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Table 4-6a. Agricultural 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 84 11.9 83 11.8 52 7.4
Schools 84 10.3 83 10.2 52 6.4
Units 267 1.4 247 1.3 176 0.9
All graduate students 9,347 100.0 5,603 100.0 3,744 100.0
Male 4,385 46.9 2,502 44.7 1,883 50.3
Female 4,962 53.1 3,101 55.3 1,861 49.7
U.S. citizens and permanent residentsa 6,530 69.9 4,576 81.7 1,954 52.2
Hispanic or Latino 593 6.3 463 8.3 130 3.5
Not Hispanic or Latino
American Indian or Alaska Native 33 0.4 22 0.4 11 0.3
Asian 238 2.5 147 2.6 91 2.4
Black or African American 327 3.5 228 4.1 99 2.6
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander 8 0.1 4 0.1 4 0.1
White 4,985 53.3 3,466 61.9 1,519 40.6
More than one race 139 1.5 102 1.8 37 1.0
Unknown ethnicity and race 207 2.2 144 2.6 63 1.7
Temporary visa holders 2,817 30.1 1,027 18.3 1,790 47.8
Part time 2,581 27.6 1,994 35.6 587 15.7
Full time 6,766 72.4 3,609 64.4 3,157 84.3
First time 1,628 17.4 1,181 21.1 447 11.9
Primary source of support for full-time studentsb
Federal 1,135 12.1 518 9.2 617 16.5
DOD 25 0.3 14 0.2 11 0.3
DOE 24 0.3 8 0.1 16 0.4
HHS 48 0.5 19 0.3 29 0.8
NIH 42 0.4 17 0.3 25 0.7
Other HHS 6 0.1 2 * 4 0.1
NASA 14 0.1 4 0.1 10 0.3
NSF 106 1.1 28 0.5 78 2.1
USDA 715 7.6 349 6.2 366 9.8
Other 203 2.2 96 1.7 107 2.9
Nonfederal 4,351 46.5 2,173 38.8 2,178 58.2
Institutional 3,457 37.0 1,743 31.1 1,714 45.8
Domestic 824 8.8 411 7.3 413 11.0
Foreign 70 0.7 19 0.3 51 1.4
Self-support 1,280 13.7 918 16.4 362 9.7
Primary mechanism of support for full-time studentsb
Fellowships 431 4.6 140 2.5 291 7.8
Research assistantships 3,796 40.6 1,853 33.1 1,943 51.9
Teaching assistantships 866 9.3 486 8.7 380 10.1
Traineeships 14 0.1 6 0.1 8 0.2
Other types of support 1,659 17.7 1,124 20.1 535 14.3
Self-support 1,280 13.7 918 16.4 362 9.7
Other 379 4.1 206 3.7 173 4.6
* = 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.