NSF report detailing growth in graduate enrollment in science & engineering in the past decade

A recent report released by the National Science Foundation found that graduate enrollment in science and engineering grew substantially in the past decade.

Approximately 632,700 graduate students were enrolled in science, engineering and health programs in the United States as of fall 2010. This was a 30 percent increase from 493,000 students in 2000, according to the National Science Foundation's Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering.

The growth in first time, full-time graduate student enrollment in science, engineering, and health programs over this time was even greater, with a 50 percent increase from approximately 78,400 students in 2000 to almost 118,500 students in 2010.

Enrollment in biomedical engineering, which increased by over seven percent between 2009 and 2010, continues to be one of the fastest growing science and engineering fields and has experienced 165 percent growth--the most rapid growth over the last decade--from approximately 3,200 graduate students in 2000 to 8,500 students in 2010.