Table 1.
Distribution of U.S. population in science and engineering education by race–ethnicitya
| Population counts | Ratio of White to: | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Education level | Total | White | Asian/Pacific Islander | Black | Hispanic | American Indian/Alaskan Native | Two or more races/other | Asian/Pacific Islander | Black | Hispanic | American Indian/Alaskan Native |
| Population | |||||||||||
| 17-year-olds in 1999b | 4,017,000 | 2,677,000 | 156,000 | 586,000 | 558,000 | 40,000 | 17 | 5 | 5 | 67 | |
| Elementary/secondary | |||||||||||
| Public high school graduates 2000c | 2,544,754 | 1,785,866 | 122,759 | 328,182 | 282,610 | 25,337 | 15 | 5 | 6 | 70 | |
| Undergraduate | |||||||||||
| First-time, first-year undergraduate enrollment 2000d | 1,813,172 | 1,245,642 | 99,737 | 208,355 | 167,164 | 16,596 | 75,678 | 12 | 6 | 7 | 75 |
| Percent freshmen intending science and engineering major 2000e,f | 33.1 | 30.7 | 45.3 | 37.5 | 34.1 | 30.5 | |||||
| All bachelor's degrees 2004g | 1,362,834 | 962,887 | 86,030 | 122,618 | 105,165 | 9,914 | 76,220 | 11 | 8 | 9 | 97 |
| Science and engineering bachelor's degrees 2004g | 437,228 | 296,576 | 41,178 | 38,369 | 33,437 | 3,231 | 24,437 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 92 |
| Graduate students in science and engineering | |||||||||||
| First time, full-time science and engineering grad enrollment 2004h | 58,853 | 40,617 | 5,566 | 3,832 | 3,421 | 342 | 5,075 | 7 | 11 | 12 | 119 |
| Science and engineering PhD degrees 2010i | 21,279 | 15,824 | 2,276 | 1,026 | 1,204 | 78 | 871 | 7 | 15 | 13 | 203 |
| Postdoctoral study commitments for 2010 PhDs (all fields) | |||||||||||
| Numberi | 7,546 | 6,012 | 763 | 319 | 452 | 8 | 19 | 13 | NA | ||
aAll data except population counts and high school graduates are for U.S. citizens and permanent residents only.
bU.S. Bureau of the Census (1998).
cU.S. Department of Education (2001).
eHERI data on intended major allow students to report multiple race–ethnic categories.