Contact:
Belle Woods
bwoods@cgs.nche.edu
(202) 223-3791

Washington, D.C. (August 9, 2011) – The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) released the results of its first Professional Science Master’s Enrollment and Degrees Survey, an annual survey documenting applications,  enrollments, and degrees awarded.  The Professional Science Master’s (PSM) is an innovative, new graduate degree designed to allow students to pursue advanced training in science or mathematics, while simultaneously developing workplace skills highly valued by employers.

“This report shows that nationally, PSM programs appeal to a diverse talent pool,” said Debra Stewart, CGS president.  She added, “Through the PSM, U.S. citizens, minorities, and women are being drawn to advanced study in STEM fields.  Clearly this helps meet U.S. workforce needs.”

This new report includes data on applications received and accepted for fall 2010, as well as enrollment data for fall 2010 and degrees awarded during the 2009-10 academic year, from nearly 90% of all PSM programs worldwide.  Over 98% of respondents were based in the United States and of those U.S. programs, about 74% were located at public institutions.  Key findings include:

Applications:

• Nearly 4,400 applications were received for fall 2010 admission and 48% were accepted.
• PSM programs in biology/biotechnology received more applications than programs in other fields of study, constituting 34.1% of all applications received.

First-Time Enrollment:

• 55.5% of first-time enrollees were men, and 44.5% were women
• 58.9% of all first-time PSM students were enrolled full-time while the remainder were part-time students.
• 16.8% of first-time enrollees in U.S.-based PSM programs were temporary residents (i.e., international students).
• Among U.S. citizens and permanent residents, 22.2% of first-time enrollees were underrepresented minorities (Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, or American Indian/Alaska Native).

Total Enrollment:

• Total enrollment was divided more evenly than first-time enrollment between men (51.1%) and women (48.9%).
• Roughly one in every eight (13.4%) PSM students enrolled in U.S.-based institutions were temporary residents.
• Among U.S. citizens and permanent residents, 29.2% of enrollees in the fall of 2010 were underrepresented minorities.
• Nearly three-quarters (73.3%) of all PSM students were pursuing degrees in computational sciences, biology/biotechnology, or environmental sciences.

Degrees awarded:

• Precisely half of the 1,102 PSM degrees awarded by respondents in academic year 2009/10 were awarded to men and half to women.
• One in four (24.1%) graduates of U.S.-based PSM programs were international students.
• Among U.S. citizens and permanent residents, 22.4% of PSM graduates in 2009/10 were underrepresented minorities.
• Nearly six in ten (57.7%) PSM degrees awarded in 2009/10 were in biology/biotechnology and computational sciences.
• Men earned the majority of the PSM degrees granted in mathematics and statistics, physics and geological sciences, and computational sciences.
• Women earned the majority of the degrees granted in “other” fields (which includes chemistry, forensic science, nanoscience, and national defense), medical-related sciences, and biology/biotechnology.

The 2011 PSM applications, enrollments and degrees data will be released in December and will allow CGS to begin comparing year-to-year changes in the PSM data.

The report is available in pdf format at sciencemasters.com.