Miami physics program leads in undergrad degrees among schools with master's programs
Feb 18, 2010Among universities with master’s programs in physics as the highest degree, Miami University ranked first in the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded annually and second in the number of master’s degrees awarded annually. Miami averaged 15 physics bachelor’s degrees, and eight physics master’s degrees, per year for the classes 2005 to 2007.
According to the AIP’s report – based on enrollments from the fall of 2007 and degrees from the class of 2007 – the number of physics bachelor’s degrees awarded throughout the country has been rising steadily for eight consecutive years, increasing by 58 percent. The surge follows steady declines during the 1990s and brings physics bachelor degree production to its highest level in almost 40 years.
“Students are attracted to the modern, interactive curriculum featuring theory, experiment and computation throughout,” said Michael Pechan, chair of Miami’s physics department. “At Miami, students – all graduate students and two-thirds of undergraduates – participate in forefront research in close collaboration with faculty members. In other words, they have the opportunities of a major research university in a small liberal arts college setting.”
According to Pechan, Miami graduates are admitted to top doctorate programs in physics and related areas around the country and enter the industrial workforce, serving principally southwest Ohio STEM related businesses.
The Statistical Research Center of the American Institute of Physics conducts an annual census of all degree-granting physics departments in the United States and Puerto Rico. The survey, collecting data from the 763 degree-granting departments for the class of 2007, had a 91 percent response rate.
Reports for both graduate and undergraduate programs can be found at http://www.aip.org/statistics/trends/reports/EDphysund07.pdf and http://www.aip.org/statistics/trends/reports/EDphysgrad07.pdf.
