Communications of the ACM
No Growth in Science and Engineering Graduate Enrollments
Credit: University of Colorado Denver
Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) graduate enrollments among U.S. citizens and permanent residents in 2012 fell for the first time in the last decade, while enrollments for temporary visa holders increased, according to a new U.S. National Science Foundation report.
Overall enrollments grew only 0.1 percent, reaching 561,418 in 2012 compared to 560,941 in 2011. Without temporary visa holders, graduate enrollments fell 1.7 percent, marking the only decline in the 2003-2012 timeframe covered by the report. Over this same period, the U.S. government, states, and private companies have spent billions of dollars improving STEM education and urging U.S. students to pursue STEM careers. The Race to the Top program, for example, prioritizes STEM education and provides $4.85 billion in federal funding for states.
The reasons for the decrease in U.S. citizens and permanent residents enrolling in STEM graduate programs in 2012 remain unclear, but the decline was consistent across most ethnic groups. However, among individual disciplines covered in the report, those categorized as "science" fared worse, declining 0.3 percent in 2012, while those categorized as "engineering" increased 1.3 percent.
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