Preliminary Data Shows Decline in High School Physics Course Enrollment

Preliminary data from a nationwide survey conducted by AIP’s research team shows a decrease in the number of students enrolled in physics courses.

The results will be discussed at the American Physical Society’s Global Physics Summit joint March and April meeting, during a panel discussion on “Critical Issues in the Physics Pipeline ” at 8:30 p.m. PT, Tuesday, March 18. The panel will be chaired by Laura Greene of Florida State University. Panelists include President of AAPT Gabe Spalding, CEO of AAPT Beth Cunningham, and Michael Marder of the University of Texas at Austin.

New data shows a 2.7% decrease in the estimated number of high school students taking a physics course, but also a modest 1.3% increase of teachers teaching at least one physics course. The data gathered in this survey includes teachers who teach most of their classes in other subjects, suggesting that fewer teachers are teaching only physics as compared to prior years.

In 1987, AIP’s research team started regularly surveying high school physics enrollments every three to six years. This study summarizes the changes in high school statistics for 2018-2023. Data for 12th grade enrollment and the number of schools comes from the U.S. Department of Education and represents a census. AIP’s research team verified whether physics was offered at 62% of the ~3,990 high schools in the sample.

For the first time in the studies, the data shows a decline in high school physics enrollments. However, the total number of AP exams administered shows a steady increase; in particular, the number of AP environmental science exams administered is growing faster than that of any other science discipline. According to the preliminary report, the decline in high school physics enrollments could be a result of students having more specialized options to choose from as an alternative to physics, such as astronomy or space science.

AIP’s research team will publish finalized results in coming months. The preliminary report is available here .