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Table 4-13a. Physical sciences master's and doctoral student demographics, enrollment status, and funding: 2017

Characteristic All graduate students Master's students Doctoral students
Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent
Institutions 326 46.4 304 43.2 227 32.3
Schools 335 41.2 311 38.2 232 28.5
Units 758 4.0 558 3.0 535 2.9
All graduate students 41,829 100.0 6,368 100.0 35,461 100.0
Male 27,879 66.6 3,940 61.9 23,939 67.5
Female 13,950 33.4 2,428 38.1 11,522 32.5
U.S. citizens and permanent residentsa 25,397 60.7 4,416 69.3 20,981 59.2
Hispanic or Latino 2,261 5.4 559 8.8 1,702 4.8
Not Hispanic or Latino
American Indian or Alaska Native 87 0.2 26 0.4 61 0.2
Asian 2,208 5.3 383 6.0 1,825 5.1
Black or African American 954 2.3 314 4.9 640 1.8
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander 20 * 3 * 17 *
White 17,795 42.5 2,700 42.4 15,095 42.6
More than one race 838 2.0 163 2.6 675 1.9
Unknown ethnicity and race 1,234 3.0 268 4.2 966 2.7
Temporary visa holders 16,432 39.3 1,952 30.7 14,480 40.8
Part time 4,678 11.2 2,171 34.1 2,507 7.1
Full time 37,151 88.8 4,197 65.9 32,954 92.9
First time 8,260 19.7 1,651 25.9 6,609 18.6
Primary source of support for full-time studentsb
Federal 9,627 23.0 396 6.2 9,231 26.0
DOD 777 1.9 40 0.6 737 2.1
DOE 1,689 4.0 30 0.5 1,659 4.7
HHS 1,817 4.3 54 0.8 1,763 5.0
NIH 1,693 4.0 49 0.8 1,644 4.6
Other HHS 124 0.3 5 0.1 119 0.3
NASA 522 1.2 24 0.4 498 1.4
NSF 3,855 9.2 145 2.3 3,710 10.5
USDA 22 0.1 1 * 21 0.1
Other 945 2.3 102 1.6 843 2.4
Nonfederal 24,303 58.1 2,176 34.2 22,127 62.4
Institutional 22,218 53.1 2,002 31.4 20,216 57.0
Domestic 1,759 4.2 92 1.4 1,667 4.7
Foreign 326 0.8 82 1.3 244 0.7
Self-support 3,221 7.7 1,625 25.5 1,596 4.5
Primary mechanism of support for full-time studentsb
Fellowships 4,185 10.0 177 2.8 4,008 11.3
Research assistantships 13,391 32.0 618 9.7 12,773 36.0
Teaching assistantships 14,178 33.9 1,309 20.6 12,869 36.3
Traineeships 599 1.4 43 0.7 556 1.6
Other types of support 4,798 11.5 2,050 32.2 2,748 7.7
Self-support 3,221 7.7 1,625 25.5 1,596 4.5
Other 1,577 3.8 425 6.7 1,152 3.2
* = value < 0.05%.
DOD = Department of Defense; DOE = Department of Energy; HHS = Department of Health and Human Services; NASA = National Aeronautics and Space Administration; NIH = National Institutes of Health; NSF = National Science Foundation; USDA = Department of Agriculture.
a Ethnicity and race data are available only for U.S. citizens and permanent residents.
b Funding data are available only for full-time students.
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.