Educational program directors for radiography, radiation therapy and nuclear medicine report that the number of students entering their program decreased slightly in 2019, according to a survey conducted by American Society of Radiologic Technologists.

Entering class enrollments, student capacity and demographic analysis data are among the findings released this month in the ASRT Enrollment Snapshot of Radiography, Radiation Therapy and Nuclear Medicine Technology Programs ─ 2019.

According to the survey results, an estimated 15,972 students entered radiography programs in 2019, down from 16,374 in 2018. Radiation therapy programs also saw a drop in entering students in 2019 down to a reported 1,155 students nationally from 1,356 students in 2018. The estimated total number of students entering nuclear medicine technology programs dropped slightly in 2019 from 1,287 to 1,129.

“We now have 18 years of longitudinal tracking of enrollment data,” said ASRT Director of Research John Culbertson, M.A., M.Ed. “This is the first year since 2014 that the number of students enrolled in radiography programs slightly decreased, but there have been more fluctuations in radiation therapy and nuclear medicine enrollments over that same period.”

ASRT sent the survey in November 2019 to all directors of radiography, radiation therapy and nuclear medicine technology programs currently recognized by the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists. Of 956 surveys sent, 335 participated, resulting in a response rate of 35 percent. ASRT has conducted the survey every year since 2001.