Education Committee Releases New Report on Undergraduate Degree Programs in Astronomy/Astrophysics

The AAS Education Committee is pleased to announce the publication of a new report, "The Landscape of Undergraduate Astronomy and Astrophysics Degree Requirements," available now on arXiv. In the report, we summarize the results of a survey of 78 undergraduate programs, 66 of which offer undergraduate degrees in astronomy and/or astrophysics. Information collected from participants includes degree names, degree types, course requirements, elective course options, and learning goals for their undergraduate majors. Our report presents 9 key findings and 10 recommendations, and these are summarized in the main body of the report (six pages). Appendix A contains detailed descriptions of survey data analyses. Appendices B and C contain recommended undergraduate course requirements and recommended program-level learning goals, respectively.

Our survey results show clearly that there is not currently community consensus about what knowledge and competencies an undergraduate astronomy or astrophysics degree should instill. This lack of cohesion is a problem for our community, as it dilutes the significance and interpretability of the credential for employers and graduate schools. We earnestly invite all members of the astronomy and astrophysics community to contribute to a broader discussion about these findings and recommendations. We view this report as just the beginning of an important dialog, and we look forward to engaging with the AAS community about our findings and recommendations through our feedback form.

The authors of this report are eager to share and discuss its findings and recommendations with the AAS community and to begin a dialog about next steps. If you or your department would like a member of the report team to come give a talk about it at your institution, please contact Kate Follette ([email protected]).