Trends in University Environmental Health Research and Training

A survey of 157 college and university programs in the United States indicates that, during the ten-year period from 1967 through 1976, the number of people completing graduate programs in environmental health specialties at the master's, doctoral, and post-doctoral levels doubled. In 1974-75, 75 per cent of those completing master's degree programs were in the specialty areas of water pollution, air pollution, and occupational health; 76 per cent of those completing doctoral programs were in water pollution, toxicology, radiation protection, air pollution, and cancer research; and 61 per cent of those completing post-doctoral programs were in cancer research and toxicology. Including those whose current positions could not be ascertained, less than 10 per cent of all graduates accepted employment outside the field of environmental health. Funding for university environmental health research continued to increase throughout this ten-year period. The sources of this funding, however, changed dramatically, with the relative contributions from the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare decreasing significantly, while those from industry and other federal agencies increased. In contrast, funding for university environmental health training increased significantly between 1966 and 1971, but showed no increase from 1971 to 1975. During this latter period, training support provided by HEW remained essentially constant, that by the Environmental Protection Agency decreased to less than half, while that from the universities approximately tripled. (Am. J. Public Health 69:125-129,1979.)