Back to Data Tables
Excel icon Download to excel

Table 11. Full-time graduate students in science, engineering, and health in all institutions, by detailed field: 2011–16

Field 2011 2012 2013 2014olda 2014newa 2015 2016
All surveyed fields 457,292 459,498 468,953 484,880 492,170 506,262 508,773
Science and engineering 411,168 414,384 424,508 440,523 447,096 459,405 462,973
Science 303,015 304,795 309,756 317,881 322,714 331,293 334,770
Agricultural sciences 11,448 11,375 11,634 12,038 12,319 13,071 12,806
Biological sciences 62,773 63,921 63,615 63,043 64,638 66,347 65,549
Anatomy 726 650 503 500 519 565 424
Biochemistry 4,771 4,781 4,559 4,592 4,592 4,391 4,060
Biology 12,832 12,352 11,988 11,901 12,255 12,137 11,800
Biometry and epidemiology 4,933 5,837 6,343 6,432 6,474 7,000 7,035
Biophysics 972 932 898 849 849 897 923
Botany and plant biology 1,729 1,710 1,712 1,669 1,669 1,696 1,650
Cell and molecular biology 6,517 6,440 6,167 5,759 5,819 6,020 6,073
Ecology 1,372 1,324 1,063 1,032 1,032 1,006 1,048
Entomology and parasitology 910 990 1,067 1,106 1,106 1,091 1,032
Genetics 2,318 2,276 2,253 2,310 2,343 2,336 2,330
Microbiology, immunology, and virology 4,643 4,612 4,617 4,340 4,345 4,242 4,185
Nutrition 3,625 3,630 3,609 3,574 3,780 3,816 3,601
Pathology 1,218 1,151 1,058 1,013 1,013 1,004 954
Pharmacology and toxicology 2,714 2,743 2,656 2,594 2,594 2,532 2,519
Physiology 2,681 2,777 2,954 3,065 3,158 3,459 3,682
Zoology 686 666 649 690 708 687 634
Biosciences nec 10,126 11,050 11,519 11,617 12,382 13,468 13,599
Communication 6,913 6,978 7,117 7,205 7,544 7,173 7,502
Computer sciences 32,861 34,108 39,268 49,161 52,069 58,329 63,361
Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences 12,404 12,617 12,339 12,342 12,462 12,286 11,792
Atmospheric sciences 1,197 1,277 1,263 1,251 1,262 1,201 1,185
Geosciences 6,450 6,686 6,734 6,900 6,911 7,053 6,801
Ocean sciences 2,199 2,158 2,147 2,092 2,169 2,081 2,218
Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences nec 2,558 2,496 2,195 2,099 2,120 1,951 1,588
Family and consumer sciences and human sciences 2,616 2,410 2,535 2,551 2,577 2,497 2,310
Mathematics and statistics 18,303 18,990 19,510 20,320 20,445 21,153 22,171
Mathematics and applied mathematics 14,014 14,264 14,320 14,692 14,785 14,866 15,820
Statistics 4,289 4,726 5,190 5,628 5,660 6,287 6,351
Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary studies 4,103 3,987 3,873 4,284 4,862 5,387 6,236
Neurobiology and neuroscience 3,911 4,333 4,576 4,703 4,703 4,775 4,922
Physical sciences 35,643 35,868 35,979 36,168 36,266 36,374 36,536
Astronomy and astrophysics 1,325 1,245 1,226 1,219 1,219 1,256 1,309
Chemistry 20,403 20,672 20,553 20,523 20,565 20,584 20,423
Physics 13,413 13,522 13,767 13,992 14,047 14,075 14,298
Physical sciences nec 502 429 433 434 435 459 506
Psychology 38,548 38,325 38,204 36,489 34,683 35,478 34,530
Clinical psychology 8,094 7,630 7,891 7,375 7,057 7,007 6,690
Psychology, general 12,872 12,897 12,105 11,766 9,902 9,880 9,806
Psychology nec 17,582 17,798 18,208 17,348 17,724 18,591 18,034
Social sciences 73,492 71,883 71,106 69,577 70,146 68,423 67,055
Agricultural economics 1,767 1,692 1,591 1,598 1,598 1,677 1,454
Anthropology 6,471 6,454 6,414 6,210 6,248 5,873 5,752
Economics (except agricultural) 12,391 12,476 12,429 12,369 12,426 12,262 12,294
Geography 3,383 3,319 3,325 3,343 3,354 3,195 3,045
History and philosophy of science 425 420 358 329 332 341 344
Linguistics 2,589 2,629 2,707 2,668 2,668 2,540 2,339
Political science and government 28,554 28,439 27,772 27,550 27,478 26,706 26,232
Sociology 7,148 6,761 6,787 6,553 6,590 6,384 6,303
Sociology and anthropology 173 139 141 120 120 148 156
Social sciences nec 10,591 9,554 9,582 8,837 9,332 9,297 9,136
Engineering 108,153 109,589 114,752 122,642 124,382 128,112 128,203
Aerospace engineering 4,251 3,813 3,897 3,907 3,907 4,039 4,081
Agricultural engineering 1,372 1,254 1,256 1,389 1,412 1,380 1,329
Architecture 2,772 2,045 1,933 1,583 1,588 1,379 1,509
Biomedical engineering 7,931 7,978 8,092 8,336 8,336 8,595 9,136
Chemical engineering 7,639 8,059 8,522 8,622 8,629 8,835 9,002
Civil engineering 14,363 14,580 14,728 15,169 15,219 15,443 15,183
Electrical engineering 30,735 31,526 34,660 38,453 39,868 40,519 38,158
Engineering science, mechanics, and physics 1,574 1,705 1,575 1,568 1,575 1,371 1,318
Industrial and manufacturing engineering 8,251 8,115 8,336 9,002 9,106 10,215 10,582
Mechanical engineering 16,084 17,000 17,940 18,956 19,015 20,320 20,924
Metallurgical and materials engineering 5,877 6,126 6,252 6,584 6,625 6,826 7,149
Mining engineering 414 241 267 307 307 300 287
Nuclear engineering 1,165 1,162 1,169 1,201 1,201 1,198 1,229
Petroleum engineering 1,064 1,289 1,318 1,662 1,662 1,560 1,461
Engineering nec 4,661 4,696 4,807 5,903 5,932 6,132 6,855
Health 46,124 45,114 44,445 44,357 45,074 46,857 45,800
Clinical medicine 17,853 17,195 17,408 17,430 17,440 18,565 17,813
Anesthesiology 5 3 7 17 17 26 1
Cardiovascular science 54 41 27 28 28 35 37
Endocrinology 48 46 39 42 42 44 43
Gastroenterology 7 2 0 0 0 0 5
Hematology 1 5 1 0 0 0 1
Neurology 211 169 0 0 0 0 9
Obstetrics and gynecology 75 73 50 5 5 1 1
Oncology and cancer research 248 240 102 51 51 31 42
Ophthalmology 2 2 0 36 36 0 0
Otorhinolaryngology 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
Pediatrics 117 113 0 0 0 0 10
Preventive medicine and community health 14,913 14,913 15,718 15,501 15,461 16,268 15,906
Psychiatry 88 100 0 0 0 0 71
Pulmonary disease 14 12 11 0 0 0 1
Radiology 261 262 181 109 141 132 105
Surgery 20 25 1 0 0 0 12
Clinical medicine nec 1,788 1,188 1,271 1,641 1,659 2,028 1,569
Other health 28,271 27,919 27,037 26,927 27,634 28,292 27,987
Communication disorders sciences 12,116 11,867 12,071 12,440 12,875 13,239 13,391
Dental sciences 1,553 1,528 1,701 1,630 1,630 1,653 1,683
Nursing science 3,294 3,403 2,160 2,191 2,176 2,322 2,476
Pharmaceutical sciences 2,836 2,987 3,110 3,191 3,305 3,433 3,445
Veterinary sciences 1,271 1,250 1,359 1,248 1,248 1,286 1,165
Other health nec 7,201 6,884 6,636 6,227 6,400 6,359 5,827
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.