Warrenton, VA — Over fifty experts in graduate education met last week to investigate the challenges of understanding the career pathways of PhD holders. Currently little is known about the full range of careers held by doctoral recipients. Since many PhD holders do not ultimately take university positions, there is a corresponding lack of information about the contributions of this population to the U.S. workforce.

The workshop, which met on September 29-30, represents a key component of the project Understanding PhD Career Pathways for Program Improvement, a Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) initiative funded by the Alfred P. Sloan and Andrew W. Mellon foundations. Participants in the workshop included graduate deans; researchers from major studies on career tracking; representatives of disciplinary societies, including prominent faculty in different fields; graduate students; and other experts.

CGS President Suzanne T. Ortega explained, “A better understanding of doctoral careers will allow programs to develop curricula and professional development opportunities that better prepare graduate students for the full range of careers they are likely to follow.” She added, “Better transparency about where PhDs ultimately pursue work will also empower current and prospective PhD students to make informed choices with respect to graduate education.”

Over the course of the two-day workshop, there were many calls for continued analysis of the gaps in the current research, as the next step toward developing a common set of definitions, processes, and procedures that would allow universities to improve their graduate programs and better inform key stakeholders.

This fall CGS will analyze the results of the workshop, and outline next steps for future work in this area, for a report that will be shared widely with the higher education community.

Enrollment of U.S. citizens fell 0.9%, while enrollment of temporary residents rose 11.5%

Contact:
Nate Thompson
nthompson@cgs.nche.edu
(202) 223-3791
 

Washington, DC — The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) today reported a 1.0% increase in first-time enrollment between fall 2012 and fall 2013. More than 459,000 students enrolled for the first time in graduate certificate, education specialist, master’s, or doctoral programs for the fall 2013 term, according to institutions responding to the CGS/GRE Survey of Graduate Enrollment and Degrees, an annual survey that has been conducted since 1986.

Despite the gains in first-time enrollment, total graduate enrollment fell 0.2% between fall 2012 and fall 2013 following a 2.3% decline in the previous year. Total graduate enrollment was about 1.7 million students in fall 2013.

The data show diverging trends by residency status. While first-time enrollment of U.S. citizens and permanent residents shrank by 0.9%, the increase of 11.5% in first-time enrollment of temporary residents was enough to push the overall rate of change into positive territory. Temporary residents represented one-in-five new graduate students at U.S. programs in fall 2013.

CGS President Suzanne T. Ortega pointed out that graduate enrollments are increasingly important to U.S. economic competitiveness. “People with graduate degrees are driving growth and innovation in our economy, and graduate-level skills are in higher demand every year. However, enrollments are not keeping pace with the projected growth in jobs requiring advanced degrees. We can’t put more qualified American workers into these high-level jobs until we create more opportunities for them to earn graduate degrees. To meet the needs of our economy, we must invest in graduate education and better support the students who enroll in master’s and PhD programs with more grants and fellowships to reduce their reliance on loans.”         

Ortega added that the strong growth in enrollments of international students was an encouraging trend. “International students are making vital contributions to graduate education and research. Welcoming more of the world’s top talent will help our economy, especially if we allow more international graduates to stay and work in the U.S. after completing their degrees.”  

First-time enrollment for Hispanic/Latino students rose 5.7%. Such growth is important, as Hispanic/Latino students have long been underrepresented in graduate programs. However, other underrepresented groups lost some of the ground gained in previous years, as first-time enrollment fell 4.9% for American Indians/Alaska Natives and 0.1% for Blacks/African Americans between fall 2012 and fall 2013. Meanwhile, first-time enrollment of White students fell 2.1%. For Asian/Pacific Islander students, first-time enrollment grew 0.7%.

Other report findings include: 

Trends by field

• The largest one-year changes in graduate applications between fall 2012 and fall 2013 occurred in mathematics and computer sciences (11.2%), health sciences (11.0%), and physical and earth sciences (-6.3%).
• Applications to graduate programs in business fell 0.9% between fall 2012 and fall 2013.
• First-time enrollment in education programs decreased 2.2% for fall 2013.
• The largest fields by total enrollment were education and business, respectively accounting for 19% and 16% of total graduate enrollment at responding institutions in fall 2013.

Trends by degree level

• About 73% of all graduate students in fall 2013 were enrolled in programs leading to a master’s degree or a graduate certificate, according to survey respondents.
• Responding institutions awarded approximately 71,000 doctoral degrees, 522,000 master’s degrees, and 34,000 graduate certificates in 2012-13.
• Between fall 2012 and fall 2013, first-time enrollment decreased by 4.0% at the doctoral-level and increased by 2.0% at the master’s-level.

Student demographics

• About 57% of all first-time graduate students in fall 2013 were women, according to survey respondents.
• According to survey respondents, women earned nearly two-thirds (66.2%) of the graduate certificates, 59.2% of the master’s degrees, and 52.2% of the doctorates. Academic year 2012-13 marked the fifth straight year women earned a majority of doctoral degrees.
• In fall 2013, 54% of all temporary resident graduate students were enrolled in biological and agricultural sciences, engineering, mathematics and computer sciences, physical and earth sciences. In contrast, only 16.0% of U.S. citizens/permanent residents were enrolled in these fields.

About the report

Graduate Enrollment and Degrees: 2003 to 2013 presents the findings of an annual survey of U.S. graduate schools, co-sponsored by CGS and the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) Board. It is the only annual national survey that covers enrollment in all fields of graduate study and is the only source of national data on graduate applications. The report includes responses from 655 institutions, which collectively confer about 74% of the master’s degrees and 93% of the doctorates awarded each year. The survey report presents statistics on graduate applications and enrollment for fall 2013, degrees conferred in 2012-13, and trend data for one-, five- and ten-year periods.

The Council of Graduate Schools' 2021-2022 Federal Policy Agenda outlines CGS's federal policy principles and priorities impacting graduate education. CGS is committed to working with the 117th Congress and the Biden Administration in a bipartisan manner to advance policies that improve access to graduate education, promote the United States as a global leader, and create a more equitable society for all.

Strengthen Federal Student Loans and Financial Aid

Strengthen federal financial aid programs that allow individuals to access and complete graduate degrees in order to promote a competitive U.S. workforce.

• Policy Brief: Maximizing Pell Grants to Support Graduate Students
• Policy Brief: How Graduate Students Finance Their Education
• Policy Brief: Federal Financial Support for U.S. Graduate Students During COVID-19
• Policy Brief: Accessing Grad Ed: Grad PLUS Direct Loan Program
• NEW Policy Brief: Federal Investment in Grad Ed: Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need

Prime Tax Policies to Support Graduate Education

Promote tax policies that encourage the pursuit of graduate education by providing incentives that increase access and affordability. 

Promote the U.S. through International Graduate Education and Research

Advocate for immigration and visa policies that encourage the exchange of both American and international students.

• Policy Brief: International Graduate Students: Innovators, Researchers, and Entrepreneurs
• Policy Brief: Optional Practical Training
• Policy Brief: DACA and Graduate Education

Advance Research and Innovation

Invest in science and research that is critical to the nation’s ability to remain globally competitive, as well as the benchmark in terms of timely breakthroughs and innovation.

Promote Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Support federal policies that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion both within our graduate programs and the workforce.

Support Graduate Student Success and Wellbeing

Support investments and activities that allow graduate students to fully thrive in their education and research.

For further information on specific Congressional issues or departmental activities, please check the following websites:

Congressional Websites

House of Representatives – www.house.gov; Senate – www.senate.gov

Both sites provide links to individual members, committees and bill status.

Thomas (Library of Congress) site - http://thomas.loc.gov/home/thomas.php

Contains information on bills before Congress, including text, names of sponsors and status.

Department and Agency Websites

White House Office of Science and Technology Policy - http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/ostp

Federal Register - https://www.federalregister.gov/ 

Provides a daily listing of most publications and public notices of federal departments and agencies, including requests for comments on proposed regulations and requests for proposals.

In general, most federal department and agency websites can be accessed by using google and typing in the name of the agency.gov (e.g. nsf.gov)

Inside Higher Ed shares quick takes from the CGS/GRE Graduate Enrollment and Degrees report, including the diverging rates of growth in first-time graduate enrollment for domestic and international students.

The Sustaining Membership Network connects non-institutional and institutional members of CGS to promote dialogue, understanding, and to advance graduate education through meaningful partnerships.

Do your prospective students or promising undergraduates have the information they need to consider the benefits of graduate education? Do they understand the options for financing a graduate degree? Make CGS flyers a standard part of your orientation packets and info sessions throughout the year! Three of our most popular flyers are newly revised for 2018.

Titles include: Financing Graduate Education, Open Doors with a Doctorate, and Why Get a Master's Degree?

Flyers are available for purchase online. Bulk rates available for CGS members. For complete details on CGS publications, visit cgsnet.org/publications.

Registration Materials

Preliminary Program

Meeting Dates and Location
December 3-6, 2014
Grand Hyatt
Washington, DC

Annual Meeting participants will explore important issues in graduate education. Enjoy a unique forum to meet leaders in your field and exchange ideas and information. Graduate deans; associate and assistant deans; faculty and staff from colleges and universities; association, federal and state agency, and other education-related administrators; graduate students, and others interested in graduate education are welcome.

Pre-meeting workshops and the CGS opening dinner and reception kick off the meeting on December 3. The meeting continues December 4-6, with plenary sessions, concurrent sessions, annual awards ceremony, and the LaPidus Luncheon lecture. Exhibits also will be available to meeting attendees, December 4-5.

The theme of this year's meeting is "Promise, Perspective and Potential in Graduate Education." The annual meeting will explore our claims for the value of graduate education and the importance of understanding our contexts and our capacity to deliver on this promise.

Registration Details

Featured Speakers

Pre-meeting Workshops

Plenary and Concurrent Sessions

Accommodations and Travel

Special Events for Guests

Online Registration

Exhibitor Information

The Eighth Annual Strategic Leaders Global Summit on Graduate Education.

Co-hosted by the Council of Graduate Schools and Memorial University Newfoundland

14 countries to be represented

Press Contacts

If you wish to attend the press conference or conduct interviews with summit leaders prior to the event, please contact:

Maureen McCarthy, CGS: (202) 223-3791 / mmccarthy@cgs.nche.edu

Meaghan Whelan, MUN: (709) 864-2455 / mcwhelan@mun.ca

September 7 – September 10, 2014

Newfoundland, Canada

Overview

From September 7 to September 10, 2014, the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) and Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN) will convene the eighth annual Strategic Leaders Global Summit on Graduate Education. The summit will address pressing questions about preparing the next generation of research professionals to learn and collaborate beyond the bounds of one discipline:

• What are the advantages of mixing academic cultures and methods among STEM, Humanities, and Social Sciences? How can degree programs be designed, administered, and evaluated for student success?
• How can institutions overcome barriers such as a lack of funding or administrative support, and the difficulties of publishing research across disciplines?
• How can graduate schools build and sustain partnerships with public, private, and non-profit funders to create interdisciplinary research and learning opportunities for students?

Event Details

The event will take place at the Sheraton Hotel Newfoundland, in St. John’s, and at Fishers’ Loft in Port Rexton, Newfoundland. The session open to media guests will be from 11:00 a.m. to noon Wednesday, September 10, at the Sheraton Hotel Newfoundland. This year’s summit will assemble 31 leaders in graduate education who represent a diverse range of national graduate education systems. Presentations will be made by speakers from 14 countries: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China (PRC and Hong Kong), Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Attached is a list of participant names, institutions, and countries.

Topic

An international steering committee conferred on the 2014 summit theme, “Interdisciplinary Learning in Graduate Education and Research.” In choosing this theme, the steering committee recognizes that complex questions in our global society cannot be answered using single methods or approaches. Master’s and doctoral students will be called upon to approach these questions, and summit participants will consider how best to train students to meet these challenges.

Summit panellists were asked to explore interdisciplinarity in master’s and doctoral education with regard to their own local contexts. The presentations to be shared at the event discuss how interdisciplinary learning and research might be integrated into graduate programs in order to train tomorrow’s global leaders.

Outcomes and Press Release

CGS and MUN will share the summit outcomes and resulting consensus statement at a media forum on September 10 at 11:00 a.m., Sheraton Hotel Newfoundland, in St. John’s, which will be attended by CGS President Suzanne Ortega and Dean of the MUN School of Graduate Studies and incoming Provost and Vice President (Academic) pro tempore, Noreen Golfman, and other summit speakers as available.

Journalists are invited to conduct interviews with the leaders of the sponsoring institutions. Arrangements may also be made to interview summit leaders from specific countries. Speakers will be available to discuss the consensus statement and answer questions about topics relevant to their countries and institutions.

Background

The Strategic Leaders Global Summit is the only annual international forum for leaders in graduate education. Past summits have explored topics including program quality, dual-degree programs, graduate career outcomes, and the global mobility of graduate talent.

Participants

Professor Vahan Agopyan, University of São Paulo, Brazil

Dr. Marie Audette, Université Laval, Canada

Dr. Robert Augustine, Eastern Illinois University, United States

Dr. Sue Berners-Price, Griffith University, Australia

Professor Verena Blechinger-Talcott, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany

Professor Hans-Joachim Bungartz, Technische Universität München, Germany

Dr. Chen Shiyi, Peking University, China

Professor Denise Cuthbert, RMIT University, Australia

Dr. John (Jay) Doering, University of Manitoba, Canada

Dr. Noreen Golfman, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada

Professor Roger Horn, Deakin University, Australia

Professor Lucy Johnston, University of Canterbury, New Zealand

Dr. Mohan Kankanhalli, National University of Singapore, Singapore

Dr. Barbara Knuth, Cornell University, United States

Dr. Melita Kovacevic, University of Zagreb, Croatia

Dr. Nancy Marcus, Florida State University, United States

Dr. Liviu Matei, Central European University, Hungary

Dr. Maureen McCarthy, Council of Graduate Schools, United States

Dr. Shireen Motala, University of Johannesburg, South Africa

Dr. Suzanne Ortega, Council of Graduate Schools, United States

Professor Laura Poole-Warren, University of New South Wales, Australia

Dr. Nirmala Rao, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong (China)

Mr. Rafael Sidi, Senior Vice President, ProQuest

Dr. Mark J.T. Smith, Purdue University, United States

Professor Zaidatun Tasir, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Malaysia

Dr. Tao Tao, Xiamen University, China

Dr. Stefanie Thorne, University Campus Suffolk, United Kingdom

Dr. Jiaping Wang, Zhejiang University, China

Dr. Lesley Wilson, European University Association, Belgium

Dr. James C. Wimbush, Indiana University, United States

Dr. Lisa Young, University of Calgary, Canada

Contact:
Nate Thompson
nthompson@cgs.nche.edu
(202) 223-3791

Washington, DC – The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) today reported that initial offers of admission from U.S. graduate schools to prospective international students increased 9% from 2013 to 2014. The new data marks the fourth consecutive year of 9% growth in offers of admission to prospective international graduate students.

The shift in sending countries first reported by the 2013 series of CGS International Graduate Admissions surveys appears to continue. Prospective students from China are submitting fewer applications, and this year the offers of admission to Chinese applicants was stagnant, ending an eight-year run of growth. Applications from and offers of admission to prospective graduate students in India and Brazil are surging, and offers of admission to prospective graduate students from the Middle East continues to be strong.  

Suzanne Ortega, President of the Council of Graduate Schools, commented that “American graduate schools continue to attract students from around the world. We should be excited about the fact that new growth is emerging from a host of different regions and nations. International students are important to the U.S. economy because our workforce will continue to face shortages of graduate-level talent over the next decade. To support our economic competitiveness, we should make it easier—for international graduates who wish to do so—to remain and work in the U.S. after completing their degrees.”

Admissions trends by country

The increase in the overall number of offers of admission to U.S. graduate schools was driven by a 25% increase in initial offers of admission to prospective students from India, following a 27% gain in 2013. Considering that India’s year-to-year numbers have often fluctuated, this continued growth stands out as an important trend affecting U.S. graduate schools.

Furthermore, gains from India helped to offset the sluggish admission numbers from China. For the first time since 2006, offers of admission to prospective students from China failed to increase, as the 2014 figure was unchanged from the prior year. China continues to represent the largest source of prospective international graduate students, comprising 37% of all offers of admission in 2014.

Building on impressive growth of 46% in 2013, the offers of admission to prospective students from Brazil nearly doubled in 2014, with a gain of 98%. Although prospective students from Brazil constitute only 1% of the total offers of admission to prospective international students, the sustained growth is notable.   

Other regions and countries with growth in offers of admission from 2013 to 2014 included the Middle East (9%), Canada (4%), Africa (3%), and Europe (2%). Declines were reported for South Korea (-9%), Taiwan (-6%), and Mexico (-1%).

Admissions trends by field

The survey results show that initial offers of admission increased in all broad fields of study in 2014. The largest increases were in physical & earth sciences (13%) and engineering (11%), followed by ‘other fields’ (7%), business (6%), social sciences & psychology (6%), life sciences (6%), arts & humanities (5%), and education (1%).

Admissions trends by region

Offers of admission by U.S. graduate schools to prospective international students increased in all four major regions of the United States from 2013 to 2014. The Midwest saw the most growth (12%), followed by the West, the South, and the Northeast, with 9%, 9%, and 8% increases respectively.

About the report

Findings from the 2014 CGS International Graduate Admissions Survey, Phase II: Final Applications and Initial Offers of Admission is based on the second phase of a three-part annual survey of international graduate student applications, admissions, and enrollment among U.S. member institutions. Data on offers of admission in the report are preliminary; final data will be published in the Phase III report, to be released in November 2014. The Phase II results are typically an early indicator of what international first-time enrollment is likely to be in fall 2014. The 299 institutions responding to the Phase II survey conferred about 66% of the 109,000 graduate degrees awarded to international students in the United States in 2011-12, suggesting that the survey results accurately depict recent trends in the participation of international students in U.S. graduate education. The full report is available online at http://www.cgsnet.org/benchmarking/international-graduate-admissions-survey.