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Table 17. Graduate students in science, engineering, and health in public doctorate-granting institutions, by detailed field: 2010–15

Field 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014olda 2014newa 2015
All surveyed fields 402,741 399,959 400,950 400,717 411,775 413,986 425,696
Science and engineering 353,439 356,869 357,583 360,415 371,264 373,365 384,541
Science 250,472 255,327 255,417 254,644 260,457 262,338 269,228
Agricultural sciences 13,793 14,172 14,379 14,398 14,910 14,986 15,586
Biological sciences 47,208 47,606 48,727 48,524 48,101 48,230 49,206
Anatomy 519 427 442 329 333 333 350
Biochemistry 3,660 3,508 3,484 3,271 3,312 3,312 3,270
Biology 9,976 9,691 9,590 9,410 9,741 9,774 9,892
Biometry and epidemiology 3,684 4,478 4,940 5,369 5,255 5,258 5,628
Biophysics 645 611 592 549 483 483 452
Botany and plant biology 1,789 1,814 1,742 1,757 1,756 1,756 1,751
Cell and molecular biology 4,437 4,064 3,968 3,689 3,492 3,547 3,645
Ecology 1,444 1,338 1,398 1,248 1,225 1,225 1,142
Entomology and parasitology 1,084 1,089 1,118 1,151 1,163 1,163 1,156
Genetics 1,343 1,441 1,413 1,394 1,445 1,445 1,400
Microbiology, immunology, and virology 3,056 3,121 3,069 3,092 2,907 2,907 2,916
Nutrition 3,652 3,457 3,453 3,549 3,673 3,673 3,560
Pathology 830 780 764 677 648 648 648
Pharmacology and toxicology 1,965 1,953 2,002 1,925 1,875 1,875 1,887
Physiology 1,942 2,008 1,988 2,003 2,116 2,116 2,308
Zoology 889 1,053 1,076 1,182 1,040 1,040 948
Biosciences nec 6,293 6,773 7,688 7,929 7,637 7,675 8,253
Communication 6,359 6,757 6,756 6,730 6,679 6,808 7,099
Computer sciences 29,838 30,338 30,299 32,491 38,819 39,520 44,771
Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences 12,239 12,183 12,234 12,060 11,736 11,767 11,639
Atmospheric sciences 1,378 1,428 1,471 1,455 1,377 1,377 1,312
Geosciences 6,523 6,560 6,723 6,829 6,808 6,808 6,816
Ocean sciences 1,914 1,986 1,834 1,867 1,682 1,713 1,789
Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences nec 2,424 2,209 2,206 1,909 1,869 1,869 1,722
Family and consumer sciences and human sciences 3,138 3,506 3,316 3,284 3,396 3,396 3,279
Mathematics and statistics 16,523 16,927 17,144 17,038 17,375 17,522 17,959
Mathematics and applied mathematics 12,516 12,828 12,904 12,583 12,734 12,801 12,952
Statistics 4,007 4,099 4,240 4,455 4,641 4,721 5,007
Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary studies 5,045 4,629 4,131 3,990 4,226 4,268 4,845
Neurobiology and neuroscience 1,673 2,276 2,476 2,519 2,637 2,637 2,666
Physical sciences 27,770 28,298 28,693 28,613 28,879 28,952 28,951
Astronomy and astrophysics 707 695 746 717 703 703 726
Chemistry 16,025 16,302 16,731 16,504 16,529 16,563 16,493
Physics 10,661 10,866 10,867 11,070 11,357 11,396 11,307
Physical sciences nec 377 435 349 322 290 290 425
Psychology 22,228 23,325 23,784 23,098 23,167 23,263 23,914
Clinical psychology 3,284 3,373 3,131 3,154 3,161 3,161 3,278
Psychology, general 7,476 7,749 8,025 7,398 7,500 7,537 7,498
Psychology nec 11,468 12,203 12,628 12,546 12,506 12,565 13,138
Social sciences 64,658 65,310 63,478 61,899 60,532 60,989 59,313
Agricultural economics 2,083 2,013 1,939 1,816 1,838 1,838 1,953
Anthropology 6,039 5,998 5,865 5,812 5,627 5,627 5,404
Economics (except agricultural) 8,900 9,173 8,975 8,763 8,628 8,628 8,295
Geography 4,022 4,109 3,936 3,820 3,762 3,762 3,515
History and philosophy of science 407 324 312 243 228 228 215
Linguistics 2,214 2,325 2,342 2,561 2,500 2,500 2,424
Political science and government 22,370 23,851 23,533 23,038 22,617 22,974 22,423
Sociology 6,726 6,660 6,387 6,249 6,036 6,036 5,714
Sociology and anthropology 231 202 173 152 150 150 163
Social sciences nec 11,666 10,655 10,016 9,445 9,146 9,246 9,207
Engineering 102,967 101,542 102,166 105,771 110,807 111,027 115,313
Aerospace engineering 4,163 4,251 4,069 4,097 3,981 3,981 4,198
Agricultural engineering 1,277 1,406 1,301 1,385 1,446 1,469 1,571
Architecture 5,389 2,465 1,892 1,719 1,372 1,372 1,194
Biomedical engineering 5,152 5,468 5,570 5,539 5,767 5,767 5,848
Chemical engineering 5,914 5,953 6,022 6,285 6,496 6,513 6,622
Civil engineering 14,820 14,849 14,912 15,004 15,393 15,407 15,662
Electrical engineering 27,495 28,229 28,435 30,812 33,185 33,275 33,728
Engineering science, mechanics, and physics 1,297 1,354 1,442 1,376 1,371 1,371 962
Industrial and manufacturing engineering 8,547 8,434 8,745 8,961 9,207 9,207 10,168
Mechanical engineering 15,632 15,331 15,593 16,269 17,258 17,301 18,456
Metallurgical and materials engineering 4,680 4,996 5,141 5,277 5,526 5,559 5,809
Mining engineering 408 498 355 355 396 396 407
Nuclear engineering 1,315 1,352 1,374 1,320 1,330 1,330 1,312
Petroleum engineering 1,105 1,127 1,351 1,450 1,637 1,637 1,634
Engineering nec 5,773 5,829 5,964 5,922 6,442 6,442 7,742
Health 49,302 43,090 43,367 40,302 40,511 40,621 41,155
Clinical medicine 15,472 15,807 16,184 15,382 15,459 15,511 15,915
Anesthesiology 11 3 3 7 17 17 26
Cardiovascular science 29 31 34 25 28 28 30
Endocrinology 52 55 52 42 45 45 47
Gastroenterology 2 5 2 0 0 0 0
Hematology 5 1 5 1 0 0 0
Neurology 454 87 65 0 0 0 0
Obstetrics and gynecology 11 9 81 58 5 5 1
Oncology and cancer research 127 150 153 99 51 51 13
Ophthalmology 5 2 2 0 36 36 0
Otorhinolaryngology 1 2 2 1 0 0 0
Pediatrics 119 124 125 0 0 0 0
Preventive medicine and community health 12,078 13,366 14,090 13,783 14,051 14,101 14,556
Psychiatry 177 19 24 0 0 0 0
Pulmonary disease 12 14 12 11 0 0 0
Radiology 284 242 249 126 51 51 49
Surgery 48 17 27 1 0 0 0
Clinical medicine nec 2,057 1,680 1,258 1,228 1,175 1,177 1,193
Other health 33,830 27,283 27,183 24,920 25,052 25,110 25,240
Communication disorders sciences 9,470 8,618 8,362 8,682 8,575 8,575 8,724
Dental sciences 1,216 1,425 1,309 1,405 1,414 1,414 1,386
Nursing science 7,540 5,138 5,502 3,435 3,174 3,189 3,417
Pharmaceutical sciences 3,435 3,371 3,394 3,205 3,345 3,368 3,378
Veterinary sciences 1,997 1,757 1,659 1,763 1,676 1,676 1,790
Other health nec 10,172 6,974 6,957 6,430 6,868 6,888 6,545
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.
SOURCE: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering.