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Table 26. Black or African American, full-time U.S. citizen and permanent resident graduate students in science, engineering, and health in all institutions and in historically black colleges and universities, by field and sex: 2013–16

Field Male Female
2013 2014olda 2014newa 2015 2016 2013 2014olda 2014newa 2015 2016
Black or African American students in all institutions (number) 7,881 7,692 7,636 7,628 7,920 13,426 12,878 12,255 13,052 13,132
Science and engineering 6,934 6,759 6,790 6,742 7,058 10,376 9,925 9,549 9,958 10,122
Science 5,497 5,409 5,417 5,428 5,607 9,741 9,249 8,859 9,258 9,458
Agricultural sciences 105 114 129 143 135 189 179 194 201 199
Biological sciences 933 940 997 1,072 1,075 1,892 1,835 1,972 2,141 2,150
Communication 148 158 174 181 213 328 390 423 444 533
Computer sciences 607 645 695 662 814 289 296 305 320 407
Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences 106 91 94 95 115 90 104 110 104 119
Family and consumer sciences and human sciences 62 52 53 45 52 209 253 255 239 215
Mathematics and statistics 265 259 264 243 231 156 150 157 152 129
Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary studies 75 89 104 103 121 113 144 186 149 197
Neurobiology and neuroscience 60 63 63 66 64 86 91 91 94 93
Physical sciences 426 395 396 400 397 352 341 343 323 324
Psychology 666 627 502 580 563 2,624 2,289 1,699 1,877 1,860
Social sciences 2,044 1,976 1,946 1,838 1,827 3,413 3,177 3,124 3,214 3,232
Engineering 1,437 1,350 1,373 1,314 1,451 635 676 690 700 664
Health 947 933 846 886 862 3,050 2,953 2,706 3,094 3,010
Black or African American students in HBCUs (number) 1,002 996 1,163 1,166 1,158 1,890 1,830 2,030 2,196 2,182
Science and engineering 904 883 1,034 1,025 999 1,533 1,429 1,601 1,656 1,582
Science 721 745 886 863 775 1,446 1,336 1,495 1,538 1,467
Agricultural sciences 33 38 52 47 45 59 56 69 69 65
Biological sciences 119 136 154 172 113 329 310 361 392 297
Communication 13 9 21 25 33 32 26 42 59 76
Computer sciences 60 69 117 107 92 39 45 65 49 42
Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences 17 15 17 11 17 13 25 29 29 34
Family and consumer sciences and human sciences 12 7 7 10 16 37 63 63 53 55
Mathematics and statistics 45 33 36 33 20 28 28 30 21 25
Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary studies 7 18 27 19 12 11 34 42 26 24
Neurobiology and neuroscience 3 3 3 4 4 8 4 4 3 3
Physical sciences 71 71 71 61 55 83 70 70 64 56
Psychology 40 39 39 81 79 186 134 142 270 298
Social sciences 301 307 342 293 289 621 541 578 503 492
Engineering 183 138 148 162 224 87 93 106 118 115
Health 98 113 129 141 159 357 401 429 540 600
Black or African American students in HBCUs (%) 12.7 12.9 15.2 15.3 14.6 14.1 14.2 16.6 16.8 16.6
Science and engineering 13.0 13.1 15.2 15.2 14.2 14.8 14.4 16.8 16.6 15.6
Science 13.1 13.8 16.4 15.9 13.8 14.8 14.4 16.9 16.6 15.5
Agricultural sciences 31.4 33.3 40.3 32.9 33.3 31.2 31.3 35.6 34.3 32.7
Biological sciences 12.8 14.5 15.4 16.0 10.5 17.4 16.9 18.3 18.3 13.8
Communication 8.8 5.7 12.1 13.8 15.5 9.8 6.7 9.9 13.3 14.3
Computer sciences 9.9 10.7 16.8 16.2 11.3 13.5 15.2 21.3 15.3 10.3
Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences 16.0 16.5 18.1 11.6 14.8 14.4 24.0 26.4 27.9 28.6
Family and consumer sciences and human sciences 19.4 13.5 13.2 22.2 30.8 17.7 24.9 24.7 22.2 25.6
Mathematics and statistics 17.0 12.7 13.6 13.6 8.7 17.9 18.7 19.1 13.8 19.4
Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary studies 9.3 20.2 26.0 18.4 9.9 9.7 23.6 22.6 17.4 12.2
Neurobiology and neuroscience 5.0 4.8 4.8 6.1 6.3 9.3 4.4 4.4 3.2 3.2
Physical sciences 16.7 18.0 17.9 15.3 13.9 23.6 20.5 20.4 19.8 17.3
Psychology 6.0 6.2 7.8 14.0 14.0 7.1 5.9 8.4 14.4 16.0
Social sciences 14.7 15.5 17.6 15.9 15.8 18.2 17.0 18.5 15.7 15.2
Engineering 12.7 10.2 10.8 12.3 15.4 13.7 13.8 15.4 16.9 17.3
Health 10.3 12.1 15.2 15.9 18.4 11.7 13.6 15.9 17.5 19.9
HBCU = historically black college or university.
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.
NOTE: Black or African American includes U.S. citizens and permanent residents who report a single race and are not of Hispanic origin.
SOURCE: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering.