This indicator is a relative measure of a state’s population with graduate training in SEH and is defined as the ratio of SEH graduate students to a state’s population ages 25–34. Graduate students are counted based on the state of their university and include state residents, residents of other states, and noncitizens. The numerator includes graduate students at both public and private institutions. The denominator includes all state residents ages 25–34 and was chosen to approximate the age of most graduate students.

Data on SEH graduate students are counts obtained from academic institutions in the United States that offer doctoral or master’s degree programs in any SEH field: physical, computer, agricultural, biological, earth, atmospheric, ocean, and social sciences; psychology; mathematics; engineering; and health-related fields. In 2014, previously eligible for-profit institutions were removed from the survey frame to exclude practitioner-oriented graduate programs. The overall impact on graduate student data was minimal, though some state-level estimates were disproportionately affected. In 2017, graduate student fields of study were updated to align with the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) Taxonomy of Disciplines to increase comparability to other NCSES surveys and more accurately reflect how disciplines are currently organized. This update resulted in several fields becoming ineligible (including architecture, communication, and public administration) and the reorganization of subfields within and across broad fields. Due to these changes, graduate student data for 2017 and subsequent years presented in the State Indicators are not directly comparable to previously collected data. Users interested in longer-term trends should see the Public Use Files section of the Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering https://ncses.nsf.gov/explore-data/microdata/graduate-students-postdoctorates-s-e for more information.

Estimates of the population ages 25–34 are provided by the Census Bureau based on the decennial census and are reported by the state of residence. Each year, the Census Bureau utilizes current data on births, deaths, and migration to calculate population change since the most recent decennial census and produces time-series estimates of population. Estimates for states with smaller populations are generally less precise than estimates for states with larger populations.

A high value for this indicator may suggest the successful provision of graduate training in SEH fields. Student mobility after graduation is not accounted for, which may make this indicator less meaningful in predicting the qualifications of a state’s future technical workforce. A state’s value for this indicator may also be high when its higher education system draws a large percentage of out-of-state students, a situation that sometimes occurs in states with small resident populations and in the District of Columbia. Small differences in the value of the indicator between states or across years generally are not meaningful.

Data sources: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering; Census Bureau, Decennial Census and Population Estimates Program.