Doctorate Recipients from U.S. Universities: 2021 | NSF - National Science Foundation
This report summarizes trends in U.S. doctoral education by using data from the 2021 Survey of Earned Doctorates, an annual census of research doctorate recipients from U.S. universities. Important trends in this population are highlighted in this report, including the representation of women, minorities, and temporary visa holders; fields that are attracting graduate students; time to complete doctoral degree; employment opportunities after graduation; and educational pathways to the doctorate. A special section focuses on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on doctorate recipients’ graduate experiences and postgraduation plans. Detailed data tables and additional resources are also available.
Close Menu Report Executive summary 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 innovat
Explore this link on the map →related reading
- JCI Insight - The national MD-PhD program outcomes study: Relationships between medical specialty, training duration, research effort, and career pathsinsight.jci.org
- Maximizing the Scientific ROI from International PhDs | IFPifp.org
- How Life Sciences Actually Work: Findings of a Year-Long Investigation - Alexey Guzeyguzey.com
- Grad school is worse for public health than STDs | benkuhn.netbenkuhn.net
- A graduate school survival guide: "So long, and thanks for the Ph.D!"cs.unc.edu
- What We Learned Doing Fast Grants | Futurefuture.a16z.com
- All About PhD Applications | lucy lai 赖璐西lucylai.com
- I’m a Nobel Prize-winning immigrant. I can no longer recognize this country.newsletter.ofthebrave.org
- Disruptive scientific research is slowing — and threatening progress | Voxvox.com
- S-WoPEc: The Impact of PhD Studies on Mental Health—A Longitudinal Population Studyswopec.hhs.se
- Zintellect - U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) - 2026 DOE Scholars Program-Gen2 - DOE-Scholars-2026-Gen2zintellect.com
- Researchers voice dismay at all-male science Nobelsnature.com