The parents of recent doctorate recipients are better educated than the parents of earlier cohorts of doctorate recipients.^{​In the United States, educational attainment has risen over time (see https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/educational-attainment/cps-historical-time-series.html, accessed 17 July 2020).} The share of doctorate recipients from families in which neither parent has earned more than a high school diploma declined in the past 20 years. Meanwhile, the shares from families in which at least one parent has earned a bachelor’s degree or at least one parent has an advanced degree increased (figure 13).

The pattern of rising parental educational attainment is visible among all races and ethnicities for doctorate recipients who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Nonetheless, doctorate recipients who are underrepresented minorities—American Indian or Alaska Native, Black or African American, or Hispanic or Latino—are less likely to have at least one parent with a bachelor’s degree than are Asian or White doctorate recipients.

In 2019, about 75% of doctorate recipients who were Asian or White came from families having at least one parent who had a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared with between 49% and 59% of doctorate recipients who were American Indian or Alaska Native, Black or African American, or Hispanic or Latino (figure 14).

In 2019, doctorate recipients reported research assistantships or traineeships as the most frequent primary source of financial support, followed by fellowships, scholarships, or dissertation grants and teaching assistantships. A third of doctorate recipients were primarily supported by research assistantships or traineeships; 25% by fellowships, scholarships, or dissertation grants; and 21% by teaching assistantships. About 15% of doctorate recipients relied primarily on their own resources—loans, personal savings, personal earnings, and the earnings or savings of their spouse, partner, or family—to finance their graduate studies, and 5% relied on such other sources as employer reimbursement and foreign support (figure 15).

The primary sources of financial support used by doctorate recipients vary by field of study. In 2019, research assistantships were the most common primary source of financial support for doctorate recipients in engineering, physical sciences and earth sciences, and life sciences. In mathematics and computer sciences, teaching assistantships were slightly more frequent than research assistantships. Fellowships, scholarships, or dissertation grants and teaching assistantships were the most common source of support for comparable shares of doctoral students in humanities and arts. Nearly half of doctorate recipients in education relied on their own resources as their primary source of support. In psychology and social sciences, between 25% and 29% of doctorate recipients reported either fellowships, scholarships, or dissertation grants, teaching assistantships, or their own resources as their primary source of financial support (figure 16).

The amount of education-related debt^{​For a detailed discussion on other aspects of education-related debt see National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics. 2019. Doctorate Recipients from U.S. Universities 2018, Education-Related Debt. NSF 19-301. Available at https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf20301/report.} incurred by doctorate recipients during graduate school is an indicator of the availability of financial support. In 2019, large majorities (71% and above) of doctorate recipients in physical sciences and earth sciences, mathematics and computer sciences, engineering, and life sciences reported holding no debt related to their graduate education when they were awarded the doctorate (figure 17). These are also fields that tend to receive the support of federal government and academic institutions in the form of research assistantships or traineeships; fellowships, scholarships, or dissertation grants; or teaching assistantships.^{​For more data on the primary sources of financial support of doctorate recipients by field, please see related figure 16 in this report and detailed table 35 at https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf21308/.} In psychology and social sciences, humanities and arts, and other non-S&E fields, the share of doctorate recipients with no debt was about half; in education, it was less than half.

Within each broad field of study, 5% to 9% of doctorate recipients had incurred low levels ($10,000 or less) of graduate debt. The shares of doctoral graduates with graduate debt burdens over $30,000 were greatest in education (37%), psychology and social sciences (30%), other non-S&E fields (27%), and humanities and arts (24%).

In 2019, doctorate recipients in the fields with the lowest median cumulative debt—physical sciences and earth sciences, engineering, and mathematics and computer sciences—had among the highest median expected annual salaries. In these fields, median expected salaries at graduation were more than triple the median cumulative debt. Median debt among those in business management and administration was higher ($50,000) but their median expected salary was more than double their median debt (figure 18).

In contrast, doctorate recipients in the fields with the highest median cumulative debt (psychology, social sciences, education, communication, and other non-S&E fields) reported among the lowest median expected annual salaries. In psychology, median cumulative debt was $15,000 higher than median expected salary at graduation. In education, communication, and other non-S&E fields, doctorate recipients’ median expected salary was about the same as their median cumulative debt.