By Kritika Agarwal
America’s STEM talent pipelines are increasingly under strain. The National Science Board’s State of U.S. Science and Engineering 2026 report contains warning signs about how, even as the United States is steadily building a more high-tech, research-intensive economy, we are not doing enough to ensure we are producing or welcoming the human talent needed to power it.
The U.S.’s Growing STEM Talent Needs
The United States is an R&D powerhouse; in 2024, total U.S. research-and-development (R&D) spending reached about $1.009 trillion, or roughly 3.4% of the entire economy. That spending is largely driven by businesses, which also perform three-quarters of U.S. R&D. Businesses rely on a talented pool of people who are competent in math, science, engineering, and data to perform R&D and develop new technologies and products.
As of 2024, the STEM workforce in the United States was 37 million workers strong, according to the NSB report. These are workers “who use STEM skills in the primary function of their jobs, regardless of degree level.” U.S. economic strength and national security depend on these STEM workers to innovate for the future.
While 49% of the U.S. STEM workforce does not have a bachelor’s or an advanced degree, a large majority of individuals (79%) working as computer and mathematical scientists; biological, agricultural, and environmental life scientists; physical scientists; social scientists; and engineers hold college degrees.
The U.S. STEM workforce has grown at a faster rate than the non-STEM workforce since 2014, and is forecast to grow even more in the near future. Already, technology sectors such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity are facing shortages of skilled STEM workers. In 2024, STEM workers had a lower unemployment rate than non-STEM workers and had higher median annual earnings.
If the United States is to keep pace with workforce needs and maintain a robust science and engineering enterprise, it must nurture a strong STEM workforce that draws on both domestic and international talent. The NSB report, however, contains warning signs that the nation is faltering on both fronts.
Cracks in the K-12 Foundation
The NSB highlights that national math and science performance for U.S. students has fallen from pre‑pandemic levels and has not yet fully recovered. Many students also don’t have access to STEM courses in elementary and secondary schools that are often “prerequisites for further education in STEM fields or training for STEM occupations.”
Crucially, the report links high school math performance to college STEM outcomes. Students who scored in the top fifth on an 11th‑grade math assessment and started college in a STEM major were far more likely to finish a STEM degree than those in the bottom fifth. If large numbers of students never reach strong math performance by the end of high school, the pool of potential STEM graduates shrinks long before college even begins.
Higher Education Is Stepping Up – But Other Problems Loom
According to the NSB report, science and engineering (S&E) degrees awarded by U.S. higher education institutions increased at all levels between 2014 and 2024. “S&E associate’s and S&E bachelor’s degree awards increased by 22% and 17%, respectively, during this period, and S&E doctoral degrees increased by 13%. By contrast, the number of S&E master’s degrees awarded increased by 77%.”
Colleges could do more, however, to retain STEM students and assist with degree completion. The NSB found that “Among students who began STEM majors, 55% completed a STEM undergraduate certificate or degree (in any STEM field), 16% completed a non-STEM degree, and 29% did not complete a degree.” (Nearly a third of students completing a STEM degree were not initially enrolled in STEM fields.)
The data suggest that colleges must do more to retain students’ interest in STEM and to remove obstacles toward degree completion.
Regardless, colleges expect declining enrollments across the board as the total number of high school graduates peaks in the United States. The Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education predicts that the total number of high school graduates peaked in 2025 and will continue to decline through 2041.
Fewer students enrolling in college will inevitably mean a diminished domestic STEM workforce.
International Talent Pipelines Are Also Under Stress
The STEM workforce is both homegrown and international – in fact, the United States relies heavily on foreign-born workers to meet its STEM workforce needs. In 2024, according to the NSB, foreign-born individuals accounted for 22% (8 million) of the 37 million STEM workers.
Foreign-born workers also make up a large share of STEM workers with higher levels of education. Per NSB, “In 2023, they accounted for 20% of S&E workers with a bachelor’s degree as their highest degree, 39% with a master’s degree, and 46% with a doctoral degree.” The NSB reports that “the majority of doctoral-level computer and mathematical scientists (57%) and engineers (58%) working in the United States in 2023 were born outside the country.” Further, “about half (49%) of computer and mathematical scientists with master’s degrees were foreign born.”
The United States has historically been highly effective at incentivizing international students to remain in the country and contribute to its STEM workforce upon graduation. The NSB found that 73% of temporary visa holders earning S&E doctorates between 2017-19 remained in the United States approximately five years after graduation. In fact, the vast majority of foreign-born S&E workers in the United States are naturalized citizens or permanent residents.
However, even here, the warning lights are blinking. NSB reported that the enrollment of international students in S&E fields at U.S. higher education institutions dropped 9% this past fall as compared to the previous year. Enrollment in master’s degree programs dropped by nearly a quarter (24%) from 2024-25.
The United States is also making it harder for international students to remain in the United States to obtain higher-level degrees (if they are already here for bachelor’s education) and upon graduation. As U.S. immigration policies become more restrictive, many U.S. based scientists are seeking an exit strategy. Meanwhile, some talented foreign students and researchers are choosing not to come to the United States in the first place, instead electing to pursue their studies and work elsewhere. For example, the NSB noted that, while the number of internationally mobile students in the United States decreased by 3% between 2017-23, their numbers “grew in Canada by 85%, in the United Kingdom by 72%, in Germany by 63%, and Australia by 23%.”
Conclusion
All of this is happening as both federal policy and private investment converge on a set of critical and emerging technologies as the key to future economic growth and national security. The nation’s burgeoning industries focused on artificial intelligence, semiconductors, quantum information science, biotechnologies, and advanced manufacturing undoubtedly need a talented, well-educated STEM workforce to thrive.
Without better STEM preparation in schools, smoother pathways through college, and a sustainable strategy for attracting and retaining international talent, the United States risks undercutting the very foundation of its scientific and technological leadership.
Kritika Agarwal is assistant vice president for communications at AAU.