CGS's GradSense initiative was highlighted by Associations Now as an important tool addressing the information gap students face when planning for educational and career goals.

CGS President Debra W. Stewart shares insight on the recently reported increase in Indian graduate student enrollments at U.S. institutions, for a story on the growing participation among Indian prospective students taking the GRE test.

Contacts:
Julia Kent, CGS: (202) 223-3791 / jkent@cgs.nche.edu
John McCool, TIAA-CREF: (888) 200-4062 / media@tiaa-cref.org 

The Council of Graduate Schools and TIAA-CREF Collaborate to Deliver GradSense Website to Help Students Make Informed Financial Decisions about Their Education and Careers

Washington, D.C. – The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS), a nonprofit organization devoted to graduate education and research, today launched GradSense, a novel online tool designed to help students plan financially for their education and future careers.

With student debt at historically high levels, students have a limited number of resources for assessing the investment they will be making in an advanced degree. To fill this knowledge gap, CGS collaborated with leading financial services provider TIAA-CREF to design and develop GradSense, which features a Debt to Salary calculator, among other tools.

In developing GradSense, CGS researchers brought together two important pieces of information for the first time – federal data on education debt and federal data on median salaries for specific occupations. While this information is available, it is not easily accessible. Students must sift through these datasets using separate databases, which obscures the relationship between investing in a specific degree to pursue a desired profession. To help students make more informed career decisions, GradSense combines these two pieces of information in a simple-to-use tool, providing students with one screen of data that allows them to more accurately align their choice of degree and field of study with their desired career.

Using GradSense, students enter their degree type, desired field of study and preferred career. The student is then shown the median debt of students pursuing their specific degree, along with the starting, median and expert salary levels expected in their desired career. Together, these two informative data sets can help students better understand the impact of their chosen degree on future earnings.

GradSense is part of the Enhancing Student Financial Education project, an initiative of CGS in collaboration with TIAA-CREF. The program has awarded grants to 15 colleges and universities across the country to develop innovative financial literacy programs that teach students about successful strategies for borrowing, lending and managing personal finances. Lessons and data from each of the 15 university programs and many of the 19 affiliate partner universities will inform the development of new financial education resources for students nationwide.

“The best practices developed through this program – and the GradSense tool – can help prepare our nation's students for lifelong financial well-being,” said Laura Levine, president and CEO of Jump$tart Coalition. “I applaud the commitment of CGS, TIAA-CREF and the participating universities.”

The GradSense website also includes a compound interest calculator that shows students the long-term impact of common spending decisions, advice for repaying student loans, guidance on transitioning from graduate school to a career and tips for evaluating and negotiating job offers. 

“GradSense provides students with crucial financial information that was never easily accessible or available before,” said Debra W. Stewart, president of CGS. “This clear, customized tool empowers students to make more informed decisions about their educational and career pathways.”

“We are extremely proud of our collaboration with the Council of Graduate Schools, and especially pleased to see tangible results and useful tools already emerging from this program,” said Roger W. Ferguson, president and CEO of TIAA-CREF. “This underscores the combined strengths the business and education sectors bring to bear on addressing the student loan debt issue, and when working together, the valuable impact we can have on the financial futures of our nation’s students.”

In addition to the GradSense website, the tool will also be featured on the websites of universities participating in the Enhancing Student Financial Education program, as well as the websites of other CGS member schools. To use GradSense, visit: www.gradsense.org.

Following the announcement of the new CGS Best Practice project on Understanding PhD Career Pathways, discussion continues in the graduate education community about the importance of program-level data on student outcomes. In this Chronicle story, leaders at Pennsylvania State University share information on the impact the 2008 recession has had on the job placements of their PhD graduates in the humanities and social sciences.

Strong employment rates and high levels of satisfaction may be reasons why interest in Professional Science Master's (PSM) programs has risen, according to a CGS study cited by US News University Directory.

Washington, DC — Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) President Debra W. Stewart today released the following statement in response to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address on January 28, 2014. CGS is the only national organization dedicated solely to the advancement of graduate education and research. The organization draws its institutional members from colleges and universities significantly engaged in graduate education, research, and scholarship culminating in the award of the master's or doctoral degree.

In his 2014 State of the Union message, President Obama expressed his support for strategic investments to spur economic growth and secure the nation’s continued position as a leader in global innovation. The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) is encouraged by the president’s call for policies to increase job opportunities, expand our skilled workforce, support basic research, reform immigration, and increase access to education.

We appreciate the president’s recognition that our nation’s prosperity depends on expanded access to educational opportunity. And the evidence suggests that opportunities need to span kindergarten through graduate school. Today access to and support for graduate education is a national imperative. We know that the payoff from graduate education is undeniable in terms of economic growth, innovation and job creation

Many of the skills that U.S. employers are seeking are only gained through advanced learning. Our economy depends on this highly trained talent to compete with other nations, which are investing heavily in graduate education. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that by 2022 the U.S. will see an 18.4% increase in jobs requiring a master’s degree and a 16% increase for people with doctoral degrees.

While the president’s remarks focused on the benefits of K-12 and undergraduate education for building the new economy, we urge the administration to give equal attention in his future agenda to policies that support the pipeline of talented U.S. students enrolling in graduate programs. There are immediate and consequential risks if this pipeline falters.

One of these immediate risks is that the U.S. will fall behind in technological innovation. As President Obama emphasized, innovation will play a critical role in economic growth: “The nation that goes all-in on innovation today will own the global economy tomorrow.” We commend the president’s acknowledgment that federally-funded research is critical to the “ideas and inventions behind Google and smartphones,” and his call for Congress to “undo the damage done by last year’s cuts to basic research so we can unleash the next great American discovery[…]”Graduate degree holders create start-up companies, patents and jobs in every U.S. state.

At every level of education, it is vital that careers and the requisite skills needed to pursue those careers are clearly shared with students. A number of recent reports on graduate education reform, based on CGS’s Pathways through Graduate School and Into Careers report, have concrete recommendations for universities, business leaders, and policymakers designed to address these challenges and ensure that America grows the highly-skilled talent we need.

CGS also supports President Obama’s call for immigration reform. About 43% of international students studying at our colleges and universities are pursuing graduate degrees. International students who study in the U.S. often want to remain in the U.S. to work in jobs that utilize the knowledge and skills they gained through their graduate studies. Given the challenges and restrictions that international students now face upon receiving their master’s and doctoral degrees, it is in our collective best interest to permit those who want to stay and contribute to our economy following completion of their degrees to do so.

We look forward to working with the Obama Administration to ensure that U.S. graduate schools can continue their vital role in achieving the goal of a creative, innovative, knowledgeable and skilled workforce that is ready to meet the challenges of the 21st century global economy.

Highly marketable degrees offer pathway to STEM careers

Contact:
Julia Kent
jkent@cgs.nche.edu
(202) 223-3791

Washington, D.C. – The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) today released the results of its fourth annual Professional Science Master’s Enrollment and Degrees Survey documenting applications, enrollments, and degrees awarded in Professional Science Master’s (PSM) programs. The PSM is an innovative graduate degree designed to allow students to pursue advanced training in science or mathematics while simultaneously developing workplace skills highly valued by employers.

The 2013 report shows that PSM programs stand out as a bright spot for U.S. institutions in terms of domestic enrollment trends. From 2010 to 2013, first-time enrollment of domestic students rose 19% in PSM programs. For U.S. graduate education as a whole, first-time enrollment of domestic students rose only 1.9% in the five year period between 2007 and 2012, according to the latest CGS/GRE Graduate Enrollment and Degrees report. In contrast, first-time enrollment of international graduate students rose markedly from 2010 to 2013 in both PSM programs and in U.S. graduate programs overall.    

Additional studies on the career outcomes of PSM graduates show high levels of student satisfaction and employment rates, which may be contributing to enrollment growth in PSM programs. According to a 2013 CGS survey, 91% of responding PSM graduates were employed in a job related to their field of study, and 68% of those employed full-time reported annual earnings above $50,000.

“Today’s STEM graduate students are seeking degrees that prepare them for success in a wide range of professional settings,” said CGS President Debra W. Stewart. “The real-world experiences and internships gained by PSM graduates make them highly marketable to employers in all sectors of the economy.”

The CGS study was supported in part by a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. From 1997 to 2012, the Sloan Foundation made more than $23 million in grants in support of the PSM degree, including start-up funding for PSM programs at colleges and universities around the country; the founding of the National Professional Master’s Science Association, which provides professional support for PSM faculty and administrators; and a partnership with the Council of Graduate Schools to collect data on PSM programs and to administer a PSM affiliation process that ensures affiliated programs meet the highest standards.   

“The Sloan Foundation is extremely proud to have played a founding role in the creation of the PSM degree,” said Elizabeth Boylan, Program Director of the Sloan Foundation’s programs in STEM Higher Education. “The continued growth of enrollments and the remarkable success graduates have had in the job market marks the PSM degree as one of the most successful innovations in 21^st century higher education.”

This year represents a milestone in PSM development, as CGS will now transition the responsibilities for PSM program recognition to the Keck Graduate Institute (KGI).

“CGS’s expertise and guidance have been keys to a thriving PSM movement since its inception in 1997,” said Jim Sterling, KGI Vice President of Academic Affairs. “The Keck Graduate Institute looks forward to leading PSM programs into the future of professionally-focused science master’s education. Continuing to track the career outcomes of PSM graduates will be part of that commitment.”

The 2013 PSM Enrollment and Degrees report includes data on applications received and accepted for fall 2013, as well as enrollment data for fall 2013 and degrees awarded during the 2012-13 academic year. Data from 85% of all PSM programs worldwide are included. Additionally, the report offers comparisons to data from the previous surveys, documenting growth in applications, admissions, and enrollment over the past four years. Key findings include:

Applications:

• Over 7,000 applications were received for fall 2013 admission and 46% were accepted.
• Between fall 2010 and fall 2013, there was a 59% increase in applications received for admission into PSM programs.

First-Time Enrollment:

• Over 1,900 students were enrolled for the first time in PSM programs in fall 2013.
• Nearly two-thirds of all first-time PSM students were enrolled full-time while the remaining one-third were part-time students.
• 28% of first-time enrollees in U.S.-based PSM programs were temporary residents (i.e., international students).

Total Enrollment:

• Total enrollment in PSM programs has grown 23% since 2010, to exceed 5,800 students in fall 2013.
• Men comprised 53% of all PSM students and women made up 47%.
• Total PSM enrollment in fall 2013 was dominated by four fields of study: computer/information sciences (21%), environmental sciences and natural resources (15%), mathematics and statistics (15%), or biotechnology (14%).

Degrees awarded:

• Institutions responding to the survey awarded 2,038 PSM degrees in academic year 2012/13.
• 54% of PSM degrees awarded by respondents in academic year 2012/13 were awarded to men and 46% to women.
• 18% of graduates of U.S.-based PSM programs were international students.
• Among U.S. citizens and permanent residents, 23% of PSM graduates in 2012/13 were underrepresented minorities.

The report is available in pdf format at cgsnet.org and at sciencemasters.com.

An opinion piece discusses the need for comprehensive, program-level data on PhD career outcomes, and how a new CGS Best Practices project will explore the feasibility of obtaining this long sought-after information.

Data from the CGS/GRE Graduate Enrollment & Degrees report are referenced in an article discussing selected careers that require a master's degree for entry.

Graduate education leaders celebrate the 300th Professional Science Master's program, a milestone in the initiative started in 1997 by CGS and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.