FIGURE 1-1 Total full-time and first-year S&E graduate enrollments, 1982-2002. SOURCE: National Science Foundation. 2004. Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering 2002. Arlington, VA: National Science Foundation. Enrollment numbers include medical fields.

The total number of S&E graduate students in US institutions has grown consistently over the last several decades; within that trend, the share of international graduate students has risen from 23.4 percent in 1982 to 34.5 percent in 2002 (see Figure 1-1). In 2002, international students received 19.5 percent of all doctorates awarded in the social and behavioral sciences, 18.0 percent in the life sciences, 35.4 percent in the physical sciences, and 58.7 percent in engineering⁴ (see Figure 1-2).

A recent study further delineates the changing demographics of graduate students in US institutions. In 1966, US-born males accounted for 71 percent of science and engineering PhD graduates, and 6 percent were awarded to US-born females; 23 percent of doctoral recipients were foreign-born. In 2000, 36 percent of doctoral recipients were US-born males,