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Table 4-15a. Social 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 407 57.9 390 55.5 206 29.3
Schools 424 52.1 405 49.8 211 25.9
Units 1,985 10.6 1,588 8.5 934 5.0
All graduate students 76,286 100.0 41,208 100.0 35,078 100.0
Male 35,190 46.1 18,021 43.7 17,169 48.9
Female 41,096 53.9 23,187 56.3 17,909 51.1
U.S. citizens and permanent residentsa 56,778 74.4 33,717 81.8 23,061 65.7
Hispanic or Latino 6,954 9.1 4,685 11.4 2,269 6.5
Not Hispanic or Latino
American Indian or Alaska Native 458 0.6 287 0.7 171 0.5
Asian 3,279 4.3 1,722 4.2 1,557 4.4
Black or African American 5,774 7.6 3,918 9.5 1,856 5.3
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander 112 0.1 67 0.2 45 0.1
White 34,634 45.4 19,679 47.8 14,955 42.6
More than one race 2,044 2.7 1,201 2.9 843 2.4
Unknown ethnicity and race 3,523 4.6 2,158 5.2 1,365 3.9
Temporary visa holders 19,508 25.6 7,491 18.2 12,017 34.3
Part time 20,814 27.3 15,414 37.4 5,400 15.4
Full time 55,472 72.7 25,794 62.6 29,678 84.6
First time 18,106 23.7 12,674 30.8 5,432 15.5
Primary source of support for full-time studentsb
Federal 2,669 3.5 1,068 2.6 1,601 4.6
DOD 521 0.7 421 1.0 100 0.3
DOE 15 * 7 * 8 *
HHS 248 0.3 23 0.1 225 0.6
NIH 179 0.2 18 * 161 0.5
Other HHS 69 0.1 5 * 64 0.2
NASA 24 * 8 * 16 *
NSF 732 1.0 89 0.2 643 1.8
USDA 233 0.3 70 0.2 163 0.5
Other 896 1.2 450 1.1 446 1.3
Nonfederal 33,360 43.7 9,392 22.8 23,968 68.3
Institutional 31,494 41.3 8,685 21.1 22,809 65.0
Domestic 1,351 1.8 487 1.2 864 2.5
Foreign 515 0.7 220 0.5 295 0.8
Self-support 19,443 25.5 15,334 37.2 4,109 11.7
Primary mechanism of support for full-time studentsb
Fellowships 8,374 11.0 1,636 4.0 6,738 19.2
Research assistantships 6,446 8.4 1,998 4.8 4,448 12.7
Teaching assistantships 15,243 20.0 3,180 7.7 12,063 34.4
Traineeships 764 1.0 199 0.5 565 1.6
Other types of support 24,645 32.3 18,781 45.6 5,864 16.7
Self-support 19,443 25.5 15,334 37.2 4,109 11.7
Other 5,202 6.8 3,447 8.4 1,755 5.0
* = 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.