In the 2011-12 academic year there were 751 degree-granting physics departments in the U.S. Of these, 195 offered a PhD and 62 departments offered a master's as the highest physics degree. The remaining 494 departments offered a bachelor's as their highest physics degree. There were six universities that had two doctoral-granting physics…

Physics bachelor's degree production has more than doubled since the recent low in 1999, and enrollment in U.S. undergraduate physics programs continues to increase. The all-time high of 7,329 bachelor's degrees in the class of 2013 represents the 14th consecutive year that the number of physics bachelor's conferred has increased.…

This report examines enrollments in high school physics during the 2012-13 school year. Based on data from the most recent survey (which includes both public and private high schools in the U.S.), it is estimated that 39% of the class of 2013 took high school physics before graduating. During the 2012-13 school year, 1.38 million students were…

In this report, the authors share their analysis of the data from over 3,500 high schools in the U.S. beginning with an examination of the availability of physics in U.S. high schools. The schools in their sample are a nationally-representative random sample of the almost 25,000 high schools in forty-nine of the fifty states. Table 1 shows the…

Each fall, the Statistical Research Center conducts the Survey of Enrollments and Degrees, which asks physics and astronomy departments to provide information on the number of students enrolled and the number of recent degree recipients conferred the previous academic year. This survey also asks for the names and contact information of their…

By the time people earn physics PhDs, they have learned a great deal about physics and how research is conducted. However, physics PhDs also develop skills and knowledge in a number of related areas, such as advanced mathematics, programming, modeling, and technical writing. New physics PhDs draw upon an arsenal of skills and knowledge in their…

The number of physics degrees earned in the U.S. continues to rise, with bachelor's and PhDs yet again reaching all-time highs. The 6,776 physics bachelor's degrees awarded in the 2011-2012 academic year represent an 8% increase over the previous year and an 86% increase from a recent low in 1999. Similarly, the number of PhDs (1,762) in…

Women's representation in physics lags behind most other STEM disciplines. Currently, women make up about 13% of faculty members in all physics degree-granting departments, and there are physics departments with no women faculty members at all. These two data points are often cited as evidence of a lack of equity for women. In this article,…

The Statistical Research Center of the American Institute of Physics conducts an annual census from October through February of all departments that offer degrees in astronomy (78) in the United States. Astronomy departments consist of stand-alone degree-granting departments (39) and departments that are administered along with a physics program…

In the fall of 2008, the authors contacted a representative sample of over 3,600 high schools in the U.S., both public and private, to determine whether or not physics was taught there. They received responses from over 99% of the schools. For the schools which indicated they were offering physics, they obtained contact information for the…

Physics and geoscience consistently rank near the bottom among all disciplines in their ability to attract and retain African American students. Before delving into these trends, it is important to establish a context for discussing the data and their implications. African Americans comprise 12.4% of the U.S. population, but their representation…

This report traces the growth of high school physics in American school over the past twenty years. Highlights of the report include: (1) Enrollments in high school physics continue to grow; (2) Increase in number and proportion of physics teachers; (3) Number of students taking honors, advance placement or second-year physics course has nearly…

The Statistical Research Center of the American Institute of Physics has been collecting Enrollment and Degree data for over four decades. This departmental census goes out in the fall of each year to all physics and astronomy departments in the US and Puerto Rico. This report is based on data collected in the fall of 2005 from the 764 departments…

This report will document the changes in the number and citizenship of incoming graduate physics and astronomy students. It will provide student characteristics, such as gender, age, and the type of program in which they are enrolled. It will also discuss the educational backgrounds of the incoming students, highlighting differences between US and…

This report looks at the characteristics, educational experiences and the short- and long-term goals of senior-level physics and astronomy majors at a point just before their graduation. It examines the factors that influenced them to study physics or astronomy as well as what they considered important when choosing which institution to attend.…