Graduate enrollments in the atmospheric sciences

During the past two years, the UCAR Board of Trustees and other members of the UCAR university community have become increasingly concerned about the number of students applying for graduate school (Anthes, 2000a). A number of us have seen the pool of applicants shrink at our own Ph.D. programs in recent years. Furthermore, participants in the 1999 UCAR Forum on the future of the atmospheric sciences confirmed that there is a serious problem regarding the quantity and quality of students entering the atmospheric and related sciences (including oceanography, space science and earth science). In a subsequent UCAR survey on broad topics, conducted during June and July of 2000, we received more comments on the quantity and quality of graduate students than on any other issue (Anthes, 2000b). Apparently many university departments around the world are experiencing similar difficulties recruiting highly skilled students in the environmental sciences (Brasseur, 2000).