According to a new report released by the US National Science Foundation (NSF), more and more minority students are getting their academic degrees, when compared to the numbers recorded only five years ago. Nearly all categories have benefited from this improvement, the experts explain. The study, entitled “Science and Engineering Degrees by Race/Ethnicity: 1997-2006,” was developed by experts at the NSF Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences directorate Science Resources Statistics division.

Asian minority students showed the largest increases in bachelor-degree awards, of about 10.5 percent. Conversely, the lowest increase, of just 1.3 percent, was recorded among American Indians and Alaska Natives, the same report shows. These numbers are valid for the fiscal year 2004 to 2006, the Foundation highlights. The same document shows that many more minority students qualified for their master's degree as well. In fact, when all population groups were taken into account, Whites had the smallest increase, of roughly 5.9 percent.

Hispanics and African Americans showed the largest increase in master's performance, with 13.1 and 13 percent, respectively. This trend has held true for a few years, which pleases the minority communities. In spite of their achievements at the academic level, American Indians, Alaska Natives and African Americans showed a sharp decline when it came to doctoral degrees, registering a 9.1 and 9.8 percent drop, respectively, as opposed to previous years. On the other hand, the numbers of Asians, Whites and Hispanics that managed to finish their doctoral work increased by 15.8, 2.5, and 16.1 percent, respectively.

“Several fields of study saw growth from fiscal year 2004 to 2006 such as physical sciences and health fields, which were popular among bachelor's degree students. For master's degree students, mathematical sciences, biological sciences, and health fields showed the largest rates of increase. Mechanical engineering showed a 34.7 percent increase among doctoral students,” a note on the NSF website indicates.

“Overall, computer sciences made the largest gains among doctoral students at 53.2 percent, but the field also showed the steepest decline among bachelor's and master's degree students, falling 24.6 percent and 16.4 percent respectively. The steepest decline for doctoral students was in education doctorates, which fell by 7.7 percent,” the release concludes.