Enrollments and Degrees Report. AIP Report.

In fall 2002, the American Institute of Physics asked the 735 physics departments, the 34 combined physics and astronomy departments, and the 37 separate astronomy departments in the United States to provide information on both their current student enrollments and the degrees they conferred in the previous academic year. Data were received from 93% of the departments, and data for nonresponding departments were estimated using survey responses from previous years. After about a decade of decline, undergraduate physics enrollment has increased. There were 4,091 physics bachelor's degrees conferred in 2001, an increase of 12% from 1999. Physics PhD production has fallen, however, for the seventh consecutive year. There were 1,157 PhDs conferred in 2001, a cumulative decline of 22% since the high in 1994. In the past 2 years, the number of African Americans receiving physics PhDs has nearly doubled. The number of students receiving astronomy bachelor's degrees in 2001 shout up 36% over the previous year, and much of this is attributable to the increase in women receiving degrees. An appendix contains three data tables. (Contains 9 figures and 14 tables.) (SLD)