9,173 8,975 8,763 8,628 8,628
Geography 3,848 4,022 4,109 3,936 3,820 3,762 3,762
History and philosophy of science 706 407 324 312 243 228 228
Linguistics 2,260 2,214 2,325 2,342 2,561 2,500 2,500
Political science and government 21,582 22,370 23,851 23,533 23,038 22,617 22,974
Sociology 6,559 6,726 6,660 6,387 6,249 6,036 6,036
Sociology and anthropology 467 231 202 173 152 150 150
Social sciences nec 11,893 11,666 10,655 10,016 9,445 9,146 9,246
Engineering 100,083 102,967 101,542 102,166 105,771 110,807 111,027
Aerospace engineering 3,929 4,163 4,251 4,069 4,097 3,981 3,981
Agricultural engineering 1,230 1,277 1,406 1,301 1,385 1,446 1,469
Architecture 5,362 5,389 2,465 1,892 1,719 1,372 1,372
Biomedical engineering 4,873 5,152 5,468 5,570 5,539 5,767 5,767
Chemical engineering 5,717 5,914 5,953 6,022 6,285 6,496 6,513
Civil engineering 14,233 14,820 14,849 14,912 15,004 15,393 15,407
Electrical engineering 27,594 27,495 28,229 28,435 30,812 33,185 33,275
Engineering science, mechanics, and physics 1,361 1,297 1,354 1,442 1,376 1,371 1,371
Industrial and manufacturing engineering 9,137 8,547 8,434 8,745 8,961 9,207 9,207
Mechanical engineering 14,502 15,632 15,331 15,593 16,269 17,258 17,301
Metallurgical and materials engineering 4,389 4,680 4,996 5,141 5,277 5,526 5,559
Mining engineering 302 408 498 355 355 396 396
Nuclear engineering 1,110 1,315 1,352 1,374 1,320 1,330 1,330
Petroleum engineering 1,009 1,105 1,127 1,351 1,450 1,637 1,637
Engineering nec 5,335 5,773 5,829 5,964 5,922 6,442 6,442
Healthb 53,777 49,302 43,090 43,367 40,302 40,511 40,621
Clinical medicine 14,385 15,472 15,807 16,184 15,382 15,459 15,511
Anesthesiology 104 11 3 3 7 17 17
Cardiovascular science 24 29 31 34 25 28 28
Endocrinology 50 52 55 52 42 45 45
Gastroenterology 13 2 5 2 0 0 0
Hematology 8 5 1 5 1 0 0
Neurology 637 454 87 65 0 0 0
Obstetrics and gynecology 8 11 9 81 58 5 5
Oncology and cancer research 149 127 150 153 99 51 51
Ophthalmology 1 5 2 2 0 36 36
Otorhinolaryngology 4 1 2 2 1 0 0
Pediatrics 114 119 124 125 0 0 0
Preventive medicine and community health 10,872 12,078 13,366 14,090 13,783 14,051 14,101
Psychiatry 165 177 19 24 0 0 0
Pulmonary disease 13 12 14 12 11 0 0
Radiology 306 284 242 249 126 51 51
Surgery 28 48 17 27 1 0 0
Clinical medicine nec 1,889 2,057 1,680 1,258 1,228 1,175 1,177
Other healthb 39,392 33,830 27,283 27,183 24,920 25,052 25,110
Communication disorders sciences 9,624 9,470 8,618 8,362 8,682 8,575 8,575
Dental sciences 1,303 1,216 1,425 1,309 1,405 1,414 1,414
Nursing science 11,690 7,540 5,138 5,502 3,435 3,174 3,189
Pharmaceutical sciences 3,483 3,435 3,371 3,394 3,205 3,345 3,368
Veterinary sciences 1,981 1,997 1,757 1,659 1,763 1,676 1,676
Other health nec 11,311 10,172 6,974 6,957 6,430 6,868 6,888
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.