Roster of Astronomy Departments with Enrollment and Degree Data, 2015

The number of astronomy bachelor’s degrees conferred in the US continues to increase, with the class of 2015 reaching a new all-time high of 459 degrees conferred. With undergraduate astronomy enrollments continuing to increase at the 79 departments offering astronomy degrees, this trend is expected to continue for at least a couple of more years. There were 198 first-year students enrolling in US graduate astronomy programs in the fall of 2015. The number of new students enrolling in astronomy graduate programs has remained at around 200 for over a decade. There were 130 astronomy PhDs awarded in the class of 2015, down from 147 the year before.

This report contains the most current enrollment and degree data for each degree-granting astronomy department in the US. The findings in this report come from the AIP annual survey of Enrollments and Degrees.