The Council of Graduate Schools recently released official data about graduate school enrollment in Fall 2008. First-time enrollment in U.S. schools was up 4.5% from the previous year and applications were up 4.8%. Even more notable, for the first time since 2004, the domestic student enrollment increase (4.7%) was higher than international student enrollment increase (3.3%).
“The growth in graduate school education is being driven by increases for women and minorities,” explained Nathan E. Bell, director of research and policy analysis for the Council of Graduate Schools. Minority numbers were higher across the board, with enrollment for American Indian students up 8.8%, Asian students up 6.7%, Black students up 6.5%, and Latino students up 10.6%. In contrast, the number of white students only increased 3.5%. Across racial and ethnic categories the number of women enrolled in graduate school rose as well, with average annual increases of 3.8% compared to 2.3% for men.
The Council of Graduate Schools also reported that the most popular disciplines for graduate school applications in 2008 were business, engineering, and social and behavioral sciences. Education, business, and health sciences accounted for nearly half of first-time enrollment in Fall 2008, up 3.1%, 5.6% and 6.7% respectively.
The economic downturn may have been a contributing factor in rising enrollment numbers and changes in discipline popularity, but increased diversity within graduate school classes is an encouraging trend—even if according to Bell, “we have a long way to go.”
To read more about Fall 2008 graduate enrollment trends, click here.
