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2021 Graduate Enrollment in Science, Engineering, and Health Fields at All-Time High as Postdocs Continue to Decline

Enrollment patterns for students pursuing graduate degrees in science, engineering, and selected health (SEH) fields have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The enrollment declines seen in 2020 among temporary visa holders and first-time, full-time master’s and doctoral students were reversed in 2021 by matriculation increases in doctoral and especially master’s students. Enrollment increases were driven by a 44.3% increase in first-time, full-time master’s students and by a 13.4% increase in first-time, full-time doctoral students between 2020 and 2021. Full-time master’s enrollment in 2021 was 287,022, while full-time doctoral enrollment was 256,980. These numbers represent the highest enrollments reported since separate data for master’s and doctoral students became available in 2017 (figure 1, table 1). Conversely, overall postdoctoral (postdoc) appointments declined by 3.6% since 2020 and by 2.2% since 2017. Postdoc declines were seen across all broad field groups between 2020 and 2021: -4.1% in science fields, -1.3% in engineering fields, and -3.8% in health fields. These data align with 5-year trends reported by the 2020 Survey of Earned Doctorates, which showed declines in the percentage of recent doctorate recipients committing to postdoc positions, and support several recent anecdotal accounts documented by journalists of postdoc recruiting challenges and position vacancies across science and engineering (S&E) disciplines.

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Graduate enrollment, by citizenship and enrollment status: 2017–21

(Number)
Year Temporary visa holders: master's, part time Temporary visa holders: master's, full time Temporary visa holders: doctorate, part time Temporary visa holders: doctorate, full time U.S. citizens and permanent residents: master's, part time U.S. citizens and permanent residents: master's, full time U.S. citizens and permanent residents: doctorate, part time U.S. citizens and permanent residents: doctorate, full time
2017 23,002 103,689 9,239 96,701 110,575 141,321 25,508 139,077
2018 20,902 99,019 9,066 100,739 121,757 149,533 25,133 142,158
2019 20,516 100,342 8,652 104,103 133,180 154,190 25,327 143,807
2020 24,080 76,093 9,861 100,728 146,539 167,766 25,818 146,928
2021 20,840 108,090 9,285 106,376 158,959 178,932 27,417 150,604
Source(s):

National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering.

Graduate enrollment in science, engineering, and health, by degree level, enrollment status, citizenship, sex, ethnicity, and race: 2017–21

(Number and percent change)

a Race and ethnicity data are available for U.S. citizens and permanent residents only.

Source(s):

National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering.

These and other findings in this report are from the 2021 Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering (GSS), with comparisons to data from 2017 to 2021. Data from the GSS provide insight into the composition of the current and future S&E workforce by collecting data on graduate students in SEH fields, postdocs, and doctorate-holding nonfaculty researchers (NFRs). The GSS is sponsored by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) within the National Science Foundation and by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Temporary Visa Holders

The enrollment of temporary visa holders in SEH master’s and doctoral programs declined between 2019 and 2020. However, enrollments of students on a temporary visa recovered in 2021, led by a 42.0% increase in full-time master’s students (to 108,090 students), and a 5.6% increase in full-time doctoral students (to 106,373 students). First-time, full-time enrollments of temporary visa holders increased considerably between 2020 and 2021, with a 189.6% increase for first-time, full-time master’s students (from 22,381 to 64,805 students), and a 42.7% increase (from 13,429 to 19,163) for first-time, full-time doctoral students.

Despite this larger-than-average recent growth, over the past 5 years temporary visa holders as a percentage of all master’s and doctoral students have declined for full- and part-time master’s students and for part-time doctoral students. The percentage of full-time doctoral students with temporary visas was stable (41.0% in 2017 and 41.4% in 2021) (table 1, figure 2).

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Temporary visa holders' share of graduate enrollment, by degree level and enrollment status: 2017–21

(Percent share)
Year Master's, part time Master's, full time Doctorate, part time Doctorate, full time
2017 17.2 42.3 26.6 41.0
2018 14.7 39.8 26.5 41.5
2019 13.3 39.4 25.5 42.0
2020 14.1 31.2 27.6 40.7
2021 11.6 37.7 25.3 41.4
Source(s):

National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering.

U.S. Citizens and Permanent Residents

Enrollment of U.S. citizens and permanent residents increased from 2020 to 2021 for both degree levels (master’s and doctoral) and enrollment status (part time and full time). Among U.S. citizen and permanent residents with first-time, full-time enrollment between 2020 and 2021, the number of master’s students increased 3.5% (from 79,715 to 82,497) but the number of doctoral students declined slightly (from 27,744 to 27,533, or -0.8%) (table 1).

Year-over-year enrollment patterns by sex, race, and ethnicity were variable. Enrollment of female full-time master’s and doctoral students increased by 8.1% (8,163 students) and 4.8% (3,511 students), respectively. Meanwhile, male full-time master’s and doctoral student enrollment increased by a more modest 4.5% (3,003 students) and 0.2% (165 students), respectively (table 1).

Enrollment among Hispanic or Latino and Black or African American graduate students showed continued annual growth. Hispanic or Latino full-time master’s enrollment increased by 10.1% (2,465 students) from 2020 to 2021, while doctoral enrollment increased by 8.9% (1,450 students). Over the same period, Black or African American full-time enrollment increased by 5.9% for master's students (944 students) and by 8.7% for doctoral students (747 students). Asian full-time master’s and doctoral enrollments increased by 17.1% (3,163 students) and by 8.9% (1,426 students), respectively. Meanwhile, White enrollment increased by 4.4% (4,151 students) for full-time master’s students but declined by 0.2% (-201 students) for full-time doctoral students (table 1).

Viewed over a 5-year period, students who are underrepresented minorities (URM)—Hispanic or Latino, Black or African American, and American Indian or Alaska Native—have increased their overall representation among all U.S. citizen and permanent resident graduate students regardless of degree level or enrollment status. For example, URM constituted 15.0% of all full-time doctoral students in 2017 and 18.4% in 2021. For full-time master’s students, URM represented 21.1% of the total enrollment in 2017 and 24.9% in 2021 (table 1, figure 3).

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Underrepresented minorities' share of graduate enrollment, by degree level and enrollment status: 2017–21

(Percent)
Year Master's, part time Master's, full time Doctorate, part time Doctorate, full time
2017 21.8 21.1 17.1 15.0
2018 22.2 22.1 17.8 15.8
2019 22.8 22.9 19.4 16.7
2020 23.7 24.5 20.2 17.4
2021 24.3 24.9 20.8 18.4
Note(s):

Analysis limited to U.S. citizens and permanent residents.

Source(s):

National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering.

Demographics of Postdocs

The declines in postdoc appointments are unevenly distributed among U.S. citizens and permanent residents and temporary visa holders. Postdocs holding temporary visas declined by 7.0% (-2,493) between 2020 and 2021 and by 3.8% (-1,325) since 2017. Postdocs among U.S. citizens and permanent residents increased by 0.4% (108) between 2020 and 2021, while declining by 0.4% (-112) since 2017. Among U.S. citizens and permanent residents, Hispanic or Latino postdocs increased by 5.7% (115) from 2020 to 2021 and by 29.1% (483) since 2017. Black or African American postdocs in 2021 increased by 6.6% (71) over the previous year and by 13.1% (133) since 2017 (table 4).

Postdoctoral appointees, by citizenship, sex, ethnicity, and race: 2017–21

(Number and percent change)

a Race and ethnicity data are available for U.S. citizens and permanent residents only.

Source(s):

National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering.

Field of Research

From 2020 to 2021, trends in postdocs and NFRs continued to diverge with respect to field of research. Postdoc appointments declined in SEH, while NFR employment increased.

From 2020 to 2021, postdocs declined by 4.1% (-1,570) in science, by 3.8% (-708) in health, and by 1.3% (-107) in engineering. However, several individual broad fields had notable 1-year percentage gains. The top three growing fields for postdoc appointments by percentage were aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering (19.7%, or 46), natural resources and conservation (7.5%, or 63), and computer and information sciences (6.7%, or 55). Biological and biomedical sciences remained the largest field for postdoc appointments with 20,182 postdocs, but it reported the largest numeric loses across all fields from both 2017 (-1,599 postdocs) and 2020 (-1,720 postdocs). From 2017 to 2021, only engineering had an increase (6.6%, or 516 postdocs), led by a 20.4% (164 postdocs) increase in civil, environmental, transportation and related engineering fields (table 3).

In 2021, NFR employment increased from both 2017 (9.0%, or 2,545 NFRs) and 2020 (3.6%, or 1,064 NFRs). From 2020 to 2021, mathematics and statistics had the largest 1-year percentage increase (20.9%, or 42 NFRs), while clinical medicine had the largest numeric increase (4.0%, or 258 NFRs). Similar to postdoc employment, biological and biomedical sciences remained the largest field for NFR employment, with 8,208 NFRs reported. From 2017 to 2021, notable 5-year gains were seen in agricultural and veterinary sciences (up 82.7%, or 410 NFRs), natural resources and conservation (up 71.7%, or 261 NFRs), and psychology (up 62.6%, or 309 NFRs) (table 3).

Data Sources and Limitations

Conducted since 1966, the GSS is an annual survey of all academic institutions in the United States that grant research-based master’s or doctoral degrees in SEH fields. The 2021 GSS collected data from 21,365 organizational units (departments, programs, affiliated research centers, and health care facilities) at 699 eligible institutions and their affiliates in the United States, Puerto Rico, and Guam. The unit response rate was 98.2%. An overview of the survey is available at https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/srvygradpostdoc/.

In 2020, the GSS amended its taxonomy to align with a revised NCSES TOD and 2020 NCES CIP. The 2017 to 2019 GSS counts were not reclassified using the 2020 CIP. Unlike the taxonomy changes in 2017, the only newly ineligible CIP codes were those dropped by the 2020 CIP. As such, these changes did not lead to a large shift in overall reported GSS counts, and data remain comparable to data from 2017 to 2019. Additionally, new CIP codes, such as data science and medical clinical sciences, were added, along with other codes in GSS-eligible series; while these CIP codes are newly eligible, a review of unit names from prior years indicates that many of them were being reported prior to 2020. Some additional adjustments to allow for further detail in some fields were made to the GSS taxonomy based on the 2020 CIP codes reported to GSS. Finally, similar to the science and health groups, broad fields were added to the engineering group.

At the field level, there were some notable changes that may impact trends. First, consistent with the 2020 CIP and TOD, veterinary biomedical and clinical sciences moved from the health sciences to agricultural sciences (which was then renamed agricultural and veterinary sciences). Human development is now reported under psychology, rather than social sciences, to align with the 2020 TOD. Finally, 22 new 2020 CIP codes were added to multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary studies; the addition of these CIP codes likely moved units that were already reported (i.e., many units named data science are now reported with new CIP codes that map to the new data science and data analytics GSS code). For more information about the 2020 GSS taxonomy change, see tables A-17, A-18a, and A-18b in the 2020 data tables (https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf22319).

In 2017, the GSS was redesigned to collect demographic and financial support data separately for master’s and doctoral students so as to prioritize electronic data interchange (EDI) as the primary means of data submission and to utilize the Department of Education’s CIP codes to report fields of study for graduate student enrollment data. More information regarding the 2017 GSS redesign is available in the “Technical Notes” for the 2019 data tables (https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf21318#technical-notes). Due to these changes, the data for 2017 and beyond are not directly comparable to previously collected GSS data. Trend comparisons can be made using the “2017old” estimates in the 2017 data tables, which are available at https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/gradpostdoc/2017/.

GSS health fields are collected under the advisement of NIH. These GSS fields are about a third of all health fields in the Department of Education’s CIP taxonomy. NIH information on trends seen within these selected health fields can be found at https://report.nih.gov/nihdatabook/.

The full set of data tables from the 2021 survey is available at https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/srvygradpostdoc/. Data are also available in NCSES’s interactive data tool (https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/ids/gss). For more information about the survey, contact the GSS Survey Manager, Michael Yamaner.

A related InfoBrief based on the 2020 COVID Impact Module that was conducted as part of the 2020 GSS is available at https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf22313.

Notes

1Between 2015 and 2020, the percentage of SED respondents stating that their immediate postgraduate plan was a postdoc position declined in five out of six S&E broad fields. See 2020 SED Digest, figure 23 (https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf22300/report/postgraduation-trends, accessed 26 August 2022) and table 44 (https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf22300/data-tables, accessed 26 August 2022). See also Langin K. 2022. U.S. Labs Face Severe Postdoc Shortage. Science 376(6600):1369–70. https://www.science.org/content/article/professors-struggle-recruit-postdocs-calls-structural-change-academia-intensify. Accessed 24 August 2022.

2EDI is a method for transferring data between computer systems or networks using a standardized format. CIP is a taxonomy used for reporting postsecondary fields to the Department of Education for the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, a mandatory survey for institutions receiving federal financial aid. Most institutions in the GSS already use CIP codes to report data on graduate students. The CIP taxonomy was developed by NCES, which updates the taxonomy about once a decade; CIP was last revised in 2020. For more information, see https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/cipcode/.

Suggested Citation

Gordon J, Davies C, Yamaner MI; National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES). 2023. 2021 Graduate Enrollment in Science, Engineering, and Health Fields at All-Time High as Postdocs Continue to Decline. NSF 23-311. Alexandria, VA: National Science Foundation. Available at https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf23311.

Contact Us

Report Author(s)

Jonathan Gordon
RTI International, under contract to NCSES

Christopher Davies
RTI International, under contract to NCSES

Caren Arbeit
RTI International, under contract to NCSES

Michael I. Yamaner
Survey Manager
NCSES
Tel: (703) 292-7815
E-mail: myamaner@nsf.gov

NCSES

National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics
Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences
National Science Foundation
2415 Eisenhower Avenue, Suite W14200
Alexandria, VA 22314
Tel: (703) 292-8780
FIRS: (800) 877-8339
TDD: (800) 281-8749
E-mail: ncsesweb@nsf.gov

NSF 23-311

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January 17, 2023