A US National Science Foundation report issued last week shows that graduate enrollment in science and engineering programs has grown "substantially in the last decade, but slowed in 2010." According to the report, graduate enrollment in biomedical engineering — which jumped 7.5 percent from 2009 to 2010 — is one of the fastest growing, experiencing 165 percent growth throughout the last decade.
According to Science Insider, report author Kelly Kang says that while an increasing interest in science and engineering degrees among US students is nothing new, her analysis presents further evidence for the trend.
Drawing on data from the report, Inside Higher Ed points out that during the last decade, "enrollments of women grew at a faster pace than those of men (roughly 40 percent versus 30 percent), and the rates of enrollments by underrepresented minority [students] outpaced those of white and Asian Americans."