CRA Bulletin

A recent NSF InfoBrief provides a snapshot of 2003, 2004 and 2005 bachelor’s and master’s degree recipients in April 2006. Compared to several other majors, computer and information sciences (CS) graduates were doing quite well.

CS graduates were most likely to be employed in business and industry and to be working full-time. At the bachelor’s level, 82% of CS majors were employed in business and industry and 91% of them (along with engineering majors) had full-time jobs. At the master’s level, 76% worked in business/industry and 93% had full-time jobs.

CS graduates also earned high salaries. CS tied for second with health majors for the highest median salary at the bachelor’s level ($45,000) and tied for first with engineering at the master’s level ($65,000). This compared to median salaries among all science, engineering and health fields of $39,000 at the bachelor’s level and $56,000 at the master’s level.

National Science Foundation, Division of Science Resources Statistics, An Overview of Science, Engineering, and Health Graduates: 2006, Arlington, VA (NSF 08-304)

The National Science Foundation reports that the number of doctorates awarded in science and engineering (S&E) fields increased nearly 7% in 2006, to 29,854 (Figure 1). This was the fourth year of growth in S&E degree production. In comparison, doctorate degree production in non-S&E fields has hovered around 15,500 since 1997.

Computer sciences saw the greatest increase in degree production among S&E fields (Figure 2). Its 1,452 awards were a 28% increase on the previous year, which also had seen double-digit growth. Since 2002, the number of doctorates granted in CS has grown 79%. As a result, CS’ share of S&E and total doctorates has grown significantly during the past two years.

Most of the growth in CS doctorate degree production is due to an increase in the number of awards to non-U.S. citizens (permanent or temporary visa holders- Figure 3). During the mid-to-late 1990s, roughly half of CS doctorates were granted to non-U.S. citizens. By 2006, however, their share had risen to 61%. To put it another way: between 2002 and 2006, the number of doctorates granted to U.S. citizens increased 42%, compared to a 115% increase among non-U.S. citizens.

The NSF InfoBrief, U.S. Doctoral Awards in Science and Engineering Continue Upward Trend in 2006, is online at http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf08301/

The latest IIE Open Doors Report finds that the number of international students enrolled in computer and information science programs in the U.S. declined in academic year 2006/2007, as it has each year since 2002/2003. This occurred even as the number of new foreign students in all fields increased 10% between the Fall of 2005 and 2006, and as total enrollment of foreign students grew 3%.

The Institute of International Education tracks international students (graduate and undergraduate) and scholars in the U.S., as well as U.S. students who study abroad.

The 3% growth in the enrollment of foreign students between 2005/06 and 2006/07 was the first significant increase since 2001/02. Most of the growth occurred in the fields of Intensive English Study (accounting for 30% of the growth), Social Sciences (16%), and Business and Management (15%).

However, total enrollment of foreign students in computer and information sciences fell yet again. In 2006/2007, there were 33,437 students enrolled in CIS, a drop of nearly 3% on the year before and 42% lower than in 2003/2004. As a result, CIS’ share of international students dropped to 5.7%.

As was mentioned in an earlier post, computer science relies heavily on foreign students at the graduate level. In 2004, 56% of doctoral degrees and 44% of master’s degrees granted in CS were to foreigners. A shift in enrollment of foreign students therefore can have a big impact on degree production.

More information about Open Doors 2006 can be found at http://opendoors.iienetwork.org/

Computer science relies heavily on foreign students at the graduate level. In 2004, 56% of doctoral degrees and 44% of master’s degrees granted in CS were to foreigners. A shift in enrollment of foreign students therefore can have a big impact on degree production.

According to an NSF InfoBrief, after falling for three years, enrollment of first-time, full-time foreign students in master’s and doctoral programs in the computer sciences rose 11% in 2005. First-time enrolment of US citizens was relatively unchanged. The increase among foreigners meant that first-time enrollment in CS grew 6% after declining the previous 2 years. Nevertheless, these gains in first-time enrollment were not enough to halt a 4% drop in total enrollment between 2004 and 2005, and a 13% drop since 2002.

The 11% increase in first-time foreign students caused their share of first-time enrollments in CS to reach 56% in 2005. Even with this improvement, however, the number of first-time foreign students enrolled in CS was still down 29% since 2001, when they represented 71% of incoming students.

Among all science and engineering fields, foreign enrollment has dropped nearly 6% since 2003. Foreigners represented 41% of first-time, full-time graduate students in 2001, and 32% in 2005. So far, the drop in foreign enrollment has been balanced by an increase in enrollment of U.S. citizens and permanent residents: in 2005, their total enrollment reached a new high of 339,500.

The NSF InfoBrief, First-time S&E Graduate Enrollment of Foreign Students Rebounds in 2005, is online at http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf07312/

There are several different sources for salary information within the IT field. One is the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Employment Statistics program.

The job categories that can be grouped under “IT” are a little arbitrary. I have adopted the definition of ‘professional IT occupations’ that is used by the Department of Commerce’s Office of Technology Policy. This adds two occupations to the ten listed under the “Computer specialists” category (15-0000 through 15-1099) in the BLS tables: Computer and information system managers (11-3021) and Computer hardware engineers (17-2061).

Occupational Employment and Wages, 2006, is online at http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.toc.htm

Updated trend data from both the Taulbee Survey and from the National Science Foundation are now available on the CRA website. The two sources complement each other: Taulbee data are more current and focused on CS/CE (the NSF groups information science with computer science), while NSF data provide longer trends, an opportunity to compare CS/CE with other fields, and include all degree-granting institutions. What follows is a summary of some of the information that you can find on the website. It focuses on the relative popularity of CS and trends in degree production by gender, ethnicity and citizenship. Basic employment information about doctorate recipients also is touched upon.

Bachelor’s Degrees

The most recent data reported by the NSF are from 2004, when degree production peaked. Between 1998 and 2004, the number of degrees awarded more than doubled, to over 57,000. Likewise, CS’ share of all undergraduate degrees granted rose from about 2% to 4%. Interestingly, this equals the share enjoyed by CS during the boom in production in the early 1980s. When NSF data appear for the period 2004 through 2006, it is likely to reflect the Taulbee Survey’s findings that production dropped significantly (28% among Taulbee’s PhD-granting departments). See http://www.cra.org/info/education/us/bs.html and http://www.cra.org/CRN/articles/march07/vegso.html

Between 1984 and 2004, the share of CS bachelor’s degrees awarded to women fell from 37% to 25%. Taulbee data from 2005 and 2006 suggest that upcoming NSF studies will report that the share of degrees granted to women continued to fall in those years. See http://www.cra.org/info/education/us/bs.gender.html and http://www.cra.org/info/taulbee/women.html

Since 1991, the biggest trend in the ethnic background of US citizens who received bachelor’s degrees in CS has been a fall in the share of degrees granted to non-Hispanic Whites. In 2004, whites received 64% of CS bachelor’s degrees, down from 77% in 1991. Small gains were made by other groups, particularly Asian/Pacific Islanders, who saw their representation grow from 9% to 17% by 2001. See http://www.cra.org/info/education/us/bs.ethnicity.html

Regarding citizenship of undergraduate degree recipients, the NSF reported that only 8% of degrees in CS were awarded to foreigners. This percentage has not changed significantly since 1991. See: http://www.cra.org/info/education/us/bs.citizenship.html

Master’s Degrees

As with bachelor’s degree information, the NSF’s most recent data ends in 2004. As a result, it does not reflect the decline that the Taulbee Survey has found for the years since then. What they do show is that production nearly doubled between 1997 and 2004, to 19,853. During this build-up, CS reached its highest share of all degrees granted: 3.8% in 2003. As was the case at the undergraduate level, however, the popularity of CS dropped slightly in 2004. See http://www.cra.org/info/education/us/ms.html

Although the number of master’s degrees granted to women continued to grow over the years, they did not grow faster than the number granted to men between the early 1980s and the late 1990s. As a result, the share of master’s degrees granted to women during that period hovered between 25% and 30%. It climbed to 33% between 2000 and 2002, before declining to 31% in 2004. See http://www.cra.org/info/education/us/ms.gender.html and http://www.cra.org/info/taulbee/women.html

As at the bachelor’s degrees level, the share of master’s degrees granted to whites among U.S. citizens has fallen over the past several years. In 1994, 76% of master’s degrees in CS were granted to whites. In 2004, they received 60%. Blacks, Hispanics and American Indians/Alaskan Natives all saw their share of degrees double, though they started from a small base and none has broken 10%. The share of degrees granted to Asians also grew, from 17% in 1994 to 27% in 2000. See http://www.cra.org/info/education/us/ms.ethnicity.html

Unlike at the undergraduate level, a far higher large portion of master’s degrees are granted to foreigners. In 2004, temporary visa holders received 44% of CS master’s degrees. This number has been relatively stable since 2000, and was 30% in 1991. See http://www.cra.org/info/education/us/ms.citizenship.html

Doctoral Degrees

The NSF has released data on doctorates up to 2005. Between 2002 and 2005, CS doctoral degrees granted increased 40%, to 1,136. During this period, CS enjoyed the fastest growth rate among all science and engineering (S&E) fields. In addition, it reached its highest share of PhDs awarded among both S&E fields (4%) and all fields (2.6%). Taulbee Survey data from 2006 suggest that the NSF will find that CS doctoral production will surge another 25% that year. However, declines in the number of students passing qualifiers, new students and total enrollments all indicate that PhD production should peak in the next few years. See http://www.cra.org/info/education/us/phd.html

The share of CS doctoral degrees awarded to women has increased slowly over time. Nevertheless, between 2002 and 2005 the figure hovered at little over 20%. It is difficult to see how significant growth in women’s share of CS doctorates can be achieved without improvements at the undergraduate and master’s levels. See http://www.cra.org/info/education/us/phd.gender.html and http://www.cra.org/info/taulbee/women.html

In contrast to the declining share of bachelor’s and master’s degrees granted to whites, a relatively consistent 70% to 75% of doctorates were granted to them between 1993 and 2005. The share granted to Asians varied between 15% and 20%, while blacks, Hispanics and American Indians each received less than 5% of degrees. See http://www.cra.org/info/education/us/phd.ethnicity.html and http://www.cra.org/info/taulbee/ethnicity.html

The biggest trend in the citizenship of doctorate recipients in the past decade has been the growth in the portion granted to non-US citizens on temporary visas. Between 1993 and 2005, about 50% to 53% of doctorates were foreigners. This figure increased in 2004 and 2005, to slightly over 60%. The growth of temporary visa holders among these doctorate recipients has been steady. In 1994, 75% of non-US citizens held temporary visas. This had risen to 90% in 2005. Taulbee Survey responses for enrollments suggest that these figures are unlikely to change significantly in the next few years. See http://www.cra.org/info/education/us/phd.citizenship.html and http://www.cra.org/info/taulbee/ethnicity.html

The Taulbee Survey also collects information on what doctorate recipients were doing the first year after they received their degrees. One way the results can be grouped is into the categories of academia (with most working in PhD-granting departments), non-academia (most in industry, and single-digit portions in government or self-employed), and work outside the US and Canada. Between 1985 and 1990, more doctorates worked in academia (50%) than outside it (40%). After this, however, employment in industry dominated, rising to nearly 60% in 1997. Since 2001, however, there have been two dramatic reversals. Between 2001 and 2003, the share of doctorates going into academia jumped from 44% to 64%, with a concomitant drop in the share working in industry from 52% to 32%. As the fortunes of the IT industry recovered, so did doctoral employment in the sector. By 2006, industry claimed 54% of doctorates while academia had slipped to 33%. During all of this, the share of doctorates working outside the US and Canada varied between 10% and 18% from the mid-1980s until the mid-1990s, and then dropped to about 5% until 2004. Since then, the share working abroad has returned to 13%. See http://www.cra.org/info/taulbee/employment.html

The previous entry discussed CRA Taulbee Survey results on the growth in the number of CS/CE doctorate awards in the US and Canada through academic year 2005/2006. Doctorate production numbers from NSF are available only up to June 2005, but they cover all fields and so offer context for the Taulbee Survey’s findings.

In 2005, the number of science and engineering (S&E) doctorate awards increased to 27,974. This was 6.5% higher than in 2004, and the third year of growth. CS doctorates increased 20%, to 1,136. Since the low point of degrees awarded in 2002, CS has enjoyed the fastest growth (40%) among S&E fields. In addition, it reached its highest share of doctorates awarded among both S&E fields (4%) and all fields (2.6%).

For more information, see the NSF InfoBrief: S&E Doctorates Hit All-time High in 2005.

As mentioned earlier, industry support for academic R&D dropped in each of the three years between 2002 and 2004. This was the first multiyear decline for a source of funding for academic R&D since the NSF survey began in 1953. A new NSF InfoBrief explores the changes in industry support further. Some highlights:

The share of academic R&D support provided by industry peaked at 7.4% in 1999 and declined every year thereafter, reaching 4.9% in 2004.

Industry’s contribution to academic R&D as a proportion of all industry internal R&D funds was 1.1% in 2004, down from 1.5% in 1994, and its lowest level since the mid 1980s.

Industry support also became more concentrated in fewer academic institutions:

Between 1993 and 2004, the total number of academic institutions receiving more than 10% of their R&D funds from industry fell from 179 to 101, a drop of more than 40%.

Other possible signs of fewer ties between industry and academia:

The percentage of all academic articles with an industry coauthor increased steadily between 1993 and 2001 but declined in both 2002 and 2003.

Fewer citations of U.S. science and engineering articles in U.S. industrial patents…The number of citations increased rapidly between 1995 and 1998, declined and leveled off for several years, and declined again in 2003 and 2004.

The author of the report is careful to point out, however, that industry-university collaboration can take many forms other than funding or coauthoring articles, “including using academic consultants, providing research space or equipment to academic researchers, making use of specialized facilities at academic institutions, and employing student interns.”

The NSF InfoBrief, Where has the Money Gone? Declining Industrial Support of Academic R&D is online at http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf06328/

According to a recent NSF InfoBrief, ten years or more after receiving their undergraduate degrees, only 39% of math and computer science (MCS) majors had earned additional degrees by 2003. This was less than those who majored in engineering or the life, physical, and social sciences. (Overall, about half of science and engineering– S&E– undergraduates went on to earn additional degrees). About 17% of MCS bachelor’s degree recipients had earned additional degrees in non-S&E fields. Among those that had earned their highest additional degree in MCS, 10.8% earned a master’s degree, and 2.6% earned a doctorate.

Up to 24 years after receiving their degrees, over 85% of MCS bachelor’s recipients who had not earned additional degrees said that their job was related to their degree. This was lower than that reported by engineering degree recipients but about 10 to 20 points higher than reported in other S&E fields. A greater proportion of MCS bachelor’s degree holders reported R&D as a major work activity than degree recipients in any of the other major S&E groupings: from about 70% of MCS bachelor’s holders up to a decade after receiving their degrees, to a little under 50% twenty-five to 35 years after receiving them. However, until about 20 years into their careers, relatively fewer MCS degree holders reported that they had moved into management positions compared to those in other S&E fields.

The report also highlights how difficult it is to define “S&E” jobs. Only 27% of those whose highest degree was a bachelor’s degree in S&E were working in S&E occupations. Among those employed in “non-S&E” occupations, 63% reported that their job was related to their degree, and nearly 30% said that their degree was closely related to their work.

Source: What Do People Do After Earning an S&E Bachelor’s Degree? See also the Inside Higher Ed article, Putting That Science Degree to Work.

Although graduate enrollments in science and engineering programs increased slightly in 2004, the number of first-time, full-time enrollments among foreigners fell. Computer science saw declines across the board.

A new NSF InfoBrief reports that S&E graduate enrollment increased 0.3% in 2004, to 476,331. This followed several years of increases: between 2000 and 2003, enrollments grew nearly 15%.

For the third year in a row, there was a drop in the number of first-time, full-time enrollments of foreign graduate students. Between 2003 and 2004, their number dropped over 7%, to 27,486. Between 2001 and 2004, the number of first-time, full-time foreign students fell nearly 20%. First-time, full-time graduate enrollments of US citizens and permanent residents also declined by about 1% in 2004, after having increased 29% over the previous three years.

Graduate enrollments also declined in the computer sciences. In 2003, CS was the only S&E field to see a drop in enrollment. In 2004, it dropped a further 6.3%, to 50,331 students. The number of first-time, full-time graduate enrollments in CS fell by 6.2% among US citizens and permanent residents, and 3% among foreigners. Even with the drop, the number of first-time, full-time graduate students in 2004 who were US citizens and permanent residents was still 51% bigger than it was in 2000. The number of first-time, full-time temporary visa holders was a little over a third lower than what it was in 2000.

The number of S&E postdocs fell nearly 2% in 2004, to 32,886. This was caused by the fact that for the first time since 1977, when foreign postdocs started to be tracked, the number of foreign postdocs declined, falling over 3% in 2004, to 19,344. This followed a 50% growth in foreign postdocs during the previous nine years, compared to a 8% growth of US citizen and permanent resident postdocs over the same period.

The NSF InfoBrief, First-time S&E Graduate Enrollment of Foreign Students Drops for the Third Straight Year, is at http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf06321/

Industrial funding for R&D in science and engineering (S&E) fields at universities and colleges dropped 2.6% in FY2004, to $2.1 billion. This was the third year in a row that industry funding declined, having dropped 1.1% in 2003 and 1.5% in 2002. According to the NSF InfoBrief, “the industrial sector is the first source of academic R&D funding to show a multiyear decline since the survey began, in FY 1953.”

As a result, industry funded 4.9% of academic R&D in FY2004, compared to 7.4% in FY1999.

Other interesting data in the report:

R&D expenditures in the computer sciences increased 7.7% in current dollars, to $1.4 billion, and represented 3.3% of total academic R&D expenditures in S&E.

The NSF (44%, $411 million) and Department of Defense (32%, $303 million) were the two largest sources of funds for CS.

Adjusting for inflation, academic R&D in S&E rose 4.7% in FY2004.

51% of R&D expenditures were in the medical (32.7%) and biological (18.3%) sciences.

75% of R&D expenditures were for basic research.

The top 20 institutions in terms of expenditures accounted for 30% of total academic R&D spending, and the top 100 research performers accounted for 80% of spending.

The federal government provided 64% ($26.4 billion) of R&D funding for universities and colleges. While federal funding for academic R&D increased 10.6% in current dollars in FY2004, it had increased by over 13% in each of the previous two years.

The Department of Health and Human Services provided most (51%, $14 billion) of the federal funding for R&D expenditures in S&E, followed by the NSF (11.8%, $3.2 billion).

About $1.6 billion was spent on non-S&E R&D at universities and colleges.

Industrial Funding of Academic R&D Continues to Decline in FY 2004 is online at
http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf06315/

Among those who received their doctorates in 2003, it took longer to earn a PhD in CS than in several other S&E fields.

‘Time to degree’ is reported in three ways:

total elapsed time from completion of the baccalaureate to the doctorate (total time to degree)

time in graduate school less reported periods of nonenrollment (registered time to degree)

age at doctorate

According to the NSF InfoBrief:

For the 2003 doctorate recipients, the median total time from baccalaureate to doctorate was 10.1 years, while the median registered time was 7.5 years and the median age at doctorate was 33.3 years.

The science and engineering fields (physical sciences, engineering, life sciences, and social sciences) had lower medians than the non-S&E broad fields (health, humanities, education, and professional/other fields) on all three time-to-degree measures.

When compared against seven other fields within S&E (see table), the time to degree for CS ranks among the longest in each of the three measures. Specifically, CS ranks the longest according to median registered time to degree, and third according to total time to degree and age at doctorate.

One possible factor in the length of time taken by CS doctorates is that an unusually high proportion of them (23%) had earned master’s degrees outside of CS. Nevertheless, even among doctorate recipients who had not earned a master’s degree, CS ranked the longest according to registered time to degree, and second by total time to degree and age.

Time to Degree of U.S. Research Doctorate Recipients is online at http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf06312/

The NSF projects that US R&D grew 4.7 percent in 2004, to $312.1 billion. After adjusting for inflation, total R&D declined 2.2 percent between 2001 and 2002, then increased 3.9 percent in 2003.

According to the NSF projections, industry accounted for 64 percent of R&D funding and 70 percent of R&D performance in 2004. About 95 percent of industry R&D funding was spent internally or for contract R&D performed by other businesses. Most industry R&D funding is spent on applied research and development.

Universities and colleges received over 60 percent of their funding from the federal government and about 5 percent from industry. The federal government also provided the bulk of funding for basic research: 62 percent, or $36.1 billion. About 54 percent of basic research in the U.S. was conducted by universities and colleges.

The NSF InfoBrief, US R&D Continues to Rebound in 2004, is online at http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf06306/

According to a recent NSF InfoBrief, the number of doctorates awarded in Science and Engineering fields (S&E) increased 4 percent between AY 2003 and 2004, to 27,278. Doctorates awarded in computer sciences increased 10 percent, to 949. This was the second year in a row for increases for S&E and CS, following declines that had started during the late 1990s.

Over half of the doctorates awarded in engineering, computer sciences, mathematics and physics went to non-U.S. citizens.

CRA’s Taulbee Survey of PhD-granting departments also has reported increases in CS doctorates awarded. A variety of indicators suggest continued growth in the next few years. (See http://www.cra.org/info/taulbee/phd.production.html, and http://www.cra.org/info/education/us/phd.html)

The InfoBrief is available at
http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf06301/

Over 70 percent of U.S.-born, AY1999 S&E doctorate recipients received their degree from an institution in a state other than the one in which they first entered college, according to an NSF InfoBrief.

In addition, nearly 60 percent of doctorates found first employment outside of the state where they received their degree. Computer science degree recipients were slightly less likely to find their first job outside of the state where they received their doctorate (56 percent); the most likely were chemistry PhDs (70 percent).

Thirty-eight percent of S&E doctorate recipients entered college in a state other than the one in which they had received their high school diploma, compared to 24 percent among all college freshmen.

The report has information on the birth state and the state in which S&E doctorates last attended high school, first enrolled in college, earned their doctorate, and accepted or planned to pursue initial postdoctorate employment.

A previous bulletin item dealt with migration patterns among S&E bachelor’s degree recipients.

Interstate Migration Patterns of Recent Science and Engineering Doctorate Recipients is online at http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf02311/

The number of U.S.-born science and engineering (S&E) doctorate recipients with definite plans to work or study abroad has been about 300-400 each year since the mid-1960s, or between 2 and 4 percent of graduates, according to an NSF InfoBrief. The majority (71 percent) of those who went abroad did so for postdoctoral study.

Between 1998 and 2002, the fields with the largest number of doctorate recipients with plans to work or study abroad were the biological sciences, physical sciences, and social sciences. The top three destinations were Canada, the U.K., and Germany.

Unsurprisingly, S&E doctorate recipients who were not U.S. citizens were more likely to have had plans to study or work abroad after graduation. In 2002, five percent of non-U.S. citizens with permanent residency status and 25 percent of those on temporary visas had definite plans to go abroad.

Emigration of U.S.-Born S&E Doctorate Recipients is online at http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf04327/

According to a recent NSF Infobrief, federal support for academic science and engineering (S&E) activities increased 7 percent in constant dollars between FY 2002 and 2003, to $26.7 billion. This followed a 7 percent increase between FY 2001 and 2002.

Over the past decade, about 85 percent of federal academic S&E obligations have been for research and development (R&D). In FY 2003, federal obligations for R&D increased nearly 6 percent in constant dollars, to $22.8 billion. It is important to note, however, that the Department of Health and Human Services accounted for 63 percent of all federal academic R&D obligations in FY 2003 and 60 percent of the total R&D increase from FY 2002 to FY 2003.

The top 20 universities in terms of federal academic S&E obligations accounted for 34 percent of the federal academic S&E total in FY 2003.

The InfoBrief, Federal Science And Engineering Obligations To Academic And Nonprofit Institutions Reached Record Highs In FY 2003, is online at http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf05321/

According to an NSF report, the share of total R&D expenditures in the computer sciences at universities and colleges that was financed by the federal government grew in FY2003, to 72 percent. The majority (63 percent) of this funding came equally from DOD and NSF.

The report also ranks the top 100 institutions according to R&D expenditures in the computer sciences. According to this list, the top 10 schools accounted for 46 percent of CS R&D expenditures.

The report, Academic Research and Development Expenditures: Fiscal Year 2003, is online at http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf05320/

While overall graduate enrollment in science and engineering programs reached an all-time high in fall 2003, it actually declined 3 percent in computer science. CS was the only field to see a drop and this was its first decrease since 1995. In addition, CS experienced the biggest drop (23 percent) among S&E fields in the number of full-time students with temporary visas who were enrolled for the first time.

Other notable points:

S&E graduate enrollment increased 4 percent in fall 2003, to 474,203 students.

CS graduate enrollment totalled 53,678 students in fall 2003. Even though this was lower than in 2002, it was nearly 50 percent more students than in 1993.

For the first time since 1994, the growth in full-time enrollment was greater for U.S. citizens and permanent residents (7 percent) than it was for foreign students (less than 1 percent). This trend reversal was also seen in part-time graduate enrollments.

The rise in 2003 [of S&E enrollment of U.S. citizens and permanent residents] represents the largest numerical increase in S&E graduate enrollment of U.S. citizens and permanent residents in the past two decades.

For the second consecutive year, first-time, full-time enrollment declined among students with temporary visas and increased among U.S. citizens and permanent residents. After a decline of 6 percent between 2001 and 2002, first-time, full-time enrollment of students with temporary visas fell 8 percent in 2003.

The NSF InfoBrief is online at http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf05317/

A recent NSF InfoBrief reports on university research space and, for the first time, computing and networking infrastructure.

NB:

Research-performing colleges and universities reported an 11 percent increase in the amount of research space from FY 2001 to FY 2003, for a total of approximately 173 million net assignable square feet (NASF)…While substantially greater than any previous 2-year increase since FY 1988, this growth continues a trend of increases in the amount of academic NASF used for research. During this 15-year time period, the amount of research space increased biennially at a rate of at least 4 percent.

Academic institutions planned to begin construction of an additional 19 million NASF of research space [in FY2002 and FY2003] at an estimated cost of $9.1 billion. Engineering and the biological and medical sciences accounted for 72 percent of the planned NASF.

In FY2002-03, construction began on an additional 1 million NASF for computer sciences, estimated at $347 million in completion costs.

And for internet connections:

The large majority of connections (71 percent) was at the two lowest connection speeds of 1.5 megabits or 45 megabits (T3 or DS3 lines). However, at least 6 percent of the connections were at 1 gigabit or faster.

Sixty-five percent of all institutions had their highest speed connections at either 45 or 155 megabits/second; 12 percent had their fastest connections at a gigabit/second or faster.

Sixty-five percent of academic institutions had connections to the high-performance network Abilene at the end of FY 2003.

A large majority (67 percent) of institutions had 20 percent or less of their building areas covered by wireless at the end of FY 2003.

The InfoBrief is online at http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf05314/

A National Science Foundation survey shows a second year of strong growth in R&D expenditures at universities.

The InfoBrief is at http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf05315/

A National Science Foundation survey has started providing information on agency sources of federal support for academic R&D expenditures.

By far, the largest amount of funding ($10.9 billion) was provided by the Department of Health and Human Services (primarily by its National Institutes of Health). Not surprisingly, most (85 percent) of the reported R&D was to support the medical and biological sciences.

The largest supporters of computer sciences research were the Department of Defense and the NSF. Overall, federal agencies provided over 70 percent of computer sciences R&D funding at universities.

The InfoBrief is at http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf05315/

Estimates produced by the NSF show a significant decline between 2001 and 2002 in the amount that companies spent on R&D. From the report:

The NSF InfoBrief is available online at http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/infbrief/nsf04320/start.htm.

According to the NSF, universities experienced broad-based growth in R&D funding and performance between FY2001 and 2002. A greater number of institutions also experienced growth in R&D expenditures than has been common in recent years.

The NSF InfoBrief is available online at http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/infbrief/nsf04319/start.htm.

Significant numbers of individuals employed in computer and math science occupations and engineering occupations have high school diplomas or associate’s degrees but no higher college degrees. Approximately 40 percent of all individuals employed in computer and math science occupations and 20 percent of all individuals employed in engineering occupations have no higher than an associate’s degree. The three other major occupational groups examined, life science occupations, physical science occupations, and social science occupations, have substantially smaller proportions (10 percent or less) of individuals with less than a bachelor’s degree education. Data included in this report are from the April 2003 Current Population Survey (CPS) and was compiled in a recent NSF InfoBrief.

The NSF InfoBrief is available online at http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf04333/