Bachelor’s trends

The number of physics bachelor’s degrees awarded in the US has increased about 5% a year over the past 15 years (see figure). In 2014 some 7526 physics bachelor’s degrees were awarded by 743 departments. Of that class, 20% were women, 6% were non-US citizens, and the median age was 22.4 years.

In all, the number of physics bachelor’s degrees has more than doubled since 1999. That increase is significantly larger than the roughly 50% rise seen for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields and for total US bachelors over that time. More than a third of physics bachelors earned a double major.

The University of Washington leads in the number of physics bachelor’s degrees awarded: For the three years 2012 through 2014, it averaged 98 a year. Next was MIT, with 92, followed by the University of California, Berkeley, with 85.

For more data on who is majoring in physics, where, and how physics compares with other fields, see Physics Bachelor’s Degrees, a recent report by the Statistical Research Center of the American Institute of Physics. The report is available at https://www.aip.org/statistics/undergraduate .