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Table 1. Graduate students in science, engineering, and health in all institutions, by field: 1975–2016

Year All science, engineering, and health Science and engineering Health
Total Science Engineering Total Clinical medicine Other healtha
1975 328,510 302,981 234,649 68,332 25,529 5,590 19,939
1976 333,716 305,398 238,675 66,723 28,318 6,055 22,263
1977 345,374 311,689 242,932 68,757 33,685 6,240 27,445
1978b 339,912 304,252 236,465 67,787 35,660 7,194 28,466
1979 357,578 319,043 247,235 71,808 38,535 8,054 30,481
1980 367,078 325,600 251,265 74,335 41,478 8,751 32,727
1981 375,130 331,989 252,404 79,585 43,141 8,771 34,370
1982 382,291 338,866 255,146 83,720 43,425 8,561 34,864
1983 390,432 346,966 255,820 91,146 43,466 8,481 34,985
1984 394,670 349,642 256,903 92,739 45,028 8,630 36,398
1985 404,021 357,991 261,973 96,018 46,030 9,198 36,832
1986 415,520 367,982 266,077 101,905 47,538 9,227 38,311
1987 421,497 373,239 269,256 103,983 48,258 9,773 38,485
1988 424,523 375,163 272,309 102,854 49,360 10,071 39,289
1989 434,478 382,642 278,577 104,065 51,836 10,200 41,636
1990 452,113 397,041 289,383 107,658 55,072 10,943 44,129
1991 471,212 412,592 299,057 113,535 58,620 11,696 46,924
1992 493,522 430,517 312,478 118,039 63,005 12,597 50,408
1993 504,304 435,723 318,851 116,872 68,581 14,213 54,368
1994 504,399 431,142 318,118 113,024 73,257 15,037 58,220
1995 499,640 422,466 315,265 107,201 77,174 15,538 61,636
1996 494,079 415,181 311,957 103,224 78,898 15,363 63,535
1997 487,208 407,630 306,482 101,148 79,578 15,470 64,108
1998 485,627 404,856 304,818 100,038 80,771 16,643 64,128
1999 493,256 411,182 309,491 101,691 82,074 17,276 64,798
2000 493,311 413,536 309,424 104,112 79,775 16,407 63,368
2001 509,607 429,229 319,736 109,493 80,378 17,363 63,015
2002 540,404 454,834 335,166 119,668 85,570 19,166 66,404
2003 567,121 474,645 347,268 127,377 92,476 20,574 71,902
2004 574,463 475,873 352,307 123,566 98,590 20,866 77,724
2005 582,226 478,275 357,710 120,565 103,951 21,414 82,537
2006 597,643 486,287 363,246 123,041 111,356 23,441 87,915
2007oldc 607,823 502,375 372,120 130,255 105,448 24,616 80,832
2007newc 619,499 516,199 384,523 131,676 103,300 22,751 80,549
2008 631,489 529,275 391,419 137,856 102,214 23,939 78,275
2009 631,645 545,685 401,008 144,677 85,960 24,125 61,835
2010 632,652 556,532 407,291 149,241 76,120 25,699 50,421
2011 626,820 560,941 414,440 146,501 65,879 26,634 39,245
2012 627,243 561,418 413,033 148,385 65,825 26,798 39,027
2013 633,010 570,300 417,251 153,049 62,710 26,362 36,348
2014oldd 650,738 587,161 425,148 162,013 63,577 26,914 36,663
2014newd 666,586 601,883 437,395 164,488 64,703 27,048 37,655
2015 685,397 618,008 448,654 169,354 67,389 28,606 38,783
2016 684,825 620,489 452,046 168,443 64,336 27,212 37,124
a 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.
b Master's-granting institutions were not surveyed in 1978; totals represent estimates based on 1977 and 1979 data.
c In 2007, eligible fields were reclassified, newly eligible fields were added, and the survey was redesigned to improve coverage and coding of eligible units. "2007new" presents data as collected in 2007; "2007old" shows data as they would have been collected in prior years. See appendix A in https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf10307/ for more detail.
d 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.