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Table 5. Full-time 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 219,648 202,260 164,437 37,823 17,388 4,560 12,828
1976 223,412 204,815 167,867 36,948 18,597 4,573 14,024
1977 226,738 206,411 169,184 37,227 20,327 4,345 15,982
1978b 223,030 201,737 164,151 37,586 21,293 5,029 16,264
1979 231,760 209,000 168,959 40,041 22,760 5,527 17,233
1980 238,416 214,417 171,767 42,650 23,999 5,774 18,225
1981 242,049 217,952 172,200 45,752 24,097 5,622 18,475
1982 244,757 221,874 172,090 49,784 22,883 5,283 17,600
1983 252,017 229,404 175,472 53,932 22,613 5,318 17,295
1984 253,922 230,957 175,766 55,191 22,965 5,263 17,702
1985 257,287 233,938 178,020 55,918 23,349 5,525 17,824
1986 266,168 242,729 182,532 60,197 23,439 5,554 17,885
1987 271,056 247,105 185,143 61,962 23,951 5,833 18,118
1988 275,127 250,557 187,525 63,032 24,570 6,198 18,372
1989 282,648 256,820 192,424 64,396 25,828 6,433 19,395
1990 292,782 265,323 199,313 66,010 27,459 6,901 20,558
1991 307,010 277,070 206,036 71,034 29,940 7,223 22,717
1992 322,555 290,408 215,965 74,443 32,147 7,953 24,194
1993 329,644 293,905 220,097 73,808 35,739 8,833 26,906
1994 332,088 292,979 221,409 71,570 39,109 9,226 29,883
1995 329,283 287,171 219,389 67,782 42,112 9,777 32,335
1996 328,536 284,039 218,180 65,859 44,497 9,803 34,694
1997 327,289 280,669 214,981 65,688 46,620 10,212 36,408
1998 327,389 278,943 213,508 65,435 48,446 10,944 37,502
1999 334,423 283,893 215,870 68,023 50,530 11,554 38,976
2000 341,283 291,355 219,079 72,276 49,928 11,029 38,899
2001 354,522 304,021 226,573 77,448 50,501 11,822 38,679
2002 378,991 325,472 240,020 85,452 53,519 13,334 40,185
2003 397,420 339,028 248,812 90,216 58,392 14,742 43,650
2004 402,573 340,529 253,574 86,955 62,044 14,999 47,045
2005 406,620 341,742 257,283 84,459 64,878 15,102 49,776
2006 419,015 349,802 261,984 87,818 69,213 16,567 52,646
2007oldc 430,860 362,976 269,821 93,155 67,884 17,451 50,433
2007newc 437,365 371,542 277,229 94,313 65,823 15,478 50,345
2008 449,613 383,560 285,305 98,255 66,053 16,965 49,088
2009 456,115 398,498 293,561 104,937 57,617 16,725 40,892
2010 461,185 409,107 299,315 109,792 52,078 17,704 34,374
2011 457,292 411,168 303,015 108,153 46,124 17,853 28,271
2012 459,498 414,384 304,795 109,589 45,114 17,195 27,919
2013 468,953 424,508 309,756 114,752 44,445 17,408 27,037
2014oldd 484,880 440,523 317,881 122,642 44,357 17,430 26,927
2014newd 492,170 447,096 322,714 124,382 45,074 17,440 27,634
2015 506,262 459,405 331,293 128,112 46,857 18,565 28,292
2016 508,773 462,973 334,770 128,203 45,800 17,813 27,987
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.