Foreign postdocs in the U.S.
What are the numbers?
The exact size of the postdoctoral workforce in the U.S. is still debated, some experts claiming there is an underestimation on the numbers of postdocs in the USA.
“the number of postdoctoral researchers … may be under-estimated by as much as a factor of 2”
NIH’s Biomedical Research Workforce Working Group Report (2012).
However, it is clear that the number of postdocs in the U.S. coming from other countries has been steadily increasing over the past decades, exceeding U.S. citizens and permanent residents.
According to data from the Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering from the NSF, there was an estimation of 64,000 postdocs working in the U.S., including around 35,000 international postdocs.
International postdocs have become essential to the workforce of American laboratories and scientific discoveries!
Evolution of the proportion of U.S. vs Non-U.S. postdocs
1985
1995
2005
2015
International postdocs in Science and Engineering fields by state (2015)
- Rank
- 1st
- 2nd
- 3rd
- U.S. Institution
- California
- Massachusetts
- New York
U.S. and Non-U.S. postdocs by field (2015)
All postdocs
U.S. citizens & Permanent residents
International postdocs
Ranking of U.S. institutions by the number of postdocs appointed (2015)
- 2nd
- Stanford University
- 1st
- Harvard University
- 3rd
- Johns Hopkins University
Rank Institution All postdoctoral appointees All institutions 63861 1 Harvard U. 5674 2 Stanford U. 2264 3 Johns Hopkins U. 1679 4 Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1493 5 U. Michigan 1300 6 U. California, San Diego 1250 7 Columbia U. in the City of New York 1249 8 U. Washington 1205 9 U. Colorado 1199 10 U. California, Berkeley 1184 11 Yale U. 1157 12 U. California, San Francisco 1041 13 U. California, Los Angeles 1016 14 U. Pennsylvania 901 15 Cornell U. 856 16 U. California, Davis 833 17 U. North Carolina, Chapel Hill 803 18 U. Wisconsin-Madison 765 19 U. Minnesota 755 20 Northwestern U. 746 21 New York U. 680 22 U. Florida 679 23 U. Pittsburgh 664 24 Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai 643 25 Emory U. 642 26 U. Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center 637 27 Vanderbilt U. 629 28 Ohio State U. 619 29 Texas A&M U. 615 29 Washington U., Saint Louis 615 31 U. Chicago 586 32 Duke U. 584 33 Mayo Clinic, Mayo Graduate School 576 34 Scripps Research Institute 573 35 U. Texas Southwestern Medical Center 562 36 California Institute of Technology 552 37 U. Illinois, Urbana-Champaign 542 38 Baylor C. of Medicine 537 39 Princeton U. 526 40 North Carolina State U. 497 41 U. Maryland, College Park 496 42 U. Utah 487 43 U. Southern California 475 44 Michigan State U. 471 44 U. Arizona 471 46 Pennsylvania State U. 436 47 Boston U. 421 48 U. Virginia 420 49 Indiana U. 394 50 Purdue U. 391 51 U. Texas, Austin 370 52 Rutgers, State U. New Jersey 362 53 U. Massachusetts, Medical School 348 54 U. Iowa 346 55 U. Maryland Baltimore 325 56 U. California, Santa Barbara 306 57 U. Cincinnati 303 58 Iowa State U. 299 59 U. California, Irvine 297 60 Oregon Health and Science U. 292 60 Rockefeller U. 292 62 Yeshiva U. 283 63 U. South Florida, Tampa 282 64 Case Western Reserve U. 271 65 U. Houston 264 66 Rice U. 263 66 SUNY, Stony Brook U. 263 68 U. Miami 258 69 Arizona State U. 257 69 Louisiana State U. 257 71 SUNY, U. Buffalo 256 72 Colorado State U., Fort Collins 254 73 Brown U. 252 73 U. Alabama, Birmingham 252 75 U. Georgia 250 76 U. Kansas 249 77 Georgia Institute of Technology 237 77 U. Texas Health Science Center, Houston 237 79 U. Hawaii, Manoa 234 80 U. Rochester 233 81 Texas Tech U. 228 82 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State U. 225 83 U. Kentucky 221 84 U. Oklahoma 216 85 U. Illinois, Chicago 214 86 U. Connecticut 213 87 Oregon State U. 212 88 U. Nebraska-Lincoln 205 89 Dartmouth C. 204 90 Florida State U. 202 91 Virginia Commonwealth U. 194 92 Carnegie Mellon U. 193 93 U. California, Riverside 190 94 Tufts U. 182 95 Medical U. South Carolina 178 96 Washington State U. 175 97 Temple U. 167 97 U. Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio 167 99 U. Missouri, Columbia 165 100 Augusta U. a 159 101 Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute 157 102 Kansas State U. 146 102 Wayne State U. 146 104 U. Massachusetts, Amherst 144 105 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory 143 106 U. Tennessee, Knoxville 136 107 Tulane U. 133 108 U. Delaware 132 109 U. South Carolina 129 110 U. California, Santa Cruz 125 111 U. New Mexico 124 111 U. Notre Dame 124 113 City of Hope, Irell and Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences 119 114 Thomas Jefferson U. 117 115 Northeastern U. 114 116 George Washington U. 111 117 Georgetown U. 109 118 U. Nebraska, Medical Center 108 119 U. Louisville 107 120 U. Oregon 105 121 U. Tennessee, Health Science Center 103 122 U. Texas Medical Branch 102 123 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution 99 124 Brandeis U. 95 125 Drexel U. 93 126 U. Mississippi 88 127 Southern Illinois U., Carbondale 87 127 Wake Forest U. 87 129 SUNY, U. Albany 86 129 U. Vermont 86 131 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy 83 132 U. Texas, Dallas 80 133 U. Nevada, Reno 78 134 Clemson U. 77 135 Georgia State U. 76 136 Florida International U. 75 137 U. Arkansas, Fayetteville 69 138 U. Maryland, Baltimore County 67 139 Medical C. Wisconsin 66 140 Colorado School of Mines 65 141 Northern Illinois U. 64 142 U. Akron 60 142 U. Texas, Arlington 60 144 Saint Louis U. 59 145 U. Texas, El Paso 58 146 U. North Texas, Denton 56 147 North Dakota State U. 55 148 U. Wyoming 54 149 Oklahoma State U. 53 150 Syracuse U. 52 151 Mississippi State U. 51 151 Montana State U. 51 151 U. Central Florida 51 151 U. Idaho 51 151 West Virginia U. 51 156 Loma Linda U. 50 157 American Museum of Natural History 48 158 CUNY, City C. 47 159 U. New Hampshire 46 160 Loyola U., Chicago 45 161 George Mason U. 44 162 Boston C. 43 162 Kent State U. 43 164 New Jersey Institute of Technology 42 164 Utah State U. 42 166 U. Alabama, Tuscaloosa 41 167 Auburn U. 40 167 U. California, Merced 40 169 U. Texas, San Antonio 39 170 U. Alaska, Fairbanks 37 171 Albany Medical C. 36 171 U. Montana 36 173 Baylor U. 34 174 San Diego State U. 33 174 Uniformed Services U. of the Health Sciences 33 174 U. Nevada, Las Vegas 33 177 U. Rhode Island 32 178 Creighton U. 31 178 Illinois Institute of Technology 31 178 Old Dominion U. 31 178 U. Toledo 31 178 Worcester Polytechnic Institute 31 183 South Dakota State U. 30 183 SUNY, Binghamton U. 30 183 U. South Alabama 30 186 Missouri U. of Science and Technology 29 186 U. North Carolina, Charlotte 29 188 Brigham Young U. 28 188 East Carolina U. 28 188 Rush U. 28 191 Rosalind Franklin U. of Medicine and Science 27 191 U. Massachusetts, Lowell 27 191 U. North Carolina, Greensboro 27 194 Lehigh U. 26 194 Southern Methodist U. 26 194 U. North Texas, Health Science Center 26 197 C. of William and Mary 25 197 Northeastern Ohio Universities, C. of Medicine 25 197 Ohio U. 25 197 U. Wisconsin-Milwaukee 25 197 Western U. of Health Sciences 25 202 Michigan Technological U. 24 202 New Mexico State U. 24 202 SUNY, Upstate Medical U. 24 202 U. North Dakota 24 206 Air Force Institute of Technology 23 206 Stevens Institute of Technology 23 206 U. Arkansas for Medical Sciences 23 209 Howard U. 22 209 Naval Postgraduate School 22 209 U. Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras 22 209 Van Andel Institute 22 213 Louisiana Tech U. 21 213 Northern Arizona U. 21 215 North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State U. 20 216 Florida A&M U. 19 217 Delaware State U. 18 217 Jackson State U. 18 217 Texas State U. 18 217 U. Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus 18 221 Catholic U. of America 17 221 Clarkson U. 17 221 CUNY, Brooklyn C. 17 221 Marquette U. 17 225 Bowling Green State U. 16 225 New York Medical C. 16 225 SUNY, C. of Environmental Science and Forestry 16 228 Portland State U. 15 228 U. Maine 15 230 California State U., Los Angeles 14 230 Lincoln U., Jefferson City 14 230 Nova Southeastern U. 14 230 Texas A&M U.-Corpus Christi 14 230 U. Southern Mississippi 14 235 Florida Institute of Technology 13 235 Miami U. 13 235 U. Alabama, Huntsville 13 235 U. Memphis 13 239 Meharry Medical C. 12 239 Mercer U. 12 239 Morehouse School of Medicine 12 239 Morgan State U. 12 239 San Francisco State U. 12 239 Wesleyan U. 12 245 Eastern Virginia Medical School 11 245 Florida Atlantic U. 11 245 Oakland U. 11 245 South Dakota School of Mines and Technology 11 245 U. Denver 11 245 U. Massachusetts, Boston 11 251 East Tennessee State U. 10 251 U. Missouri, Kansas City 10 253 Boise State U. 9 253 CUNY, Queens C. 9 253 Illinois State U. 9 253 Rochester Institute of Technology 9 253 SUNY, Downstate Medical Center 9 253 Texas A&M U.-Commerce 9 253 U. Dayton 9 253 U. South Dakota 9 253 U. Tulsa 9 253 Villanova U. 9 263 Central Michigan U. 8 263 Rowan U. 8 263 SUNY, C. of Optometry 8 263 U. Louisiana, Lafayette 8 263 U. Missouri, Saint Louis 8 263 Western Michigan U. 8 269 Chapman U. 7 269 CUNY, C. Staten Island 7 269 Duquesne U. 7 269 U. Alaska, Anchorage 7 269 U. San Diego 7 274 Fisk U. 6 274 Fordham U. 6 274 Midwestern U. 6 274 U. Nebraska, Omaha 6 274 U. of the Sciences Philadelphia 6 279 Albany C. of Pharmacy and Health Sciences 5 279 Arkansas State U. 5 279 Clark Atlanta U. 5 279 Hampton U. 5 279 Idaho State U. 5 279 New School 5 279 Seton Hall U. 5 279 Texas Christian U. 5 279 Trinity C., Hartford 5 279 U. New Orleans 5 289 American U. 4 289 C. Charleston 4 289 Prairie View A&M U. 4 289 Smith C. 4 289 Trinity U. 4 289 Tuskegee U. 4 289 U. Arkansas, Little Rock 4 289 U. Maryland, Eastern Shore 4 289 U. New England 4 298 Cleveland State U. 3 298 James Madison U. 3 298 Kennesaw State U. b 3 298 Marshall U. 3 298 Ponce School of Medicine and Health Sciences 3 298 St. John's U., Queens 3 298 U. Hawaii, Hilo 3 298 U. Puerto Rico, Mayaguez 3 306 A. T. Still U. 2 306 Alabama A&M U. 2 306 Clark U. 2 306 Connecticut C. 2 306 Furman U. 2 306 Hofstra U. 2 306 Indiana State U. 2 306 Lamar U. 2 306 Loyola Marymount U. 2 306 Mount Holyoke C. 2 306 Santa Clara U. 2 306 U. Guam 2 306 U. of the Virgin Islands 2 319 California State U., Long Beach 1 319 Cedars-Sinai Medical Center 1 319 Charles R. Drew U. of Medicine and Science 1 319 CUNY, John Jay C. of Criminal Justice 1 319 Des Moines U., Osteopathic Medical Center 1 319 Keck Graduate Institute 1 319 Montana Tech of U. Montana 1 319 Murray State U. 1 319 New England C. of Optometry 1 319 New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology 1 319 Oklahoma State U., Center for Health Sciences 1 319 Sam Houston State U. 1 319 Savannah State U. 1 319 Swarthmore C. 1 319 Texas Southern U. 1 319 Toyota Technological Institute, Chicago 1 319 U. Arkansas, Pine Bluff 1 319 U. Detroit Mercy 1 319 U. Massachusetts, Dartmouth 1 319 U. North Carolina, Wilmington 1 319 U. of the Incarnate Word 1 319 U. San Francisco 1 319 Valparaiso U. 1 319 Vassar C. 1 319 Williams C. 1 319 Wright State U. 1
International postdocs in Science field by state (2015)
- Rank
- 1st
- 2nd
- 3rd
- U.S. Institution
- California
- New York
- Massachusetts
International postdocs in Engineering field by state (2015)
- Rank
- 1st
- 2nd
- 3rd
- U.S. Institution
- California
- Massachusetts
- Texas
SOURCE: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering.
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