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Roster of Astronomy Departments with Enrollment and Degree Data, 2022

SEP 14, 2023
Results from the 2022 Survey of Enrollments and Degrees
Patrick Mulvey headshot
Research Manager American Institute of Physics

Roster of Astronomy Departments with Enrollment and Degree Data, 2022

The Astronomy Roster is a listing of all degree-granting astronomy departments in the US. It includes enrollment data for the fall of 2022 and the degrees conferred during the 2021-22 academic year. The findings in this report come from AIP’s annual departmental survey of Enrollments and Degrees.

The number of astronomy bachelors conferred at US institutions in the class of 2022 (n=870) represents a
2.5% decline from the previous year. This is the first time the number of astronomy bachelor’s degrees
conferred has declined in over a decade (see figure on page 6).

There were 210 astronomy PhDs conferred at US institutions in the class of 2022. This represents a 23%
increase from the previous year, resulting in the number of astronomy PhDs conferred reaching an all-time
high (see figure on page 7). The astronomy PhDs reported in this roster do not include PhDs in astrophysics
that were awarded at physics departments that do not offer an explicit astronomy degree. Those degrees
are included in the data reported in the Roster of Physics Departments.

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