Astronomy Enrollments and Degrees: Results from the 2007 Survey of Enrollments and Degrees. Focus On

The Statistical Research Center of the American Institute of Physics conducts an annual census from October through February of all 75 departments that offer degrees in astronomy in the United States. For the class of 2007, the authors received responses from 73 (97%) of these departments. Estimates were derived and included in the totals for non-responding departments. Over the last three years, the number of astronomy bachelor's awarded has remained steady with under 350 granted each year. Women earned 136 bachelor's degrees in astronomy in 2007. The big increase in astronomy bachelor's occurred between 1999 and 2004. A third of the recent gain is a result of existing physics departments adding an astronomy bachelor's degree option. There are 75 departments in the U.S. that offer degrees in astronomy. Of these, 38 are stand-alone departments offering only astronomy degrees and 37 offer degrees in both physics and astronomy. This "Focus On" presents only degree data from stand-alone astronomy departments and the astronomy portion of departments that grant both physics and astronomy degrees. (Contains 4 tables and 8 figures.)