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Table 17. Graduate students in science, engineering, and health in public doctorate-granting institutions, by detailed field: 2011–16

Field 2011 2012 2013 2014olda 2014newa 2015 2016
All surveyed fields 399,959 400,950 400,717 411,775 413,986 425,696 427,718
Science and engineering 356,869 357,583 360,415 371,264 373,365 384,541 388,517
Science 255,327 255,417 254,644 260,457 262,338 269,228 273,005
Agricultural sciences 14,172 14,379 14,398 14,910 14,986 15,586 15,454
Biological sciences 47,606 48,727 48,524 48,101 48,230 49,206 48,599
Anatomy 427 442 329 333 333 350 262
Biochemistry 3,508 3,484 3,271 3,312 3,312 3,270 3,042
Biology 9,691 9,590 9,410 9,741 9,774 9,892 10,068
Biometry and epidemiology 4,478 4,940 5,369 5,255 5,258 5,628 5,754
Biophysics 611 592 549 483 483 452 459
Botany and plant biology 1,814 1,742 1,757 1,756 1,756 1,751 1,708
Cell and molecular biology 4,064 3,968 3,689 3,492 3,547 3,645 3,743
Ecology 1,338 1,398 1,248 1,225 1,225 1,142 1,251
Entomology and parasitology 1,089 1,118 1,151 1,163 1,163 1,156 1,048
Genetics 1,441 1,413 1,394 1,445 1,445 1,400 1,350
Microbiology, immunology, and virology 3,121 3,069 3,092 2,907 2,907 2,916 2,984
Nutrition 3,457 3,453 3,549 3,673 3,673 3,560 3,451
Pathology 780 764 677 648 648 648 619
Pharmacology and toxicology 1,953 2,002 1,925 1,875 1,875 1,887 1,841
Physiology 2,008 1,988 2,003 2,116 2,116 2,308 2,500
Zoology 1,053 1,076 1,182 1,040 1,040 948 758
Biosciences nec 6,773 7,688 7,929 7,637 7,675 8,253 7,761
Communication 6,757 6,756 6,730 6,679 6,808 7,099 7,458
Computer sciences 30,338 30,299 32,491 38,819 39,520 44,771 49,824
Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences 12,183 12,234 12,060 11,736 11,767 11,639 11,412
Atmospheric sciences 1,428 1,471 1,455 1,377 1,377 1,312 1,332
Geosciences 6,560 6,723 6,829 6,808 6,808 6,816 6,697
Ocean sciences 1,986 1,834 1,867 1,682 1,713 1,789 1,980
Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences nec 2,209 2,206 1,909 1,869 1,869 1,722 1,403
Family and consumer sciences and human sciences 3,506 3,316 3,284 3,396 3,396 3,279 3,019
Mathematics and statistics 16,927 17,144 17,038 17,375 17,522 17,959 18,429
Mathematics and applied mathematics 12,828 12,904 12,583 12,734 12,801 12,952 13,351
Statistics 4,099 4,240 4,455 4,641 4,721 5,007 5,078
Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary studies 4,629 4,131 3,990 4,226 4,268 4,845 5,805
Neurobiology and neuroscience 2,276 2,476 2,519 2,637 2,637 2,666 2,768
Physical sciences 28,298 28,693 28,613 28,879 28,952 28,951 28,995
Astronomy and astrophysics 695 746 717 703 703 726 801
Chemistry 16,302 16,731 16,504 16,529 16,563 16,493 16,413
Physics 10,866 10,867 11,070 11,357 11,396 11,307 11,289
Physical sciences nec 435 349 322 290 290 425 492
Psychology 23,325 23,784 23,098 23,167 23,263 23,914 23,228
Clinical psychology 3,373 3,131 3,154 3,161 3,161 3,278 3,169
Psychology, general 7,749 8,025 7,398 7,500 7,537 7,498 7,366
Psychology nec 12,203 12,628 12,546 12,506 12,565 13,138 12,693
Social sciences 65,310 63,478 61,899 60,532 60,989 59,313 58,014
Agricultural economics 2,013 1,939 1,816 1,838 1,838 1,953 1,654
Anthropology 5,998 5,865 5,812 5,627 5,627 5,404 5,150
Economics (except agricultural) 9,173 8,975 8,763 8,628 8,628 8,295 8,423
Geography 4,109 3,936 3,820 3,762 3,762 3,515 3,498
History and philosophy of science 324 312 243 228 228 215 229
Linguistics 2,325 2,342 2,561 2,500 2,500 2,424 2,240
Political science and government 23,851 23,533 23,038 22,617 22,974 22,423 22,349
Sociology 6,660 6,387 6,249 6,036 6,036 5,714 5,694
Sociology and anthropology 202 173 152 150 150 163 135
Social sciences nec 10,655 10,016 9,445 9,146 9,246 9,207 8,642
Engineering 101,542 102,166 105,771 110,807 111,027 115,313 115,512
Aerospace engineering 4,251 4,069 4,097 3,981 3,981 4,198 4,248
Agricultural engineering 1,406 1,301 1,385 1,446 1,469 1,571 1,456
Architecture 2,465 1,892 1,719 1,372 1,372 1,194 1,313
Biomedical engineering 5,468 5,570 5,539 5,767 5,767 5,848 6,143
Chemical engineering 5,953 6,022 6,285 6,496 6,513 6,622 6,677
Civil engineering 14,849 14,912 15,004 15,393 15,407 15,662 15,374
Electrical engineering 28,229 28,435 30,812 33,185 33,275 33,728 32,367
Engineering science, mechanics, and physics 1,354 1,442 1,376 1,371 1,371 962 1,065
Industrial and manufacturing engineering 8,434 8,745 8,961 9,207 9,207 10,168 10,529
Mechanical engineering 15,331 15,593 16,269 17,258 17,301 18,456 18,965
Metallurgical and materials engineering 4,996 5,141 5,277 5,526 5,559 5,809 6,022
Mining engineering 498 355 355 396 396 407 378
Nuclear engineering 1,352 1,374 1,320 1,330 1,330 1,312 1,328
Petroleum engineering 1,127 1,351 1,450 1,637 1,637 1,634 1,530
Engineering nec 5,829 5,964 5,922 6,442 6,442 7,742 8,117
Health 43,090 43,367 40,302 40,511 40,621 41,155 39,201
Clinical medicine 15,807 16,184 15,382 15,459 15,511 15,915 15,000
Anesthesiology 3 3 7 17 17 26 1
Cardiovascular science 31 34 25 28 28 30 36
Endocrinology 55 52 42 45 45 47 47
Gastroenterology 5 2 0 0 0 0 5
Hematology 1 5 1 0 0 0 1
Neurology 87 65 0 0 0 0 9
Obstetrics and gynecology 9 81 58 5 5 1 1
Oncology and cancer research 150 153 99 51 51 13 14
Ophthalmology 2 2 0 36 36 0 0
Otorhinolaryngology 2 2 1 0 0 0 0
Pediatrics 124 125 0 0 0 0 10
Preventive medicine and community health 13,366 14,090 13,783 14,051 14,101 14,556 13,807
Psychiatry 19 24 0 0 0 0 71
Pulmonary disease 14 12 11 0 0 0 1
Radiology 242 249 126 51 51 49 48
Surgery 17 27 1 0 0 0 12
Clinical medicine nec 1,680 1,258 1,228 1,175 1,177 1,193 937
Other health 27,283 27,183 24,920 25,052 25,110 25,240 24,201
Communication disorders sciences 8,618 8,362 8,682 8,575 8,575 8,724 8,802
Dental sciences 1,425 1,309 1,405 1,414 1,414 1,386 1,430
Nursing science 5,138 5,502 3,435 3,174 3,189 3,417 3,671
Pharmaceutical sciences 3,371 3,394 3,205 3,345 3,368 3,378 2,939
Veterinary sciences 1,757 1,659 1,763 1,676 1,676 1,790 1,619
Other health nec 6,974 6,957 6,430 6,868 6,888 6,545 5,740
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.