The number of physics degrees earned in the U.S. continues to rise, with bachelor's and PhDs yet again reaching all-time highs. The 6,776 physics bachelor's degrees awarded in the 2011-2012 academic year represent an 8% increase over the previous year and an 86% increase from a recent low in 1999. Similarly, the number of PhDs (1,762) in…

Interest in astronomy degrees in the U.S. remains strong, with astronomy enrollments at or near all-time highs for the 2012-13 academic year. The total number of students taking an introductory astronomy course at a degree-granting physics or astronomy department is approaching 200,000. Enrollments in introductory astronomy courses have been…

The U.S. has experienced a sharp increase in the number of bachelor astronomy degrees awarded in recent years with about twice as many degrees now being awarded than a decade ago. There were 385 astronomy bachelor's degrees awarded in the 2011-12 academic year. The number of astronomy PhDs awarded in recent years is up about 50% from a decade…

The bachelor's data in this Focus On were all compiled from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). IPEDS is the core postsecondary education data system for the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) of the U.S. Department of Education. The PhD data in this focus on were all compiled from WebCASPAR, the integrated…

Physics and geoscience consistently rank near the bottom among all disciplines in their ability to attract and retain African American students. Before delving into these trends, it is important to establish a context for discussing the data and their implications. African Americans comprise 12.4% of the U.S. population, but their representation…

This roster contains detailed data from the annual Survey of Enrollments and Degrees conducted by the American Institute of Physics. The roster contains data reported by degree-granting physics departments in the United States for 1998-1999 introductory physics course enrollments, 1998-1999 degrees, and fall 1999 undergraduate majors and graduate…

About one-third of the physics majors in the class of 2001 took more than 4 years to complete their undergraduate studies. The most common reasons were receiving a double major and changing majors. There are 761 departments in the US that confer at least a bachelor's degree in physics. These programs produced 4091 bachelor's degrees in the class…

This roster contains detailed data from the annual Survey of Enrollments and Degrees conducted in the 2000-2001 academic year, which contacted all degree-granting physics departments in the United States. Of the 770 degree-granting physics departments, 751 (98%) contributed to the data on 1999-2000 introductory course enrollments, 1999-2000…

This roster contains detailed data from the annual Survey of Enrollments and Degrees conducted in the 2001-2002 academic year. The roster contains data reported by physics departments in the United States for their 2000-2001 introductory course enrollments, 2000-2001 degrees, and fall 2001 undergraduate major and graduate student enrollments. Of…

This roster contains detailed data from the annual Survey of Enrollments and Degrees. The survey was conducted in the 2002-2003 academic year. It includes all degree-granting physics departments in the United states. Presented in this roster are the data reported by those departments for their 2001-2002 introductory course enrollments, 2002-200…

This report looks at the characteristics, educational experiences and the short- and long-term goals of senior-level physics and astronomy majors at a point just before their graduation. It examines the factors that influenced them to study physics or astronomy as well as what they considered important when choosing which institution to attend.…

This report analyzes data on bachelor's degree recipients in physics or astronomy in 1997. Data are from a survey of senior-level physics majors (n=1,696) and the American Institute of Physics' Enrollments and Degrees Survey, and include text, tables, and graphs. The report notes that: (1) the number of undergraduates who received bachelor's…