May/June 2020
PE Report
From 2017 to 2018, Fewer Students Sought Engineering Master’s
The number of students pursuing master’s degrees in engineering, both full- and part-time in the US, dropped by 3.8% from 2017 to 2018. Of 10 discipline categories, six showed enrollment decreases, according to the National Science Foundation.
Engineering mechanics, physics, and science grew the most, at 7.4%, while chemical engineering declined the most, -7%.
In contrast, enrollment in master’s degree programs in science fields increased 5.3% during the same period.