New NSF Data Show Jump in Science and Engineering Graduate Enrollment
Susan T. Hill, NSF Project Manager (sthill@nsf.gov)

A new publication from the National Science Foundation shows that enrollment in U.S. science and engineering (S&E) graduate programs in 2007 grew 3.3% over comparable data for 2006—the highest year-over-year increase since 2002, and nearly double the 1.7% increase seen in 2006. Science programs added the most students in absolute numbers, but engineering’s percentage growth over 2006, 5.9%, was substantially higher than that of science, which grew by 2.4%. Enrollment in computer sciences programs was up 2.7%, the first increase since 2002. The proportion of foreign students enrolled in S&E graduate programs in 2007 remained below its 2002 high, despite a total year-over-year increase of 4.6%. New full-time enrollments of foreign students were up 8.3% over 2006. You can find the report at: http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/gradpostdoc/.

Data from the 2007 Graduate Student Survey (GSS) are also available in public use files at http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/srvygradpostdoc/pub_data.cfm. The organization is easy to use and makes each year’s institution, school, and organizational unit data available in a single record. The files also allow researchers to link to other institutional data sources. Public-use data are available in a single cumulative data file by year, and are available in multiple formats.

For more information, please contact the new project manager at the National Science Foundation, Susan T. Hill (sthill@nsf.gov).