Introduction

Essentially all engineering disciplines are involved in the production, distribution and use of energy in its various forms. Three disciplines - mining, nuclear and petroleum engineering - are almost exclusively focused on the energy sector of the US economy. The growing awareness of the critical need for improved energy technologies and their application is important to all aspects of the economic strength of this country. The education of professionals in these three disciplines should have high priority.

This report provides a view of the degree and enrollment statistics of mining, nuclear and petroleum engineering in US colleges of engineering. The data originated mainly from the annual surveys of the Engineering Workforce Commission (EWC) of the American Association of Engineering Societies. The EWC surveys categorize nuclear and petroleum engineering separately, but combine mining and geological engineering (along with geology and minerals). This report also includes data on mining engineering that were obtained from the annual surveys of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) in order to provide a comparison to the EWC data. Throughout this report, the EWC data are indicated as "mining/geological", "nuclear" and "petroleum"; the ASEE data are indicated as "mining".

Total Number of Engineering Degrees Awarded

The three graphs below show the numbers of bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees awarded in these three disciplines from AY1970-71 through AY2005-06, the most recent year for which degree data are available. For comparison, the total numbers of engineering bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees awarded in AY2005-06 (EWC data) were 76,103, 38,451 and 8,116, respectively.

Bachelor's degrees for the three disciplines are currently below the numbers of degrees awarded a few decades ago. However, nuclear engineering degrees are now three times as high as in AY2000-01 and petroleum engineering degrees are now almost twice the number awarded in AY1997-98. The number of mining engineering degrees remains low and shows no growth trend.

Master's degrees in nuclear engineering have increased 58% since AY2001-02. For petroleum engineering, master's degrees have increased 125% since AY1998-99 and currently are greater than the maximum reached in AY1983-84. Master's degrees for mining engineering have been essentially constant (fluctuating between 19 and 31) for a decade.

Doctoral degrees in nuclear engineering have declined substantially over the past fifteen years. This trend will probably end soon since master's degrees have increased rapidly in the past few years. Doctoral degrees in petroleum engineering have increased in the past few years and are currently at essentially the same level as the maximum in the early 1990s. Mining engineering doctorates have been essentially constant for almost a decade (fluctuating between 7 and 12).

The low numbers of degrees awarded in these three disciplines over the past decade or so is due, in part, to the limited number of US engineering colleges offering programs of study in these disciplines. In AY1985-86, mining, mining/geological, nuclear and petroleum engineering programs were offered at 11, 34, 40 and 24 engineering colleges, respectively. In AY2005-06, the comparable numbers of programs were 11, 29, 24 and 20. Over this same two-decade period, the number of universities providing survey data to EWC increased from 305 to 362. Not only is the number of engineering colleges offering programs in these disciplines small, but it has decreased over the past two decades.

Undergraduate and Graduate Enrollments

Degree trends in the near future may be assessed by consideration of enrollment data. As shown in the graph below, both first-year and total full-time enrollments in mining and petroleum engineering have been increasing. Undergraduate degrees should begin to increase in mining engineering in a year or two and should continue to increase significantly in petroleum engineering. The continuing upward trend in first-year enrollments in nuclear engineering indicates that rapid degree growth will continue. However, full-time enrollment growth in this discipline appears to have ceased. Enrollment data for fall 2007, when available, might indicate that growth continues.

Full-time master's and doctoral enrollments in nuclear engineering have increased significantly in recent years as shown in the graph above. It should be anticipated that master's degrees will continue to increase rapidly and the upward trend for doctoral degrees of the last two years will continue. In petroleum engineering, full-time master's enrollments have doubled
over the past decade in spite of declines in the past three years. The 18.1% enrollment decline since fall 2003 has already resulted in a reduction in petroleum engineering master's degrees in AY2005-06. If the decreasing rate of enrollment decline since fall 2003 indicates that enrollment growth will return in a year or two, the effect of the enrollment decline on the decline of master's degrees should be small. Master's and doctoral full-time enrollments in mining engineering have remained essentially constant for the last eleven years as would be expected from the essentially constant numbers of master's and doctoral degrees.

Degrees Awarded to Women

The fractions of degrees (mining/geological, nuclear and petroleum engineering) awarded to women are shown in the three graphs below. Data for engineering as a whole are shown for

comparison. At all degree levels, mining/geological engineering fractions are slightly greater than engineering; nuclear and petroleum engineering are slightly lower. The annual trends of the individual disciplines generally follow that of engineering.

Degrees Awarded to Ethnic Groups

The fractions of degrees awarded to ethnic groups are shown in the three graphs below. The data are for the combined total of African, Hispanic, Native and Asian Americans. The fractions for engineering as a whole are shown for comparison. At all degree levels, the three disciplines have ethnic fractions that are significantly lower than engineering.

For bachelor's degrees, petroleum engineering has the highest ethnic fraction of the three disciplines. In addition, the ethnic fraction for petroleum engineering has generally increased annually for three decades. The ethnic fractions for mining/geological and nuclear engineering have been essentially constant for about two decades.

For master's degrees, no long-term trend is evident. However, both mining/geological and petroleum engineering ethnic fractions have more than doubled since AY2001-02. For doctoral degrees, statistical scatter precludes definition of long-term trends. However, for the last six years the ethnic fractions for nuclear and petroleum engineering have declined more rapidly than the ethnic fraction for overall engineering.

Degrees Awarded to Foreign Nationals

The fractions of bachelor's master's and doctoral degrees in mining/geological, nuclear and petroleum engineering awarded to foreign nationals are shown in the three graphs below. The fraction for engineering as a whole is shown for comparison.

Very few bachelor's degrees in nuclear engineering have been awarded to foreign nationals over the past two decades and, for the last decade, the fraction master's degrees awarded is less than for engineering as a whole. The fraction of doctoral degrees awarded to foreign nationals has been essentially the same as overall engineering for three decades.

For petroleum engineering, the fraction of bachelor's degrees awarded to foreign nationals has been approximately four times that of engineering as a whole since AY1990-91. The fractions of master's and doctoral degrees, which were essentially the same as engineering in the late 1980s, increased to 75.1% and 89.1%, respectively, in AY2005-06. The numbers of master's and doctoral degrees awarded to US citizens in AY2005-06 in petroleum engineering were 65 and 5, respectively.

The fractions of mining/geological engineering degrees at all three academic levels awarded to foreign nationals have been essentially the same overall engineering for three decades.

Summary

Bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees and enrollments in mining, nuclear and petroleum engineering are reported for the last three decades. Enrollment trends were used to predict degree trends in the near future. Trends for degrees awarded to women, ethnic groups (African, Hispanic, Native and Asian Americans combined) and foreign nationals were also studied.

For nuclear engineering, bachelor's degrees have tripled in the past five years. However, even though first-year enrollments continue to increase slowly, full-time enrollment growth has essentially ceased. The rate of growth in bachelor's degrees will probably begin to decline in a year or so. Master's degrees and enrollments in nuclear engineering continue to increase annually. The number of doctoral degrees had been declining for more than a decade. Increases in the last two years plus annual enrollment increases since fall 2001 indicate that doctoral degrees will continue to increase in the near future.

For petroleum engineering, bachelor's degrees have doubled in the past eight years. The current increasing enrollment trends (both first-year and total full-time) will maintain the degree growth in the near future. Master's degrees more than doubled from AY1998-99 through AY2004-05 as a result of full-time enrollment increases from fall 1996 through fall 2003. Enrollment declines in fall 2004 through fall 2006 resulted in a decline in master's degrees in AY2005-06. Since the enrollment decline in fall 2006 was small, the period over which master's degrees decline should end in a year or two. The number of doctoral degrees in petroleum engineering has grown significantly from the minimum in AY2000-01 and is essentially the same as the maximum in the early 1990s.

For mining engineering, bachelor's degrees have been essentially constant for about fifteen years. Modest growth should be anticipated since enrollments (both first-year and full-time) have begun to increase. Master's degrees have been constant for about a decade and doctoral degrees have been constant for about fifteen years. This pattern will continue since master's and doctoral full-time enrollments have remained constant as well.

Acknowledgments

The data used in this study originated from the annual surveys of the American Society for Engineering Education and the Engineering Workforce Commission of the American Association of Engineering Societies. Engineering Trends acknowledges the efforts of these organizations in providing credible data and expresses its gratitude for their services to the engineering profession. Persons seeking further information about their surveys and the availability of survey data should visit the ASEE Web site (www.asee.org) and the AAES/EWC Web site (www.aaes.org).

Footnote

Engineering Trends data are compiled mainly from information submitted by universities to the annual surveys of EWC and ASEE. On the very rare occasions where errors in data appear, Engineering Trends corrects the error, if possible, or deletes the data if the error is large enough to alter significantly the trend of the university or the US total.