diff --git a/meshmode/discretization/__init__.py b/meshmode/discretization/__init__.py
index f1dd89158f6a201cdaf47f53406cbe7cafbaa7d2..d19e5b92e1f58bf21416e09e8e23b734f24db206 100644
--- a/meshmode/discretization/__init__.py
+++ b/meshmode/discretization/__init__.py
@@ -188,6 +188,8 @@ class Discretization(object):
 
     .. attribute:: ambient_dim
 
+    .. attribute:: ndofs
+
     .. attribute :: groups
 
     .. automethod:: empty
@@ -241,6 +243,10 @@ class Discretization(object):
     def ambient_dim(self):
         return self.mesh.ambient_dim
 
+    @property
+    def ndofs(self):
+        return sum(grp.ndofs for grp in self.groups)
+
     def _new_array(self, actx, creation_func, dtype=None):
         if dtype is None:
             dtype = self.real_dtype