Enrollments and Degrees Report.

This report presents the results of a 1995-96 survey of U.S. colleges and universities offering doctoral, master's, and bachelor's degrees in physics and astronomy, focusing on degree production and current student enrollment. The survey found that first-year graduate student enrollments for 1996-97 declined by 2.5 percent from the previous year. Ph.D. production for 1995-96 (1,438) was down 3 percent from the high 2 years prior. Physics bachelor degree production continued to decline, with the class of 1995-96 totaling 4,156 degrees. Recently, attention has focused on master's programs in physics as a means of making physics students more marketable in the industrial work force. However, few master's programs offer such curriculum options as co-ops, internships, or interdisciplinary degrees. The 72 degree-granting astronomy departments conferred 126 doctorates and 181 bachelor's degrees on the class of 1995-96; these programs attract fewer foreign students and a larger proportion of women than their physics counterparts. The representation of minorities among physics degree recipients has not changed in recent years. At all degree levels, Hispanic and African-American students continue to be underrepresented, and Asian-Americans overrepresented. An appendix provides data on degree and enrollment trends over the last 10 years. (SW)