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 30 June 2021).} 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. In contrast, the shares of doctorate recipients from families with at least one parent holding bachelor’s 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 (figure 14).

Nonetheless, a smaller proportion of doctorate recipients who are underrepresented minorities—Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, and American Indian or Alaska Native—have at least one parent with a bachelor’s degree than Asian or White doctorate recipients.

In 2020, about 75% of doctorate recipients who were Asian or who were White came from families having at least one parent who had a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared with between 49% and 58% of doctorate recipients who were Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, or Hispanic or Latino.

In 2020, about one-third of doctorate recipients were primarily supported by research assistantships or traineeships; 24% by fellowships, scholarships, or dissertation grants; and 22% 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 other sources, such as employer reimbursement and foreign support (figure 15).

The primary sources of financial support used by doctorate recipients vary by field of study. In 2020, research assistantships were the most common primary source of financial support for doctorate recipients in engineering, in physical sciences and earth sciences, and in life sciences. In mathematics and computer sciences, teaching assistantships were just as frequent as research assistantships. Fellowships, scholarships, or dissertation grants and teaching assistantships were the most common source of primary 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 24% and 29% of doctorate recipients reported that their primary source of financial support was either fellowships, scholarships, or dissertation grants; teaching assistantships; or their own resources (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 (NCSES). 2020. Doctorate Recipients from U.S. Universities 2018, Education-Related Debt. NSF 20-301. 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 2020, large majorities (72% and above) of doctorate recipients in physical sciences and earth sciences, in mathematics and computer sciences, engineering, and in 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, see related figure 16 in this report and detailed table 35.}
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 lower than half.

Within each broad field of study, 5% to 8% 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 (36%), psychology and social sciences (28%), other non-S&E fields (27%), and humanities and arts (25%).

In 2020, doctorate recipients in the S&E 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 ($55,000), 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, other non-S&E fields, and education) reported among the lowest median expected annual salaries. In psychology, the median cumulative debt was $24,000 higher than the median expected salary at graduation. And in other non-S&E fields, the median cumulative debt was $6,000 higher than expected salary. In the fields of education and communication, doctorate recipients’ median expected salary was about the same as their median cumulative debt.