Doctorates in Physics and Engineering Plummet during Late 1990s

The National Science Foundation reports the number of doctorate awards from U.S. universities in physics, after hitting a record high in 1994, fell 22 percent by the year 2000. Doctorates in engineering declined 15 percent by the year 2000 from the 1996 peak.



The declines were a result of a decrease of awards made to non-U.S. citizens, according to the April InfoBrief "Declines in U.S. Doctorate Awards in Physics and Engineering." Specifically, 59 percent of the decline in physics awards and 74 percent of engineering doctorates are accounted for by non-U.S. citizens, especially from several East Asian countries. Drops in students from China represented half of the total decline for doctorates in physics. The percentage of doctorates in physics awarded to U.S. citizens remained relatively flat during the period, accounting for 50.97 percent in 1994 and 51.62 percent in 2000. Actual values for doctorates to U.S. citizens were 789 in 1994 and 622 in 2000.



Two-thirds of the decline in engineering doctorates is explained through decreases in students from China, South Korea and Taiwan. U.S. citizens earned a high of 2,739 engineering doctorates in 1997; the total fell to 2,206 by 2000.



The issue brief, based on NSF's Survey of Earned Doctorates for 2000, is available at: http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/infbrief/nsf02316/start.htm