Report

Overall trends

The number of research doctoral degrees awarded by U.S. institutions increased from 57,806 in 2023 to 58,131 in 2024 (figure 1).^{​Data on doctorate recipients for previous years are updated with data received from institutions and respondents after the close of data collection for a given year. Updates and corrections to graduation dates can also change the overall counts for prior years. The published tables reflect these changes and thus may not match previously published data.} This increase is similar to the increase between 2022 and 2023. Since the Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED) began collecting data in academic year 1958, there has been an upward trend in the number of doctorates awarded by U.S. institutions—with an average annual growth of 3.0%, punctuated by periods of slower growth and some declines.

Since the survey’s inception, the number of doctorates in science and engineering (S&E) fields has exceeded the number of non-S&E doctorates and this gap has widened over time.^{​In 2021, the method for classifying fields of study changed to using the National Center for Education Statistics 2020 revision to the Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP). This SED-CIP method is aligned with the Taxonomy of Disciplines from the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) to facilitate comparisons with other NCSES surveys as well as with the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) Completions survey. A new trend taxonomy was developed to be able to crosswalk and compare data following the 2021 SED-CIP reclassification with data collected prior to 2021. All figures and tables in this publication are based on the trend taxonomy. This leads to slight differences in counts between individual year SED-CIP data from 2021 onward and multiyear data using the trend taxonomy crosswalk. See the “Data source” section for more details.} From 2004 to 2024, the number of S&E doctorate recipients increased by 65%, while the number of non-S&E doctorate recipients decreased by 15%. As a result, the proportion of S&E doctorates to all doctorates climbed from 66% in 2004 to 79% in 2024.

Citizenship

Sex and field

In the past 20 years, all of the growth in the number of doctorates earned by both men and women has been in S&E fields (figure 4). During this period, the number of female doctorate recipients in S&E fields increased by 89% (from 10,969 in 2004 to 20,782 in 2024), compared with a 49% increase in the number of male S&E doctorate recipients (from 16,872 in 2004 to 25,146 in 2024). The proportion of female doctorate recipients in S&E increased from 39% in 2004 to 42% in 2009, remained fairly stable through 2019, and increased to 45% by 2024. While the proportion of female doctorate recipients in non-S&E fields has always been higher than that in S&E fields, the proportion of women earning non-S&E doctorates hovered at about 58% through 2021 and grew to 61% by 2024. In the past 20 years, the number of doctorates in non-S&E fields awarded to men declined by 22% (from 6,093 in 2004 to 4,739 in 2024), and the number awarded to women declined by 9% (from 8,186 to 7,463).

Race and ethnicity

While the overall number of doctorates earned by U.S. citizens and permanent residents has increased between 2004 and 2024, the rate of growth, or in some cases decline, varied across racial and ethnic groups. In S&E and in non-S&E fields, the proportion of Asian, Hispanic or Latino, and Black or African American doctorate recipients among U.S. citizens and permanent residents increased, while the proportion of White and American Indian or Alaska Native doctorate recipients declined (figure 5 and figure 6). From 2004 to 2024, the proportion of S&E doctorates earned by White U.S. citizens and permanent residents declined from 75% to 63%, and the proportion earned by Asian U.S. citizens and permanent residents increased from 9% to 13% (figure 5).^{​For additional data on the race and ethnicity of doctorate recipients, see SED 2024 related detailed table 1-11. Race categories exclude Hispanic origin; Hispanic may be any race.} In the past 20 years among U.S. citizens and permanent residents awarded S&E doctorates, the number of Hispanic or Latino doctorate recipients increased from 757 (4%) to 2,823 (10%)^{​In 2004, there were 16,921 S&E U.S. citizen and permanent resident doctorate recipients; in 2024, there were 27,204. (See figure 2.)} and the number of Black or African American doctorate recipients increased from 812 (5%) in 2004 to 1,754 (6%) in 2024. The 2024 number of S&E doctorates awarded to Hispanic or Latino and Black or African American recipients represented the highest number for each group over the last 2 decades. In the same period, the number of American Indian or Alaska Native doctorate recipients in S&E among U.S. citizens and permanent residents fluctuated between 50 and 86. Between 2023 and 2024, S&E doctorates awarded to American Indians or Alaska Natives increased from 66 to 81, remaining under 0.5% of S&E doctorates awarded.