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Table 31. Postdoctoral appointees with temporary visas in science, engineering, and health in all institutions, by field: 1979–2016

Year All science, engineering, and health Science and engineering Health
Total Science Engineering Total Clinical medicinea Other health
1979 6,065 4,994 4,341 653 1,071 897 174
1980 6,506 5,413 4,735 678 1,093 876 217
1981 7,294 5,935 5,227 708 1,359 1,128 231
1982 7,234 5,962 5,305 657 1,272 1,042 230
1983 7,519 6,193 5,499 694 1,326 1,105 221
1984 7,987 6,495 5,731 764 1,492 1,246 246
1985 8,859 7,189 6,276 913 1,670 1,376 294
1986 9,680 7,797 6,852 945 1,883 1,566 317
1987 10,748 8,483 7,534 949 2,265 1,900 365
1988 11,703 9,270 8,168 1,102 2,433 2,040 393
1989 13,069 10,221 8,950 1,271 2,848 2,403 445
1990 14,450 11,134 9,797 1,337 3,316 2,885 431
1991 15,730 12,050 10,443 1,607 3,680 3,265 415
1992 16,947 12,699 11,097 1,602 4,248 3,801 447
1993 17,595 13,030 11,427 1,603 4,565 4,079 486
1994 18,391 13,318 11,730 1,588 5,073 4,538 535
1995 17,784 13,337 11,688 1,649 4,447 3,952 495
1996 18,695 13,639 12,012 1,627 5,056 4,542 514
1997 19,565 14,429 12,547 1,882 5,136 4,577 559
1998 20,376 14,910 13,007 1,903 5,466 4,917 549
1999 21,916 16,255 14,077 2,178 5,661 5,093 568
2000 23,663 17,597 15,353 2,244 6,066 5,460 606
2001 24,932 18,123 15,936 2,187 6,809 6,090 719
2002 25,371 18,413 15,964 2,449 6,958 6,199 759
2003 27,065 20,124 17,447 2,677 6,941 6,111 830
2004 27,084 20,096 17,444 2,652 6,988 6,099 889
2005 27,048 20,378 17,625 2,753 6,670 5,712 958
2006 28,196 20,776 17,672 3,104 7,420 6,492 928
2007oldb 28,690 20,991 17,674 3,317 7,699 6,654 1,045
2007newb 28,737 21,116 17,768 3,348 7,621 6,494 1,127
2008 29,249 21,929 18,366 3,563 7,320 6,255 1,065
2009 30,700 22,629 18,588 4,041 8,071 6,876 1,195
2010c,d 33,284 23,890 19,558 4,332 9,394 8,128 1,266
2011d 32,927 23,781 19,629 4,152 9,146 7,993 1,153
2012 32,987 23,627 19,262 4,365 9,360 8,112 1,248
2013 32,396 23,138 18,738 4,400 9,258 7,944 1,314
2014olde 32,749 23,458 18,955 4,503 9,291 7,977 1,314
2014newe 33,498 24,170 19,655 4,515 9,328 8,009 1,319
2015 35,135 25,702 20,567 5,135 9,433 8,020 1,413
2016 34,902 25,532 20,326 5,206 9,370 7,979 1,391
a Clinical medicine includes postdoctoral (postdoc) appointees in anesthesiology; cardiology; endocrinology; gastroenterology; hematology; neurology; obstetrics and gynecology; oncology and cancer research; ophthalmology; otorhinolaryngology; pediatrics; preventive medicine and community health; psychiatry; pulmonary disease; radiology; surgery; and clinical medicine, not elsewhere classified.
b 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.
c In 2010, the postdoc section of the survey was expanded, and significant effort was made to ensure that appropriate personnel were providing postdoc data (see appendix A for more information). Thus, it is unclear how much of the increases in 2010 and later years over 2009 and prior years are from growth in postdoc appointments and how much are from improved data collection. More information on the changes to the postdoc data collection is available at https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf13334/.
d Postdoc data from 2010 and 2011 were reimputed following the 2012 data collection; these data supersede those contained in previous reports.
e 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: "Field" refers to the field of the unit that reports postdocs to the Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering.
SOURCE: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering.