The academic year is about to end. This has been a tumultuous time, particularly for graduate programs . We projected that first-year graduate enrollments would decline; the number of international students starting graduate programs in physics was down by over 13% in the fall of 2025.

As we near the end of April, graduate programs should have an idea of what will happen this fall. We will have another Pulse Survey in the field. The results from the 2025 Pulse Survey examined the impacts of federal policy changes on graduate programs. The 2026 round of the survey will give us insight into the acceptance of offers of admission to graduate programs. Thank you to the department chairs who help provide this data to the community by responding to the survey.

We are here to provide timely and relevant data to the community. Please let us know if you have any questions we can help you answer. If you have any questions or comments, please reply to this message or write to Susan White, Director of Statistical Research, at swhite@aip.org.

If someone forwarded this message to you, you can join the list by signing up for AIP Research Updates .

Support Our Work