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Table 3-5. Primary mechanism of support for full-time graduate students in science, engineering, and health, by broad field: 2017

Broad field Total Fellowships Research assistantships Teaching assistantships Traineeships Other types of support
Self-support Other
Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent
All graduate students 480,788 41,408 8.6 108,633 22.6 88,323 18.4 12,249 2.5 190,693 39.7 39,482 8.2
Science 310,809 30,070 9.7 66,442 21.4 67,495 21.7 9,495 3.1 113,191 36.4 24,116 7.8
Agricultural sciences 6,766 431 6.4 3,796 56.1 866 12.8 14 0.2 1,280 18.9 379 5.6
Biological and biomedical sciences 71,866 9,412 13.1 22,095 30.7 10,569 14.7 6,293 8.8 18,312 25.5 5,185 7.2
Computer and information sciences 56,206 1,727 3.1 6,967 12.4 6,385 11.4 285 0.5 36,689 65.3 4,153 7.4
Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences 9,904 1,130 11.4 3,704 37.4 2,785 28.1 60 0.6 1,594 16.1 631 6.4
Mathematics and statistics 23,454 1,606 6.8 1,963 8.4 9,379 40.0 209 0.9 8,633 36.8 1,664 7.1
Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary studies 6,358 640 10.1 866 13.6 698 11.0 130 2.0 3,219 50.6 805 12.7
Natural resources and conservation 7,697 654 8.5 2,490 32.4 1,290 16.8 73 0.9 2,583 33.6 607 7.9
Physical sciences 37,151 4,185 11.3 13,391 36.0 14,178 38.2 599 1.6 3,221 8.7 1,577 4.2
Psychology 35,935 1,911 5.3 4,724 13.1 6,102 17.0 1,068 3.0 18,217 50.7 3,913 10.9
Social sciences 55,472 8,374 15.1 6,446 11.6 15,243 27.5 764 1.4 19,443 35.1 5,202 9.4
Engineering 123,107 9,298 7.6 37,144 30.2 17,004 13.8 1,450 1.2 48,450 39.4 9,761 7.9
Health 46,872 2,040 4.4 5,047 10.8 3,824 8.2 1,304 2.8 29,052 62.0 5,605 12.0
Clinical medicine 18,303 870 4.8 1,810 9.9 931 5.1 676 3.7 12,105 66.1 1,911 10.4
Other health 28,569 1,170 4.1 3,237 11.3 2,893 10.1 628 2.2 16,947 59.3 3,694 12.9
Master's students 245,010 6,535 2.7 21,681 8.8 24,193 9.9 1,992 0.8 165,485 67.5 25,124 10.3
Science 145,689 4,026 2.8 12,720 8.7 16,652 11.4 923 0.6 97,116 66.7 14,252 9.8
Agricultural sciences 3,609 140 3.9 1,853 51.3 486 13.5 6 0.2 918 25.4 206 5.7
Biological and biomedical sciences 23,889 541 2.3 2,276 9.5 3,081 12.9 136 0.6 15,905 66.6 1,950 8.2
Computer and information sciences 44,320 620 1.4 1,911 4.3 3,116 7.0 155 0.3 35,001 79.0 3,517 7.9
Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences 4,107 117 2.8 1,121 27.3 1,391 33.9 10 0.2 1,157 28.2 311 7.6
Mathematics and statistics 11,551 158 1.4 405 3.5 2,013 17.4 43 0.4 7,791 67.4 1,141 9.9
Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary studies 4,038 291 7.2 225 5.6 242 6.0 18 0.4 2,883 71.4 379 9.4
Natural resources and conservation 4,866 200 4.1 1,238 25.4 721 14.8 41 0.8 2,241 46.1 425 8.7
Physical sciences 4,197 177 4.2 618 14.7 1,309 31.2 43 1.0 1,625 38.7 425 10.1
Psychology 19,318 146 0.8 1,075 5.6 1,113 5.8 272 1.4 14,261 73.8 2,451 12.7
Social sciences 25,794 1,636 6.3 1,998 7.7 3,180 12.3 199 0.8 15,334 59.4 3,447 13.4
Engineering 63,532 1,661 2.6 6,982 11.0 5,519 8.7 574 0.9 42,257 66.5 6,539 10.3
Health 35,789 848 2.4 1,979 5.5 2,022 5.6 495 1.4 26,112 73.0 4,333 12.1
Clinical medicine 15,043 521 3.5 913 6.1 571 3.8 298 2.0 11,178 74.3 1,562 10.4
Other health 20,746 327 1.6 1,066 5.1 1,451 7.0 197 0.9 14,934 72.0 2,771 13.4
Doctoral students 235,778 34,873 14.8 86,952 36.9 64,130 27.2 10,257 4.4 25,208 10.7 14,358 6.1
Science 165,120 26,044 15.8 53,722 32.5 50,843 30.8 8,572 5.2 16,075 9.7 9,864 6.0
Agricultural sciences 3,157 291 9.2 1,943 61.5 380 12.0 8 0.3 362 11.5 173 5.5
Biological and biomedical sciences 47,977 8,871 18.5 19,819 41.3 7,488 15.6 6,157 12.8 2,407 5.0 3,235 6.7
Computer and information sciences 11,886 1,107 9.3 5,056 42.5 3,269 27.5 130 1.1 1,688 14.2 636 5.4
Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences 5,797 1,013 17.5 2,583 44.6 1,394 24.0 50 0.9 437 7.5 320 5.5
Mathematics and statistics 11,903 1,448 12.2 1,558 13.1 7,366 61.9 166 1.4 842 7.1 523 4.4
Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary studies 2,320 349 15.0 641 27.6 456 19.7 112 4.8 336 14.5 426 18.4
Natural resources and conservation 2,831 454 16.0 1,252 44.2 569 20.1 32 1.1 342 12.1 182 6.4
Physical sciences 32,954 4,008 12.2 12,773 38.8 12,869 39.1 556 1.7 1,596 4.8 1,152 3.5
Psychology 16,617 1,765 10.6 3,649 22.0 4,989 30.0 796 4.8 3,956 23.8 1,462 8.8
Social sciences 29,678 6,738 22.7 4,448 15.0 12,063 40.6 565 1.9 4,109 13.8 1,755 5.9
Engineering 59,575 7,637 12.8 30,162 50.6 11,485 19.3 876 1.5 6,193 10.4 3,222 5.4
Health 11,083 1,192 10.8 3,068 27.7 1,802 16.3 809 7.3 2,940 26.5 1,272 11.5
Clinical medicine 3,260 349 10.7 897 27.5 360 11.0 378 11.6 927 28.4 349 10.7
Other health 7,823 843 10.8 2,171 27.8 1,442 18.4 431 5.5 2,013 25.7 923 11.8
NOTE: Percentages may not add to total because of rounding.
SOURCE: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering, 2017.