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Table 16. Graduate students in science, engineering, and health in doctorate-granting institutions, by detailed field: 2011–16

Field 2011 2012 2013 2014olda 2014newa 2015 2016
All surveyed fields 570,534 571,578 574,004 588,600 588,952 604,944 609,420
Science and engineering 511,759 513,206 518,888 532,926 534,429 548,655 555,646
Science 371,833 370,873 372,113 378,436 378,071 388,284 395,800
Agricultural sciences 15,078 15,226 15,400 15,975 16,067 17,169 16,836
Biological sciences 69,686 70,996 71,187 70,702 71,463 72,962 72,302
Anatomy 762 700 527 535 535 578 433
Biochemistry 5,030 5,107 4,802 4,873 4,873 4,626 4,320
Biology 13,840 13,476 13,187 13,422 13,659 13,757 13,659
Biometry and epidemiology 6,736 7,703 8,336 8,065 8,072 8,751 8,776
Biophysics 1,016 976 952 877 877 919 941
Botany and plant biology 1,915 1,852 1,878 1,877 1,877 1,869 1,820
Cell and molecular biology 6,746 6,633 6,364 5,980 6,036 6,246 6,346
Ecology 1,589 1,575 1,353 1,320 1,320 1,241 1,343
Entomology and parasitology 1,119 1,187 1,278 1,304 1,304 1,285 1,171
Genetics 2,403 2,342 2,315 2,375 2,402 2,404 2,397
Microbiology, immunology, and virology 4,980 4,897 4,893 4,600 4,600 4,521 4,534
Nutrition 4,605 4,644 4,722 4,968 5,022 4,923 4,734
Pathology 1,209 1,139 1,038 973 973 979 918
Pharmacology and toxicology 3,053 3,088 2,979 2,916 2,916 2,817 2,873
Physiology 2,932 2,983 3,153 3,233 3,293 3,643 3,853
Zoology 1,058 1,079 1,186 1,045 1,045 951 760
Biosciences nec 10,693 11,615 12,224 12,339 12,659 13,452 13,424
Communication 9,002 8,931 9,222 9,692 9,828 9,772 10,310
Computer sciences 46,120 46,547 49,725 58,478 60,929 68,197 75,669
Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences 14,887 15,169 14,906 14,511 14,635 14,433 14,059
Atmospheric sciences 1,496 1,530 1,519 1,441 1,441 1,361 1,372
Geosciences 7,909 8,198 8,282 8,307 8,307 8,352 8,164
Ocean sciences 2,579 2,520 2,568 2,403 2,434 2,366 2,524
Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences nec 2,903 2,921 2,537 2,360 2,453 2,354 1,999
Family and consumer sciences and human sciences 3,790 3,588 3,644 3,761 3,761 3,582 3,339
Mathematics and statistics 21,967 22,579 22,788 23,465 23,642 24,369 25,965
Mathematics and applied mathematics 16,541 16,813 16,534 16,814 16,911 16,977 18,324
Statistics 5,426 5,766 6,254 6,651 6,731 7,392 7,641
Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary studies 5,785 5,550 5,392 5,799 6,081 7,007 7,995
Neurobiology and neuroscience 4,088 4,547 4,760 4,851 4,851 4,914 5,137
Physical sciences 38,656 38,837 38,944 39,224 39,315 39,294 39,492
Astronomy and astrophysics 1,345 1,278 1,250 1,237 1,237 1,266 1,336
Chemistry 22,048 22,340 22,193 22,211 22,245 22,137 22,007
Physics 14,607 14,691 14,987 15,276 15,315 15,293 15,477
Physical sciences nec 656 528 514 500 518 598 672
Psychology 45,608 44,452 43,279 41,078 37,713 38,865 37,904
Clinical psychology 9,662 8,432 8,341 7,740 7,137 7,202 6,901
Psychology, general 14,748 14,378 13,613 13,473 10,299 10,538 10,294
Psychology nec 21,198 21,642 21,325 19,865 20,277 21,125 20,709
Social sciences 97,166 94,451 92,866 90,900 89,786 87,720 86,792
Agricultural economics 2,090 2,030 1,901 1,928 1,928 2,056 1,756
Anthropology 7,891 7,745 7,673 7,449 7,449 7,158 6,873
Economics (except agricultural) 13,940 13,990 13,883 13,679 13,699 13,423 13,635
Geography 4,542 4,379 4,306 4,243 4,243 3,961 3,890
History and philosophy of science 469 461 391 365 371 379 379
Linguistics 2,997 3,020 3,225 3,173 3,173 3,089 2,899
Political science and government 41,429 40,842 39,780 39,607 38,181 37,379 37,381
Sociology 8,578 8,240 8,284 7,961 7,961 7,587 7,458
Sociology and anthropology 268 255 213 187 187 202 180
Social sciences nec 14,962 13,489 13,210 12,308 12,594 12,486 12,341
Engineering 139,926 142,333 146,775 154,490 156,358 160,371 159,846
Aerospace engineering 5,605 4,986 5,101 5,025 5,025 5,256 5,333
Agricultural engineering 1,655 1,544 1,642 1,717 1,740 1,630 1,626
Architecture 3,085 2,340 2,150 1,786 1,789 1,547 1,655
Biomedical engineering 9,074 9,085 9,058 9,374 9,374 9,581 10,075
Chemical engineering 8,741 9,142 9,619 9,763 9,780 9,911 10,095
Civil engineering 18,528 18,810 18,987 19,417 19,431 19,696 19,372
Electrical engineering 39,400 40,390 43,218 46,534 48,246 48,699 45,515
Engineering science, mechanics, and physics 2,054 2,173 2,080 2,123 2,123 1,703 1,750
Industrial and manufacturing engineering 13,420 13,575 13,597 13,959 13,959 15,154 15,395
Mechanical engineering 20,988 22,228 23,201 24,454 24,508 25,938 26,760
Metallurgical and materials engineering 6,579 6,917 7,077 7,414 7,459 7,685 8,047
Mining engineering 498 355 355 396 396 407 378
Nuclear engineering 1,499 1,513 1,459 1,467 1,467 1,449 1,466
Petroleum engineering 1,292 1,520 1,605 2,056 2,056 2,021 1,862
Engineering nec 7,508 7,755 7,626 9,005 9,005 9,694 10,517
Health 58,775 58,372 55,116 55,674 54,523 56,289 53,774
Clinical medicine 25,358 25,335 24,621 24,951 23,595 24,621 23,188
Anesthesiology 8 3 7 17 17 26 1
Cardiovascular science 57 43 32 28 28 36 39
Endocrinology 56 52 42 45 45 47 47
Gastroenterology 7 2 0 0 0 0 5
Hematology 1 5 1 0 0 0 1
Neurology 219 171 0 0 0 0 9
Obstetrics and gynecology 100 91 68 18 18 16 17
Oncology and cancer research 255 248 103 51 51 32 42
Ophthalmology 2 2 0 36 36 0 0
Otorhinolaryngology 2 2 1 0 0 0 0
Pediatrics 132 125 0 0 0 0 10
Preventive medicine and community health 21,729 22,238 22,203 22,323 20,965 21,956 21,010
Psychiatry 88 100 0 0 0 0 71
Pulmonary disease 14 12 11 0 0 0 1
Radiology 339 335 201 117 117 109 116
Surgery 30 35 8 5 5 5 14
Clinical medicine nec 2,319 1,871 1,944 2,311 2,313 2,394 1,805
Other health 33,417 33,037 30,495 30,723 30,928 31,668 30,586
Communication disorders sciences 10,588 10,182 10,458 10,391 10,483 10,762 11,010
Dental sciences 1,764 1,707 1,914 1,877 1,877 1,854 1,926
Nursing science 6,578 6,950 4,501 4,458 4,477 4,969 5,112
Pharmaceutical sciences 4,048 4,211 4,130 4,287 4,320 4,344 3,942
Veterinary sciences 1,894 1,794 1,919 1,979 1,979 2,054 1,735
Other health nec 8,545 8,193 7,573 7,731 7,792 7,685 6,861
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.