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Table 4-13a. Physical sciences master's and doctoral student demographics, enrollment status, and funding: 2018

Characteristic All graduate students Master's students Doctoral students
Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent
Institutions 325 45.5 303 42.4 227 31.7
Schools 332 40.6 309 37.8 230 28.2
Units 782 4.0 560 2.9 549 2.8
All graduate students 42,075 100.0 6,075 100.0 36,000 100.0
Male 27,863 66.2 3,749 61.7 24,114 67.0
Female 14,212 33.8 2,326 38.3 11,886 33.0
U.S. citizens and permanent residentsa 25,614 60.9 4,326 71.2 21,288 59.1
Hispanic or Latino 2,540 6.0 612 10.1 1,928 5.4
Not Hispanic or Latino
American Indian or Alaska Native 78 0.2 24 0.4 54 0.2
Asian 2,277 5.4 378 6.2 1,899 5.3
Black or African American 1,007 2.4 327 5.4 680 1.9
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander 22 0.1 9 0.1 13 *
White 17,737 42.2 2,603 42.8 15,134 42.0
More than one race 853 2.0 161 2.7 692 1.9
Unknown ethnicity and race 1,100 2.6 212 3.5 888 2.5
Temporary visa holders 16,461 39.1 1,749 28.8 14,712 40.9
Part time 4,404 10.5 2,160 35.6 2,244 6.2
Full time 37,671 89.5 3,915 64.4 33,756 93.8
First time 8,277 19.7 1,657 27.3 6,620 18.4
Primary source of support for full-time studentsb
Federal 10,211 24.3 330 5.4 9,881 27.4
DOD 753 1.8 33 0.5 720 2.0
DOE 1,888 4.5 11 0.2 1,877 5.2
HHS 1,881 4.5 34 0.6 1,847 5.1
NIH 1,627 3.9 34 0.6 1,593 4.4
Other HHS 254 0.6 0 0.0 254 0.7
NASA 533 1.3 30 0.5 503 1.4
NSF 4,289 10.2 113 1.9 4,176 11.6
USDA 33 0.1 2 * 31 0.1
Other 834 2.0 107 1.8 727 2.0
Nonfederal 24,445 58.1 1,953 32.1 22,492 62.5
Institutional 22,423 53.3 1,845 30.4 20,578 57.2
Domestic 1,715 4.1 67 1.1 1,648 4.6
Foreign 307 0.7 41 0.7 266 0.7
Self-support 3,015 7.2 1,632 26.9 1,383 3.8
Primary mechanism of support for full-time studentsb
Fellowships 3,698 8.8 129 2.1 3,569 9.9
Research assistantships 13,764 32.7 508 8.4 13,256 36.8
Teaching assistantships 14,731 35.0 1,175 19.3 13,556 37.7
Traineeships 761 1.8 59 1.0 702 2.0
Other types of support 4,717 11.2 2,044 33.6 2,673 7.4
Self-support 3,015 7.2 1,632 26.9 1,383 3.8
Other 1,702 4.0 412 6.8 1,290 3.6
* = 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 Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering, 2018.