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Table 4-9a. Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean 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 225 32.0 211 30.0 153 21.8
Schools 227 27.9 213 26.2 153 18.8
Units 392 2.1 333 1.8 257 1.4
All graduate students 12,545 100.0 6,006 100.0 6,539 100.0
Male 6,899 55.0 3,296 54.9 3,603 55.1
Female 5,646 45.0 2,710 45.1 2,936 44.9
U.S. citizens and permanent residentsa 9,792 78.1 5,360 89.2 4,432 67.8
Hispanic or Latino 783 6.2 450 7.5 333 5.1
Not Hispanic or Latino
American Indian or Alaska Native 62 0.5 39 0.6 23 0.4
Asian 364 2.9 160 2.7 204 3.1
Black or African American 234 1.9 143 2.4 91 1.4
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander 15 0.1 8 0.1 7 0.1
White 7,510 59.9 4,134 68.8 3,376 51.6
More than one race 308 2.5 159 2.6 149 2.3
Unknown ethnicity and race 516 4.1 267 4.4 249 3.8
Temporary visa holders 2,753 21.9 646 10.8 2,107 32.2
Part time 2,641 21.1 1,899 31.6 742 11.3
Full time 9,904 78.9 4,107 68.4 5,797 88.7
First time 2,678 21.3 1,630 27.1 1,048 16.0
Primary source of support for full-time studentsb
Federal 2,555 20.4 667 11.1 1,888 28.9
DOD 187 1.5 89 1.5 98 1.5
DOE 131 1.0 34 0.6 97 1.5
HHS 31 0.2 10 0.2 21 0.3
NIH 29 0.2 10 0.2 19 0.3
Other HHS 2 * 0 0.0 2 *
NASA 410 3.3 68 1.1 342 5.2
NSF 1,283 10.2 265 4.4 1,018 15.6
USDA 25 0.2 9 0.1 16 0.2
Other 488 3.9 192 3.2 296 4.5
Nonfederal 5,755 45.9 2,283 38.0 3,472 53.1
Institutional 5,140 41.0 2,105 35.0 3,035 46.4
Domestic 515 4.1 152 2.5 363 5.6
Foreign 100 0.8 26 0.4 74 1.1
Self-support 1,594 12.7 1,157 19.3 437 6.7
Primary mechanism of support for full-time studentsb
Fellowships 1,130 9.0 117 1.9 1,013 15.5
Research assistantships 3,704 29.5 1,121 18.7 2,583 39.5
Teaching assistantships 2,785 22.2 1,391 23.2 1,394 21.3
Traineeships 60 0.5 10 0.2 50 0.8
Other types of support 2,225 17.7 1,468 24.4 757 11.6
Self-support 1,594 12.7 1,157 19.3 437 6.7
Other 631 5.0 311 5.2 320 4.9
* = 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.