First-time enrollment in graduate programs increased by 2.5 percent between fall 2018 and fall 2019

Full report

First-time enrollment in graduate programs increased by 2.5 percent between fall 2018 and fall 2019 even while the number of applications to graduate programs dipped slightly, by 0.6 percent, according to a new survey conducted by the Council of Graduate Schools and the Graduate Record Examinations Board.

The CGS/GRE Survey of Graduate Enrollment and Degrees is the comprehensive source of information on master’s/other and doctoral program applications, enrollment, and degrees in the United States. This report highlights findings from Fall 2019 with detailed data tables. Below are key points from this year’s survey. 

HIGHLIGHTS BY SELECTED INSTITUTIONAL TYPES 

• Overall, applications for admission to graduate school in Fall 2019 flattened (-0.6%). The change of applications was driven by Doctoral Universities with Very High Research Activities and Doctoral Universities with High Research Activities (0.4% and 1.1%, respectively), with a decrease in applications to Doctoral/Professional Universities as well as to Master’s Colleges and Universities (-9.9% and -2.8%, Table C.1).

 • First-time enrollment increased by 2.5% overall between Fall 2018 and Fall 2019. This includes a 3.2% increase in Doctoral Very High Research Institutions, 3.0% increase in Doctoral Universities with High Research Activities, and 0.7% increase in Master’s Colleges and Universities, with modest decreases in first-time enrollment in Doctoral/Professional Universities (-0.1%, Table C.4). 

• Between Fall 2018 and Fall 2019, total graduate enrollment increased by 1.3%. Over the academic year, total graduate enrollment increased 1.4% at public institutions and 1.0% at private, not-for-profit institutions (Table C.14).

HIGHLIGHTS BY SELECTED BROAD FIELDS OF STUDY 

• Arts and Humanities. 

Graduate applications in arts and humanities decreased by 2.6% between Fall 2018 and Fall 2019 (Table C.2). The decrease of first-time enrollment in arts and humanities was driven by master’s level enrollment (-2.9%), with a slight increase in doctoral level enrollment (1.2%) between Fall 2018 and Fall 2019 (Tables C.12 and C.13). The number of degrees conferred in the arts and humanities decreased 5% at the master’s level and increased 2.8% at the doctoral level between Fall 2018 and Fall 2019 (Tables C.29 and C.30). 

• Engineering. 

Graduate applications to master’s programs in engineering declined by 3.5% between Fall 2018 and Fall 2019, while doctoral applications flattened (0.3%, Table C.3). The first-time enrollment of international students1 in engineering increased by 3.3% over the past year (Table C.9).

 • Mathematics and Computer Sciences. 

There was a robust increase in first-time enrollment in mathematics and computer sciences (5.7%) between Fall 2018 and Fall 2019, in line with the 4.9% annual average growth over the previous five-year period and 11.6% annual average growth over the past ten-year period (Table C.7). Mathematics and computer sciences had the largest increase in first-time enrollment for part-time students (12.4%), between Fall 2018 and Fall 2019 (Tables C.8). The broad field also reported increases in total enrollment among American Indian/Alaska Native (15.5%) and Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander (23.0%) students over the past year, though each group had less than 100 students reported (Table C.20). 

HIGHLIGHTS BY SELECTED STUDENT DEMOGRAPHICS 

• Underrepresented Minorities. 

Among first-time U.S. citizens and permanent resident graduate students in Fall 2019, about 24.8% were underrepresented minorities, including American Indian/ Alaska Native (0.5%), Black/African American (12.1%), Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander (0.2%), and Latinx (11.9%). Despite these healthy increases in terms of first-time enrollment, minority students remain substantially underrepresented as percentage shares of the graduate student population, particularly in STEM fields (Table B.11). For example, Black/African American students still only account for 6.1% of all incoming graduate students at Doctoral Universities with Very High Research Activities in Fall 2019, compared to 5.3% in Fall 2009 (Figure 9). 

• Gender

In Fall 2019, more than half of first-time graduate students both at the master’s degree and certificate level (60.1%) and at the doctoral level (54.7%) were women (Table B.7). However, men still constituted majorities of first-time graduate enrollment in business (52.9%), engineering (71.2%), mathematics and computer sciences (65.4%), and physical and earth sciences (58.5%, Table B.4). Women earned the majority of graduate certificates (62.2%), master’s degrees (58.5%), and doctoral degrees (52.9%) awarded by U.S. institutions in 2018-19 (Tables B.23, B.24, and B.25). 

• International Students. 

International student first-time graduate enrollment increased by 3.8% between Fall 2018 and Fall 2019, after declines in two consecutive years. The five-year average annual rate of change (0.3%), as well as the ten-year average annual rate of change (5.6%) remains positive (Table C.5). Shares of first-time international graduate students were higher at private, not-for-profit institutions (25.4%) than at public institutions (18.0%) in Fall 2019. At Doctoral Very High Research Institutions, almost three out of ten (29.0%) first-time graduate enrollees were international students (Table B.8).