Report

Path to the doctorate

Some paths to the doctoral degree are less traveled and some are more difficult to navigate, owing to a variety of influences that shape doctoral study. These paths may lead to different postgraduate outcomes.

Parental education

Overview

The parents of recent doctorate recipients are better educated than the parents of earlier doctorate cohorts. The proportion of doctorate recipients from families in which neither parent has earned more than a high school diploma declined in the past 20 years, and the proportion of those with at least one parent with some college stayed flat. In contrast, during the same period, the proportions of doctorate recipients with at least one parent holding a bachelor’s degree or at least one parent holding an advanced degree both increased (figure 13).

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Doctorate recipients, by highest parental educational attainment of either parent: 2001–21

(Percent)
Year High school or less Some college Bachelor's degree Advanced degree
2001 23.9 13.6 22.3 40.1
2002 23.6 13.5 22.9 40.1
2003 23.2 13.3 23.2 40.2
2004 22.8 13.4 23.9 39.8
2005 22.3 13.5 24.8 39.4
2006 21.8 13.4 25.6 39.2
2007 21.3 13.5 26.0 39.2
2008 20.9 13.4 25.5 40.2
2009 20.2 13.0 25.4 41.4
2010 19.2 13.1 25.5 42.2
2011 19.2 13.0 25.6 42.2
2012 19.0 12.5 25.7 42.8
2013 18.6 12.7 25.5 43.2
2014 18.2 12.3 26.2 43.3
2015 18.1 12.3 26.7 42.9
2016 17.7 12.8 26.1 43.4
2017 17.4 13.4 26.3 43.0
2018 16.3 12.9 26.5 44.2
2019 16.6 13.1 26.5 43.8
2020 16.1 13.2 27.1 43.6
2021 14.9 13.1 26.1 45.9
Note(s):

Percentages are based on the number of doctorate recipients who responded to the item on the highest educational attainment for either parent. Percentages may not sum to 100 due to rounding and because of doctorate recipients who reported "not applicable" for both father's and mother's education beginning in 2004. Advanced degree includes master's degree, professional degree, and research doctorate.

Source(s):

National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Earned Doctorates, 2021. Related detailed table 1-14 and table 5-5.

Race and ethnicity

Between 2001 and 2021, the pattern of rising parental educational attainment is visible among all races and ethnicities for doctorate recipients who were 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—had at least one parent with a bachelor’s degree than did Asian or White doctorate recipients. In 2021, 78% of Asian and 75% of White doctorate recipients had at least one parent who held a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared with between 47% and 59% of doctorate recipients who were Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, or American Indian or Alaska Native.

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Highest parental educational attainment of U.S. citizen and permanent resident doctorate recipients, by race and ethnicity: 2001 and 2021

(Percent having at least one parent with a bachelor's degree or higher)
Race and ethnicity 2001 2021
White 66.5 78.1
Asian 70.6 75.4
Hispanic or Latino 49.3 58.7
Black or African American 41.7 54.2
American Indian or Alaska Native 43.4 47.1
Note(s):

Percentages are based on the number of doctorate recipients who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents.

Source(s):

National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Earned Doctorates, 2021. Related detailed table 1-14 and table 5-5.

Sources of financial support

Overview

In 2021, 35% of doctorate recipients were primarily supported by research assistantships or traineeships; 24% 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, such as employer reimbursement and foreign support (figure 15).

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Primary source of financial support for doctorate recipients: 2021

(Percent)
Source Percent
Teaching assistantship 21.3
Research assistantship or traineeship 34.7
Fellowship, scholarship, or dissertation grant 24.2
Own resources 15.3
Other sources 4.5
Note(s):

Percentages are based on the number of doctorate recipients who responded to the primary source of financial support item. Research assistantship or traineeship includes other assistantships and internships or clinical residencies. Own resources includes loans, personal savings, personal earnings outside the institution sources listed, and earnings or savings of spouse, partner, or family. Other sources includes employer reimbursement or assistance and foreign support.

Source(s):

National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Earned Doctorates, 2021. Related detailed table 4-1.

Doctorate field

Doctorate recipients’ primary sources of financial support vary by field. In 2021, research assistantships were the most common primary source of financial support for doctorate recipients in engineering, computer and information sciences, physical sciences, and agricultural sciences and natural resources. In mathematics and statistics, teaching assistantships were most frequent. Fellowships, scholarships, or dissertation grants and research assistantships or traineeships were the most common for doctoral students in biological and biomedical sciences. Over a third of doctorate recipients in health sciences and a third of those in psychology relied on their own resources as their primary source of financial support. In social sciences, doctorate recipients most commonly reported their primary source was either fellowships, scholarships, or dissertation grants (32%) or teaching assistantships (32%) (figure 16).

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Primary source of financial support for S&E doctorate recipients, by broad field: 2021

(Percent)
Field Research assistantship or traineeship Teaching assistantship Fellowship, scholarship, or dissertation grant Own resources Other sources
Engineering 59.6 11.9 18.4 4.9 5.1
Computer and information sciences 57.9 17.1 13.8 6.4 4.8
Physical sciences 53.5 24.9 17.6 2.6 1.4
Agricultural sciences and natural resources 52.0 12.0 20.0 9.4 6.6
Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences 46.8 21.0 24.4 6.0 1.9
Multidisciplinary/ interdisciplinary sciences 41.8 20.8 21.3 11.7 4.3
Biological and biomedical sciences 38.3 13.8 37.4 7.2 3.2
Psychology 23.9 23.1 17.6 33.5 2.1
Health sciences 22.9 11.0 22.0 35.2 8.9
Social sciences 14.8 31.8 32.3 17.2 4.0
Mathematics and statistics 14.7 63.4 16.1 4.0 1.8
Non-S&E fields 10.6 25.3 25.4 31.6 7.1

S&E = science and engineering.

Note(s):

Percentages are based on the number of doctorate recipients who responded to the primary source of financial support item. Research assistantship or traineeship includes other assistantships and internships or clinical residencies. Own resources includes loans, personal savings, personal earnings outside the institution sources listed, and earnings or savings of spouse, partner, or family. Other sources includes employer reimbursement or assistance and foreign support.

Source(s):

National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Earned Doctorates, 2021. Related detailed table 4-1 through table 4-3.

Graduate debt

The amount of education-related debt incurred by doctorate recipients during graduate school is an indicator of the availability of financial support and the affordability of graduate education. In 2021, large majorities (73% and above) of doctorate recipients in physical sciences; computer and information sciences; mathematics and statistics; engineering; geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences; multidisciplinary/interdisciplinary sciences; and agricultural sciences and natural resources reported holding no debt related to their graduate education (figure 17). These are also fields that tend to receive the support of the federal government and academic institutions in the form of research assistantships or traineeships; fellowships, scholarships, or dissertation grants; or teaching assistantships. In social sciences, health sciences, and in non-S&E fields, the proportion of doctorate recipients with no debt ranged between 53% and 63%; in psychology, it was 48%.

Within each broad field of study, 5%–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 psychology (38%), health sciences (33%), and non-S&E fields (29%).

In 2021, doctorate recipients in three of the S&E fields with the lowest median education-related cumulative debt—computer and information sciences, engineering, and physical sciences—had the highest median expected annual salaries. In these fields, median expected salaries at graduation were more than triple the median cumulative debt (figure 18).

In contrast, doctorate recipients in psychology and non-S&E fields reported among the lowest median expected annual salaries. In psychology, the median cumulative debt was $22,000 higher than the median expected salary at graduation. And in non-S&E fields, the median cumulative debt was $2,500 higher than median expected salary.

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Graduate debt of doctorate recipients, by broad field: 2021

(Percent)
Field No debt $10,000 or less $10,001–$30,000 $30,001 or greater
Physical sciences 87.4 4.7 3.8 4.1
Computer and information sciences 85.2 5.1 4.0 5.6
Mathematics and statistics 84.9 5.0 4.1 6.0
Engineering 82.0 5.9 5.4 6.6
Biological and biomedical sciences 80.3 5.4 4.7 9.6
Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences 80.1 7.1 5.2 7.6
Multidisciplinary/ interdisciplinary sciences 75.5 5.0 6.3 13.2
Agricultural sciences and natural resources 72.5 8.4 7.5 11.6
Social sciences 63.3 6.5 8.3 22.0
Health sciences 53.2 6.3 7.1 33.4
Psychology 48.0 5.2 8.6 38.2
Non-S&E fields 56.8 6.1 8.2 28.8

S&E = science and engineering.

Note(s):

Percentages are based on the number of doctorate recipients who responded to the graduate debt item (47,286 respondents).

Source(s):

National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Earned Doctorates, 2021. Related detailed table 1-13 and table 4-4.

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Median basic annual salary and median education-related cumulative debt for debt-holding doctorate recipients with definite non-postdoc employment commitments in the United States, by broad field: 2021

(Dollars)
Field Median education-related cumulative debt among those with debt Median expected basic annual salary among those with debt
Psychology 90,000 68,000
Health sciences 75,000 85,000
Non-S&E fields 70,000 67,500
Social sciences 55,000 72,000
Multidisciplinary/ interdisciplinary sciences 45,000 95,000
Biological and biomedical sciences 35,000 85,000
Agricultural sciences and natural resources 35,000 78,000
Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences 25,000 72,000
Mathematics and statistics 25,000 84,000
Physical sciences 25,000 100,000
Engineering 25,000 105,000
Computer and information sciences 25,000 120,000

S&E = science and engineering.

Note(s):

Definite non-postdoc employment commitment excludes postdoctoral study. Calculation of median debt excludes doctorate recipients reporting no debt.

Source(s):

National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Earned Doctorates, 2021. Related detailed table 1-13, table 4-4, table 6-6, and table 6-7.

Time to degree

Earning a doctorate in non-S&E fields takes years longer than completing an S&E doctorate. In 2021, the longest median time from graduate school entry to doctoral degree in S&E fields was in health sciences and in social sciences at nearly 9 years, respectively, lower than the 10-year median time to degree in non-S&E fields.

Over the past 20 years, median time to degree declined the most in health sciences, falling about 2 years from 10.7 to 8.8 years, with most of this decline seen between 2001 and 2011. Agricultural sciences and natural resources, as well as geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences, declined about a year to a year and a half over the past 2 decades.

Non-S&E fields declined about a year from 11.2 to 10.0 years between 2001 and 2011 (figure 19).

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Median time to degree of doctorate recipients, by broad field: 2001–21

(Years from graduate school entry to doctorate)
Field 2001 2011 2021
Non-S&E fields 11.2 10.0 10.0
Health sciences 10.7 9.3 8.8
Social sciences 8.8 8.7 8.5
Agricultural sciences and natural resources 8.7 8.0 7.3
Computer and information sciences 7.9 7.7 7.3
Psychology 7.2 6.9 7.0
Geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences 8.2 7.7 6.8
Biological and biomedical sciences 6.7 6.7 6.4
Engineering 7.1 6.8 6.6
Mathematics and statistics 6.8 6.2 6.2
Physical sciences 6.2 6.3 6.0

S&E = science and engineering.

Source(s):

National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Earned Doctorates, 2021. Related detailed table 1-12 and table 3-6.