Assessing the Impact of COVID-19 on Science, Engineering, and Health Graduate Enrollment - U.S. Part-Time Enrollment Increases as Full-Time Temporary Visa Holder Enrollment Declines

Oct 15, 2026

The report examines how the COVID-19 pandemic reshaped graduate enrollment patterns in U.S. science, engineering, and health fields during fall 2020. After a period of relative stability, full-time enrollment of temporary visa holders in SEH master’s programs declined, while enrollment of U.S. citizens and permanent residents continued to rise. In 2020, total graduate enrollment remained largely stable, supported by increases among citizens and permanent residents that offset declines among temporary visa holders.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages12

Reading Time30 min

AccessFree to download

Overview

Enrollment shifts in fall 2020

Temporary visa holders vs. U.S. citizens and permanent residents

Total graduate enrollment stability

Data sources and scope

GSS description and sponsorship

Comparisons across 2017–2019 and 2020

Enrollment breakdowns

Master’s and doctoral enrollment by field (2017–20)

InfoBrief Assessing the Impact of COVID-19 on Science, Engineering, and Health Graduate Enrollment: U.S. Part-Time Enrollment Increases as Full-Time Temporary Visa Holder Enrollment Declines NSF 22-317 | April 2022 Christopher Davies, CarenA. Arbeit, and Michael Yamaner The COVID-19 pandemic triggered considerable shifts in enrollment patterns for both U.S. citizens and permanent residents and temporary visa–holding graduate students within science, engineering, and health (SEH) fields during the fall 2020. After 3 years of relative stability, full-time enrollment of temporary visa holders in SEH master’s programs declined. First-time, full-time temporary visa holder enrollment was much lower in 2020 than 2019, with just over 25,000 fewer master’s students and almost 6,000 fewer doctoral students starting in 2020 than in 2019. At the same time, enrollment of U.S. citizens and permanent residents continued to increase. Specifically, the number of U.S. citizens and permanent residents enrolled in full-time master’s programs increased by about 13,600, and parttime master’s enrollment increased a similar amount, about 13,400, between 2019 and 2020 (figure 1) . Despite enrollment declines for temporary visa holders in 2020, the total number of graduate students was relatively stable with a small increase of 7,696 students (1 . 1%) between 2019 and 2020 due to increasing enrollment of U.S. citizen and permanent residents in SEH graduate programs. In 2020, a record 697,813 graduate students were reported to the Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering (GSS) in eligible SEH fields.1 There were 414,478 master’s students, 283,335 doctoral students, 65,681 postdoctoral appointees (postdocs), and 29,661 doctorateholding nonfaculty researchers (NFRs) in SEH fields at U.S. academic institutions (see table 1 and table 2) .2 These and other findings in this report are from the 2020 GSS, with comparisons to data from 2017 to 2019. Data from the GSS provide insight into the composition of the current and future science and engineering workforce by collecting data on graduate students, postdocs, and NFRs in SEH fields. The GSS is sponsored by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) within the National Science Foundation (NSF) and by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) . Figure 1 Graduate student enrollment type and intensity, by citizenship status: 2017–20 0 Source(s): National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering. Table 1 Enrollment of master's students and doctoral students in science, engineering, and health, by field: 2017–20 (Number and percent change) | Characteristic | Master's | | | | | | Doctoral | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | Percent change | | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | Percent change | | | | | | | | 2017– 20 | 2019– 20 | | | | | 2017– 20 | 2019– 20 | | All graduate students | 378,587 | 391,211 | 408,228 | 414,478 | 9.5 | 1.5 | 270,525 | 277,096 | 281,889 | 283,335 | 4.7 | 0.5 | | Science and engineering | 325,925 | 334,391 | 351,734 | 354,354 | 8.7 | 0.7 | 255,224 | 261,165 | 265,961 | 268,021 | 5.0 | 0.8 | | Science | 229,169 | 241,327 | 259,795 | 267,904 | 16.9 | 3.1 | 186,399 | 190,928 | 193,896 | 196,742 | 5.5 | 1.5 | | Agricultural and veterinary sciences | 5,603 | 5,658 | 5,629 | 6,487 | 15.8 | 15.2 | 3,744 | 3,880 | 3,889 | 4,313 | 15.2 | 10.9 | | Biological and biomedical sciences | 33,926 | 35,306 | 38,078 | 39,920 | 17.7 | 4.8 | 51,291 | 52,627 | 53,915 | 54,905 | 7.0 | 1.8 | | Computer and information sciences | 75,618 | 77,351 | 84,092 | 80,690 | 6.7 | -4.0 | 14,291 | 16,127 | 17,192 | 18,174 | 27.2 | 5.7 | | Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences | 6,006 | 5,629 | 5,327 | 5,277 | -12.1 | -0.9 | 6,539 | 6,704 | 6,551 |

FAQs

What enrollment change occurred for temporary visa holders in 2020?

Full-time enrollment of temporary visa holders in SEH master’s programs declined in 2020, with first-time full-time enrollment lower than in 2019 by just over 25,000 master’s students and nearly 6,000 doctoral students.

How did U.S. citizens and permanent residents’ enrollment change between 2019 and 2020?

Enrollment increased for both groups: full-time master’s programs rose by about 13,600, and part-time master’s enrollment increased by about 13,400 over the same period.

Why did total graduate student enrollment remain relatively stable in 2020?

Total enrollment stayed relatively stable with a small increase of 7,696 students (about 1.1%) because rising enrollment of U.S. citizens and permanent residents in SEH graduate programs offset temporary visa holder declines.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Riley West