Doctoral education trains scientists, engineers, researchers, and scholars, all of whom are critical to the nation’s progress. These individuals create and share new knowledge and new ways of thinking that lead, directly and indirectly, to new products, services, and works of art. Annual counts of doctorate recipients from U.S. universities are measures of the incremental investment in human resources devoted to science, engineering, research, and scholarship, and these counts can serve as leading indicators of the capacity for knowledge creation and innovation in various domains.

Changes in the characteristics of this population over time reflect political, economic, social, technological, and demographic trends. These include the following:

• Increased representation of women, minorities, and temporary visa holders
• Emergence of new fields and changes in the relative popularity of other fields
• Changes in completion time for doctoral study
• Expansion of the postdoctoral pool
• Shifting academic employment opportunities after graduation
• Different pathways to the doctoral degree

Understanding these connections is necessary to make informed improvements in this country’s doctoral education system.

The data in this report cover the 2020 academic year (1 July 2019 to 30 June 2020) and are collected from doctorate students who complete the Survey of Earned Doctorates as they approach graduation. The latter part of this survey period coincided with the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Next academic year, the questionnaire includes specific questions about the impact of the pandemic.

Key takeaways from the 2020 data include the following:

• In 2020, the number of doctorate recipients declined to 55,283 (from 55,614 in 2019); this is the first drop since 2017.
• The number of U.S. citizens and permanent resident doctorate recipients declined in 2020 to 34,492 (from 35,232 in 2019), and the number of temporary visa holders was similar to the number in 2019 (18,482 in 2020 and 18,324 in 2019).
• Between 2019 and 2020, the number of doctorate recipients who were U.S. citizens and permanent residents declined in all races and ethnicities except for Hispanics and Latinos and those reporting more than one race—numbers in both of these groups increased slightly. The proportion of doctorate recipients who were underrepresented minorities (Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, and American Indian or Alaska Native) among U.S. citizens and permanent residents remained stable compared to 2019 (16%). However, there was a slight decline in the proportion of Asian doctorate recipients among U.S. citizens and permanent residents.
• Women earn 49% or more of doctorates in life sciences, psychology and social sciences, education, humanities and arts, and other non-science and engineering (non-S&E) fields. They constitute about a third of those in physical sciences and earth sciences and a quarter of those in engineering and in mathematics and computer sciences.
• The pattern of rising parental educational attainment is visible among all races and ethnicities among U.S. citizens and permanent residents. However, the proportion of doctorate recipients who are from an underrepresented minority group with at least one parent with a bachelor’s degree is lower than the proportion corresponding to their Asian or White counterparts.
• Definite commitments for employment after graduation have continued to increase in 2020 across many of the broad S&E fields, following low points in 2014–16. However, the percentage of doctorate recipients in the life sciences and in mathematics and computer sciences who reported definite employment commitments was flat or nearly flat between 2019 and 2020. In 2020, 70% of doctorate recipients reported having definite commitments for employment or postdoctoral study.
• In 2020, in every broad field of study, median expected salaries for doctorate recipients committing to jobs in industry or business were higher than the salaries for those committing to postdoctoral positions or jobs in academe.
• In 2020, large majorities (71% and above) of doctorate recipients in S&E fields excluding psychology and social sciences reported holding no debt related to their graduate education. 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.
• The number of doctorate recipients who are temporary visa holders is highly concentrated in a few countries. In 2020, those from China, India, and South Korea accounted for 53% of doctoral awards, and those from the top 25 countries of origin accounted for 86%.
• In 2020, nearly three-quarters (73%) of doctorate recipients on temporary visas intended to stay in the United States after graduating; this proportion has increased from 2010 (69%).
• Intentions to stay and definite employment commitments to stay in the United States after graduation are higher among S&E doctorate recipients than among those with degrees in non-S&E fields.
• Among doctorate recipients on temporary visas with definite commitments to stay in the United States after graduation, a greater proportion work in the industry or business sector than in the academic sector. In contrast, a greater proportion of U.S. citizens and permanent residents work in the academic sector than in the industry or business sector.