Programs in Biostatistics at the Master's and Doctoral Level

Data available from the American Public Health Association regarding biostatistics programs in schools of public health indicate that the number of enrolled students, graduates, courses, and faculty members has increased since 1960. Enrolled students and graduates in biostatistics, however, continue to form only a small percentage of the total student body of schools of public health; this proportion is higher among doctoral students than among students at the master's level. Federal grants of various kinds continue to be the major source of funds for enrolled biostatistics students; only a small number receive financial support from their own employers or pay their own expenses. Work-study programs are rather limited, and only a minimal number of students are presently enrolled in them. Proportionally, faculty members in biostatistics departments are more often full professors and conversely less often lecturers and assistants than the faculty members in other disciplines. Most courses in biostatistics are taught by members of the biostatistics faculty and, conversely, most of these persons teach only biostatistics courses. In recent years, the faculty of biostatistics departments has formed a decreasing proportion of the total faculty in schools of public health.