The American Geological Institute conducted a baseline survey of geoscience departments in the United States about the levels of enrollment in various categories of introductory geoscience courses. The survey resulted in an actual census of 137,180 students in 241 reporting departments. When a simple linear estimation is made from the responding sample, the likely maximum whole enrollment in introductory geoscience courses is approximately 385,000 students. Relating this to enrollments in all degree-granting institutions, this represents 2.3% of the total enrolled higher education population in the 2003-2004 academic year. Bachelor-focused departments teach the majority of the students in introductory geoscience courses, but Ph.D.-granting departments carry a higher per department load. Community colleges represent approximately 10% of the teaching of introductory geoscience, a structural concern for the discipline with the growing reliance on community colleges providing introductory instruction for higher education. Additionally, analysis of the relationship between the number of students in introductory courses to the number of majors in a department show no significant relationship, complicating the assertion that introductory courses are the major recruitment tool for the geosciences.