image: From 2010 to 2011, growth in part-time graduate enrollment (1.6 percent) outpaced that of full-time enrollment (0.5 percent) for the first time since 2005. The image shows Kelley Stewart, a doctoral student working in the Advanced Experimental Thermofluid Engineering Research Lab at Virginia Tech, looking into a left ventricular simulator tank. view more
Credit: John McCormick, courtesy Virginia Tech
From 2010 to 2011, enrollment of part-time graduate students in science and engineering (S&E) fields grew at a higher rate than that of full-time S&E graduate students for the first time since 2005.
The new finding comes from a report released today by the National Science Foundation that reveals that enrollment of part-time S&E graduate students increased 1.6 percent versus 0.5 percent for full-time S&E graduate students from 2010 to 2011.
During the past decade, enrollment of full-time graduate students in S&E grew almost 25 percent, from approximately 325,000 students in 2002 to approximately 411,200 students in 2011. Enrollment of part-time students increased nearly 15 percent, from approximately 129,300 students in 2002 to approximately 149,700 students in 2011.
For more information on this report, please contact Kelly Kang.
Please visit the NSF's National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics for more reports and other products.