Foreign Graduate Enrollment in Science 

and Engineering Continues to Rise While 

Overall Graduate Enrollment Remains Flat

by Ruth Heuer, Peter Einaudi, and Kelly H. Kang1

National Science Foundation g Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences g http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/

May 2014 NSF 14-313

T

 he number of U.S. citizens and 

permanent residents enrolled in 

science and engineering (S&E) graduate programs declined to 385,343 

students in 2012. The 1.7% drop from 

2011 was countered by a 4.3% increase 

in enrollment of foreign S&E graduate 

students on temporary visas, which 

rose to 176,075. Overall growth of S&E 

graduate student enrollment stalled for 

the second year in a row in 2012, after 

experiencing 2%–3% annual increases 

from 2005 to 2010. S&E graduate 

enrollment grew by less than 1% in 

2011 and 2012.

These and other findings are from the 

fall 2012 Survey of Graduate Students 

and Postdoctorates in Science and 

Engineering (GSS), cosponsored by 

the National Science Foundation (NSF) 

and the National Institutes of Health 

(NIH). 

Graduate Enrollment in S&E

S&E Graduate Student Profile

Between 2011 and 2012, S&E graduate 

enrollment declined among part-time 

students, women, and U.S. citizens and 

permanent residents across most ethnic 

and racial groups. A profile of S&E 

graduate enrollment by these characteristics is shown in table 1.

Enrollment of part-time S&E graduate 

students declined by 1.8% to 147,034 

students, and full-time enrollment grew 

by 0.8% to 414,384 students in 2012. 

Full-time students made up 73.8% of 

the S&E graduate student population.

Enrollment of female graduate students 

decreased in 2012 by 0.1% to 242,548. 

Although small, this was the first 

decline in S&E graduate enrollment 

of women observed in the GSS, which 

began collecting data on graduate 

enrollment by sex in 1977. Women 

made up 43.2% of the S&E graduate 

enrollment in 2012.

Among U.S. citizens and permanent 

residents, graduate enrollment in S&E 

declined across all ethnic and racial 

groups except Hispanics or Latinos 

and those reporting more than one 

race. In 2012 S&E graduate enrollment 

decreased by 2.7% to 31,338 for blacks 

or African Americans and by 2.1% to 

250,783 for whites, the first decline in 

enrollment for these groups in 10 years. 

Over the past decade, the distribution 

of enrollment by race has become more 

diverse, with whites making up 65.1% 

of the U.S. citizens and permanent 

resident graduate students in 2012, 

compared with 68.1% in 2003. 

Enrollment of foreign students rose in 

2012 by 4.3%. S&E graduate students 

holding temporary visas made up 31.4% 

of the 2012 S&E graduate enrollment, 

up from 30.1% in 2011 (figure 1).

S&E Graduate Enrollment by 

Field

After a decade of steady growth, the 

number of graduate students enrolled 

in science fields decreased overall by 

0.3% between 2011 and 2012 (table 2). 

Graduate enrollment in social sciences 

saw a substantial increase in 2011, 

which may have been influenced by the 

adoption of an updated classification 

of degree-granting program fields in 

the 2011 GSS.2

 The subsequent decline 

in this field in 2012 (-3.1 %) returned 

enrollment numbers to levels seen in 

previous years. Some of the year-toyear change may be due to changes 

in institutional reporting as well as to 

actual declines in enrollment.

Graduate enrollment in engineering 

fields rebounded in 2012, following 

a decline in 2011. The 1.3% increase 

(from 146,501 to 148,385 between 

2011 and 2012) in graduate students 

enrolled in engineering can be traced to 

certain engineering fields—chemical 

engineering, mechanical engineering, 
2 InfoBrief g NSF 14-313 May 2014 

% change

Characteristic 2003 2004 2005 2006 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2011–12

All graduate students in surveyed fields 474,645 475,873 478,275 486,287 502,375 516,199 529,275 545,685 556,532 560,941 561,418 0.1

Full time 339,028 340,529 341,742 349,802 362,976 371,542 383,560 398,498 409,107 411,168 414,384 0.8

Part time 135,617 135,344 136,533 136,485 139,399 144,657 145,715 147,187 147,425 149,773 147,034 -1.8

Male 276,248 274,008 271,967 275,181 284,080 288,926 297,278 307,936 316,051 318,209 318,870 0.2

Female 198,397 201,865 206,308 211,106 218,295 227,273 231,997 237,749 240,481 242,732 242,548 -0.1

U.S. citizens and permanent residentsb 327,181 332,022 338,513 343,603 353,142 365,091 369,781 382,342 390,403 392,160 385,343 -1.7

Hispanic or Latino 21,241 22,212 23,387 24,140 25,032 25,739 26,098 27,265 28,609 30,808 31,406 1.9

Not Hispanic or Latino

American Indian or Alaska Native 1,879 1,848 1,958 2,112 2,168 2,262 2,618 2,549 2,500 2,392 2,188 -8.5

Asianc 30,746 29,570 29,547 29,232 30,134 30,697 30,356 31,754 32,185 33,147 32,700 -1.3

Black or African American 24,174 24,624 25,248 25,664 26,565 27,637 28,680 29,973 31,094 32,197 31,338 -2.7

Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islanderc 1,040 1,075 1,027 947 1,145 1,200 1,121 1,125 1,088 1,008 920 -8.7

White 222,674 224,850 225,776 227,993 232,043 240,204 242,623 250,443 255,256 256,096 250,783 -2.1

More than one racec 423 493 528 501 543 551 1,319 2,300 4,989 6,103 7,578 24.2

Unknown ethnicity and race 25,004 27,350 31,042 33,014 35,512 36,801 36,966 36,933 34,682 30,409 28,430 -6.5

Temporary visa holders 147,464 143,851 139,762 142,684 149,233 151,108 159,494 163,343 166,129 168,781 176,075 4.3

b

Ethnicity and race data are available for U.S. citizens and permanent residents only.

c

 Reporting of ethnicity and race in the 2008–12 Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering (GSS) has been affected by changes in the 

reporting of ethnicity and race in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). In 2008, IPEDS respondents were asked to use a new race classification that 

included a category for two or more races and separate reporting of Native Hawaiians or Other Pacific Islanders from Asians. The new classification was optional in the 2008 

and 2009 IPEDS but mandatory starting in 2010 and may have contributed to a significant increase in GSS reporting of More than one race, not Hispanic or Latino.

TABLE 1. Graduate enrollment in science and engineering fields, by enrollment status, sex, citizenship, ethnicity, and race: 2003–12

SOURCE: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, NSF-NIH Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and 

Engineering.

a

In 2007, eligible fields were reclassified, newly eligible fields were added, and the survey was redesigned to improve coverage and coding of eligible units. "2007new" 

presents data as they were collected in 2007; "2007old" shows data as they would have been collected in prior years. Due to survey changes, counts should be used with 

caution for trend analysis. See http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf10307/ for more detail.

2007

olda

2007

newa

and metallurgical or materials engineering—showing growth over 4.5% 

between 2011 and 2012. Graduate 

enrollment in biomedical engineering 

stabilized in 2012, following several 

years of steady growth from 5,301 graduate students in 2003 to 9,157 in 2012. 

Totals in selected health fields are 

presented for comparison in table 

2. Further analysis of GSS graduate 

enrollment data for selected health 

fields, both for S&E graduate enrollment and for postdoctoral appointees 

(postdocs), are available from NIH (see 

“Data Sources and Limitations”).

Postdoctoral Appointees in 

S&E

S&E Postdoc Profile

The GSS also collects information 

about postdocs employed at U.S. 

FIGURE 1. Citizenship status of graduate students in science and engineering fields: 2008–12

0

100,000

200,000

300,000

400,000

500,000

600,000

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Temporary visa holders

U.S. citizens and permanent residents

All S&E graduate students

Graduate students

S&E = science and engineering.

SOURCE: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, NSF-NIH 

Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering.
May 2014 NSF 14-313 g InfoBrief 3 

% change

Field 2003 2004 2005 2006 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2011–12

All surveyed fields 567,121 574,463 582,226 597,643 607,823 619,499 631,489 631,645 632,652 626,820 627,243 0.1

Science and engineering 474,645 475,873 478,275 486,287 502,375 516,199 529,275 545,685 556,532 560,941 561,418 0.1

Science 347,268 352,307 357,710 363,246 372,120 384,523 391,419 401,008 407,291 414,440 413,033 -0.3

Agricultural sciences 13,197 13,445 13,123 13,016 13,222 13,528 14,153 15,200 15,656 16,129 16,234 0.7

Biological sciences 64,701 66,565 68,479 69,941 71,663 71,932 72,666 73,304 74,928 75,423 76,447 1.4

Computer sciences 53,696 50,016 47,978 47,653 48,959 48,246 49,553 51,161 51,546 51,234 51,789 1.1

Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences 14,620 15,131 14,836 14,920 14,675 14,100 14,389 14,839 15,655 15,820 16,069 1.6

Mathematical sciences 19,465 19,931 20,210 20,815 21,335 20,975 21,400 22,226 23,136 23,801 24,575 3.3

Physical sciences 34,298 35,761 36,375 36,901 37,111 36,824 37,319 38,149 38,973 39,694 39,928 0.6

Psychologyb 52,162 54,126 57,282 57,653 60,284 59,617 58,991 56,184 53,419 54,486 54,117 -0.7

Social sciences 95,129 97,332 99,427 102,347 104,871 103,150 103,384 107,820 109,220 111,661 108,169 -3.1

Other sciencesa, c ne ne ne ne ne 16,151 19,564 22,125 24,758 26,192 25,705 -1.9

Engineering 127,377 123,566 120,565 123,041 130,255 131,676 137,856 144,677 149,241 146,501 148,385 1.3

Aerospace engineering 4,048 4,089 4,170 4,482 4,616 4,616 4,902 5,266 5,540 5,691 5,069 -10.9

Architecturea ne ne ne ne ne 4,601 5,905 6,804 6,795 3,111 2,363 -24.0

Biomedical engineering 5,301 5,807 6,067 6,482 6,881 6,904 7,339 7,904 8,497 9,175 9,157 -0.2

Chemical engineering 7,516 7,452 7,173 7,261 7,383 7,584 7,892 8,188 8,668 8,828 9,222 4.5

Civil engineeringa 18,890 18,561 18,114 17,802 19,867 16,071 16,931 18,638 19,559 19,596 19,922 1.7

Electrical engineering 41,763 38,995 37,450 38,265 40,207 40,588 41,164 41,218 41,336 41,580 42,347 1.8

Industrial engineering 14,313 13,852 13,650 13,829 14,290 14,474 15,692 15,825 15,205 14,494 14,469 -0.2

Mechanical engineering 18,393 17,852 17,373 17,919 18,366 18,347 19,585 21,243 22,509 21,883 23,088 5.5

Metallurgical or materials engineering 5,131 5,059 5,160 5,268 5,365 5,314 5,539 5,863 6,274 6,649 6,985 5.1

Other engineering 12,022 11,899 11,408 11,733 13,280 13,177 12,907 13,728 14,858 15,494 15,763 1.7

Healthb, c 92,476 98,590 103,951 111,356 105,448 103,300 102,214 85,960 76,120 65,879 65,825 -0.1

Clinical medicinea, d 20,574 20,866 21,414 23,441 24,616 22,751 23,939 24,125 25,699 26,634 26,798 0.6

Other health 71,902 77,724 82,537 87,915 80,832 80,549 78,275 61,835 50,421 39,245 39,027 -0.6

NOTES: Use trend data with caution. Some of the trend changes in science fields between 2011 and 2012 may be related to changes in the eligibility of some fields due to 

2011 GSS code changes, particularly in social sciences, some due to real changes in enrollment; and other from changes in institutional reporting. See 

http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf13331/, appendix A, "Technical Notes," for details.

c

Includes communication, family and consumer sciences and human sciences, neuroscience, and multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary studies. These fields were added in 

2007, although some programs reported within them had been reported prior to 2007 within other fields.

b

 Beginning with 2008, more rigorous follow-up was done with institutions regarding exclusion of practitioner-oriented graduate degree programs in psychology and health. 

This change may impact trends in these fields.

TABLE 2. Graduate enrollment in science, engineering, and health, by field: 2003–12

SOURCE: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, NSF-NIH Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and 

Engineering.

ne = not eligible; data were not collected for this field prior to 2007.

a

In 2007, eligible fields were reclassified, newly eligible fields were added, and the survey was redesigned to improve coverage and coding of eligible units. "2007new" 

presents data collected in 2007; "2007old" shows data as they would have been collected in prior years. Due to survey changes, counts should be used with caution for trend 

analysis. See http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf10307/ for more detail.

d

Includes research-oriented graduate students in anesthesiology, cardiology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, hematology, neurology, obstetrics and gynecology, oncology 

and cancer research, ophthalmology, otorhinolaryngology, pediatrics, preventive medicine and community health, psychiatry, pulmonary disease, radiology, surgery, and 

clinical medicine, not elsewhere classified.

2007

olda

2007

newa

academic institutions (and their affiliates, such as research centers and hospitals) with graduate programs in S&E and 

selected health fields. A total of 43,841 

S&E postdocs were reported in 2012, a 

0.6% decrease from 2011 (table 3). 

The number of S&E postdocs dropped 

from 2011 to 2012 among men (-0.5%) 

and women (-0.9%). The share of 

female S&E postdocs has grown over 

the past decade from a steady 31%–33% 

through 2007 to about 36% in 2012.

The distribution of U.S. citizen and 

permanent resident S&E postdocs by 

ethnicity and race shows little change 

from when these data were first 

collected. The only noticeable changes 

were in the declining share of Asian 
4 InfoBrief g NSF 14-313 May 2014 

In 2012, missing values from the new 

postdoc and nonfaculty researcher 

data collected beginning in 2010 were 

imputed for the first time using more 

detailed imputation procedures. Therefore, the postdoc numbers in 2010 and 

2011 are different from the numbers 

released in previous years. The data 

in this InfoBrief supersede data in 

previous reports. 

This publication provides the first 

release of data from the fall 2012 GSS. 

Data tables from the 2012 GSS will be 

available at http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/

srvygradpostdoc/. Individual data tables 

are available in advance by contacting 

the NSF author.

Notes

1. Ruth Heuer and Peter Einaudi are 

with RTI International, Research 

Triangle Park, NC. For more information, contact Kelly H. Kang, Human 

Resources Statistics Program, National 

Center for Science and Engineering 

Statistics, National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 965, 

Arlington, VA 22230 (kkang@nsf.gov; 

703-292-7796).

2. For details, see appendix A, “Technical Notes,” of Graduate Students and 

Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering: Fall 2011 at http://www.nsf.

gov/statistics/nsf13331/.

3. The CIP provides a taxonomic 

scheme that supports the consistent reporting of fields of study and 

program completions activity. For more 

information, see http://nces.ed.gov/

ipeds/cipcode/.

postdocs in 2012 (16.5%), compared 

with the previous years (17.2% in 2011 

and 17.6% in 2010).

Since 2010, the share of S&E postdocs 

who hold temporary visas has remained 

steady at 53.9%. Although foreign postdocs still have the larger share of S&E 

postdocs, their share has decreased 

from a decade ago (59.8% in 2003).

S&E Postdocs by Field

Substantial growth in engineering fields 

over the past decade has continued to 

shift the distribution of postdocs across 

the broad categories of science and 

engineering. The proportion of postdocs 

in science in 2012 was 83.8%, down 

from 88.7% in 2003, and engineering 

made up 16.2% of S&E postdocs in 

2012, up from 11.3% in 2003.

In 2012, the number of postdocs 

in science fields declined by 1.6% 

(37,335 in 2011 and 36,738 in 2012). 

The decrease in 2012 is largely due to 

a decline in the number of postdocs in 

biological sciences (-4.8%) and physical 

sciences (-0.8%). The science fields with 

the largest growth in 2012 were earth, 

atmospheric, and ocean sciences (10.3%); 

mathematical sciences (8.7%); and other 

sciences, which includes the fields of 

neuroscience and multidisciplinary and 

interdisciplinary studies (7.3%). 

A decrease in the number of science 

postdocs in 2012 was partially offset 

by an increase in the number of engineering postdocs (4.7%). In 2012, the 

number of postdocs in engineering 

climbed to a new high of 7,103, nearly 

doubling the number since 2003. The 

two largest increases in the number of 

engineering postdocs from 2010 to 2012 

were in electrical engineering (11.3%) 

and mechanical engineering (10.8%).

Data Sources and 

Limitations

Conducted since 1966, the GSS is an 

annual survey of all academic institutions in the United States granting 

research-based master’s or doctoral 

degrees in science, engineering, or 

selected health (SEH) fields. The 2012 

GSS collected data from 13,952 organizational units (departments, programs, 

affiliated research centers, and health 

care facilities) at 565 institutions of 

higher education and their affiliates 

in the United States, Puerto Rico, and 

Guam. The institutional response rate 

was 99.3%. An overview of the survey 

is available at http://www.nsf.gov/

statistics/srvygradpostdoc/.

GSS health fields are collected under 

the advisement of NIH. These fields 

comprise about one-third of all health 

fields in the U.S. Department of Education’s Classification of Instructional 

Programs (CIP) taxonomy.3

 NIH information on trends seen within these 

selected health fields can be found at 

http://www.report.nih.gov/nihdatabook/.

In 2011, the GSS field taxonomy was 

updated to conform to the 2010 CIP. The 

impact on overall GSS counts as a result 

of this change was minimal. See appendix 

A, “Technical Notes,” in Graduate 

Students and Postdoctorates in Science 

and Engineering: Fall 2011 (NSF 

13-331) for additional information about 

the 2011 GSS field taxonomy updates.
May 2014 NSF 14-313 g InfoBrief 5 

% change

Field 2003 2004 2005 2006 2008 2009 2010b 2011 2012 2011–12

All postdocs in surveyed fields 46,728 47,240 48,555 49,343 50,712 50,840 54,164 57,805 63,439 62,639 62,851 0.3

Science and engineering 33,666 34,065 34,456 34,887 35,894 36,223 38,203 40,804 44,320 44,121 43,841 -0.6

Male 22,882 23,080 23,227 23,361 24,412 24,631 25,119 26,647 28,531 28,314 28,176 -0.5

Female 10,784 10,985 11,229 11,526 11,482 11,592 13,084 14,157 15,789 15,807 15,665 -0.9

U.S. citizens and permanent residentsc 13,542 13,969 14,078 14,111 14,903 15,107 16,274 18,175 20,430 20,340 20,214 -0.6

Hispanic or Latino na na na na na na na na 813 901 862 -4.3

Not Hispanic or Latino na na na na na na na na 16,332 16,357 16,006 -2.1

American Indian or Alaska Native na na na na na na na na 62 66 51 -22.7

Asian na na na na na na na na 3,592 3,502 3,330 -4.9

Black or African American na na na na na na na na 564 610 615 0.8

Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander na na na na na na na na 53 53 63 18.9

White na na na na na na na na 11,980 11,965 11,835 -1.1

More than one race na na na na na na na na 81 161 112 -30.4

Unknown ethnicity and race na na na na na na na na 3,285 3,082 3,346 8.6

Temporary visa holders 20,124 20,096 20,378 20,776 20,991 21,116 21,929 22,629 23,890 23,781 23,627 -0.6

Science 29,856 30,116 30,290 30,245 30,986 31,281 32,741 34,388 37,351 37,335 36,738 -1.6

Agricultural sciences 1,054 959 1,007 927 948 985 1,147 1,083 1,190 1,256 1,290 2.7

Biological sciences 18,625 18,716 18,747 18,807 19,218 19,109 19,827 20,159 21,726 21,107 20,086 -4.8

Computer sciences 355 384 406 467 516 456 493 594 763 759 760 0.1

Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences 1,182 1,263 1,364 1,495 1,322 1,250 1,339 1,424 1,740 1,774 1,956 10.3

Mathematical sciences 449 468 500 579 621 624 723 737 791 830 902 8.7

Physical sciences 6,829 7,059 7,011 6,703 6,760 6,719 6,885 7,447 7,583 7,490 7,430 -0.8

Psychology 960 902 884 873 1,106 1,088 1,077 1,219 1,132 1,124 1,132 0.7

Social sciences 402 365 371 394 495 483 508 561 711 774 799 3.2

 Other sciencesa, d ne ne ne ne ne 567 742 1,164 1,715 2,221 2,383 7.3

Engineering 3,810 3,949 4,166 4,642 4,908 4,942 5,462 6,416 6,969 6,786 7,103 4.7

Aerospace engineering 141 141 153 165 178 178 154 168 212 202 170 -15.8

Architecturea ne ne ne ne ne 5 11 22 10 16 6 -62.5

Biomedical engineering 388 425 477 591 640 640 710 960 1,023 1,069 1,161 8.6

Chemical engineering 686 689 702 735 758 790 880 1,084 1,077 1,137 1,098 -3.4

Civil engineeringa 300 313 384 458 419 417 465 535 571 551 590 7.1

Electrical engineering 646 654 689 721 885 884 987 1,025 1,095 1,035 1,152 11.3

Industrial engineering 45 50 51 51 73 71 115 109 151 121 127 5.0

Mechanical engineering 543 514 562 644 725 722 784 948 1,021 889 985 10.8

Metallurgical and materials engineering 539 567 578 571 555 564 605 758 841 860 854 -0.7

Other engineering 522 596 570 706 675 671 751 807 968 906 960 6.0

Health 13,062 13,175 14,099 14,456 14,818 14,617 15,961 17,001 19,119 18,518 19,010 2.7

SOURCE: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, NSF-NIH Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and 

Engineering.

TABLE 3. Postdoctoral appointees in science, engineering, and health, by sex, citizenship, ethnicity, race, and field: 2003–12

na = not applicable; data were not collected at this level of detail. ne = not eligible; data were not collected for this field prior to 2007.

a

In 2007, eligible fields were reclassified, newly eligible fields were added, and the survey was redesigned to improve coverage and coding of eligible units. "2007new" 

presents data as they were collected in 2007; "2007old" shows data as they would have been collected in prior years. Due to survey changes, counts should be used with 

caution for trend analysis. See http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf10307/ for more detail.

c

Ethnicity and race data were collected for postdocs starting in 2010 and are available for U.S. citizens and permanent residents only.

d

 Includes communication, family and consumer sciences and human sciences, neuroscience, and multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary studies. These fields were added in 

2007, although some programs reported within them had been reported prior to 2007 within other fields.

b

In 2010, the postdoc section of the survey was expanded, and significant effort was made to ensure that appropriate personnel were providing postdoc data. As a result, it is 

unclear how much of the increase in postdoc counts from 2009 to 2010 is real and how much is due to improved data collection. More information on the changes to the 

postdoc data collection is available at http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf13334/. Postdoc data from 2010 and 2011 were revised in 2012 based on new imputation 

procedures; these data supersede those contained in previous reports.

2007

olda

2007

newa
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