The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) reported a 1.8 percent increase in first-time enrollment between fall 2011 and fall 2012.

More than 461,000 students enrolled for the first time in graduate certificate, education specialist, master’s, or doctoral programs for the fall 2012, according to institutions responding to the CGS/GRE Survey of Graduate Enrollment and Degrees, an annual survey that has been conducted since 1986.

Despite the gains in first-time enrollment, total graduate enrollment fell 2.3 percent following a 0.8 percent decline in the previous year. Total graduate enrollment was nearly 1.74 million students in fall 2012.

Institutions responding to the survey received nearly 1.98 million applications for admission to fall 2012 graduate programs. Applications rose 3.9 percent between fall 2011 and fall 2012.

The overall acceptance rate was slightly lower than the previous year, with 39.5 percent of applications resulting in offers of admission for fall 2012.

As CGS also reported last year, the fact that first-time enrollment trends have not matched the growth in applications may be a sign that many qualified students who wish to attend graduate school are faced with obstacles to enrolling.

First-time graduate enrollment of temporary residents increased 8 percent between fall 2011 and fall 2012, according to survey respondents, up slightly from the 7.8 percent increase in fall 2011.

In contrast, the growth in first-time graduate enrollment for U.S. citizens and permanent residents between fall 2011 and fall 2012 was essentially stagnant at 0.6 percent.

In fall 2012, more than one-half (54.7 percent) of all temporary resident graduate students were enrolled in engineering, mathematics and computer sciences, physical and earth sciences, or biological and agricultural sciences. Only 17.3 percent of U.S. citizens/permanent residents were enrolled in these fields.

CGS President Debra W. Stewart viewed the data for first-time graduate enrollment with cautious optimism. “It’s certainly good news that the number of new students enrolling in U.S. graduate programs is trending upward. However the trend must accelerate if we are to gain ground against previous losses.”

Stewart added that this is particularly the case for domestic students. “An increase of less than one percent in first-time enrollment for domestic students is worrisome given that the U.S. economy will have an increasing need for highly-skilled talent in order to thrive. Our country must do more to address the economic factors, like student debt, that discourage many students from enrolling in U.S. graduate programs.”

One piece of encouraging news contained in the report is that first-time enrollment for underrepresented minorities has increased.

Among survey respondents, first-time graduate enrollment rose 7.4 percent for Hispanic/Latinos, 5.7 percent for American Indians/Alaska Natives, and 4.6 percent for Blacks/African Americans between fall 2011 and fall 2012.

Other report findings include:

Trends by field

• The largest one-year changes in graduate applications between fall 2011 and fall 2012 occurred in mathematics and computer sciences (11.1 percent), health sciences (9.6 percent), and engineering (9.3 percent).

• Applications to graduate programs in business rose 0.7 percent between fall 2011 and fall 2012, much slower than the 4.3 percent growth in the previous year.

• First-time enrollment in education programs grew 2.5 percent for fall 2012, compared to a sharp drop of 8.8 percent in fall 2011.

• The largest fields by total enrollment were education and business, respectively accounting for 20 percent and 16 percent of total graduate enrollment at responding institutions in fall 2012.

Trends by degree level

• About 74 percent of all graduate students in fall 2012 were enrolled in programs leading to a master’s degree or a graduate certificate, according to survey respondents.

• Responding institutions awarded approximately 67,200 doctoral degrees, 540,000 master’s degrees, and 31,900 graduate certificates in 2011-12.

• Between fall 2011 and fall 2012, first-time enrollment increased by 5.0 percent at the doctoral level and 1.2 percent at the master’s level.

Student demographics

• About 58 percent of all first-time graduate students in fall 2012 were women, according to survey respondents.

• According to survey respondents, women earned nearly two-thirds of the graduate certificates, 60 percent of the master’s degrees, and 52 percent of the doctorates. Academic year 2011-12 marked the fourth straight year women earned a majority of doctoral degrees.

• Over the 2011-2012 period, first-time enrollment for Whites fell by 0.9 percent.