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Chapter 8: State Indicators

Higher Education

Select Indicator: Bachelor's degrees conferred per 1,000 18–24 years old Bachelor's degrees in natural sciences and engineering conferred per 1,000 individuals 18–24 years old S&E degrees as share of higher education degrees conferred S&E graduate students per 1,000 25–34 years old Advanced S&E degrees as share of S&E degrees conferred Average undergraduate charge at public 4-year institutions State expenditures on student aid per full-time undergraduate student

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Quartiles | Findings | Description

S&E graduate students per 1,000 25–34 years old: 2003

S&E graduate students per 1,000 25–34 years old: 2003

Quartiles

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Findings

• The number of S&E graduate students in the United States grew 8% over the last decade, rising from approximately 434,000 in 1993 to nearly 469,000 in 2003.
  
  
• Individual states showed varying levels of graduate level S&E training, with 0.46% to 2.48% of their 25–34-year-old population pursuing S&E graduate studies.
  
  
• The District of Columbia is an outlier, with more than 7% of its 25–34-year-old population enrolled as S&E graduate students, reflecting a large concentration of S&E graduate programs in political science and public administration and a small resident population.
  
  
• Maine and Vermont show different involvement in undergraduate- and graduate-level S&E education as their rankings on these two indicators shift from the first to the fourth quartiles. These states emphasize undergraduate S&E education at the state level, and their students pursue graduate-level S&E education regionally and nationally.

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Description

Graduate students in science and engineering fields are a source of the technical leaders of the future. The ratio of S&E graduate students to a state's 25–34-year-old population is a broad measure of a state's investment in producing high-level scientists and engineers. The 25–34-year-old cohort was chosen to approximate the age of most graduate students. This cohort includes U.S. citizens and non-citizens as well as graduate students who come from other states and countries.

Data on S&E graduate students were collected by surveying all academic institutions in the United States that offer doctorate or master's degree programs in any science or engineering field, including physical, life, earth, ocean, atmospheric, computer, and social sciences; mathematics; engineering; and psychology. Graduate students who are enrolled in schools of nursing, public health, dentistry, veterinary medicine, and other health-related disciplines are not included.

National Science Foundation, Division of Science Resources Statistics
Science and Engineering Indicators 2006
Arlington, VA (NSB 06-01) [February 2006]