Over the past several years, many humanities scholars, disciplinary societies, and graduate deans have pointed to signs that the humanities, in relation to other fields, have been hardest hit by university budget cuts and reductions in U.S. federal funding for graduate education and research. Unsurprisingly, these cuts have fueled old debates about the structure and value of humanities disciplines.

Individuals with graduate degrees will be in growing demand over the next several years, according to new employment projections from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). These projections are part of BLS’ biennial examination of expected long-term changes in employment by occupation, industry, level of education, and demographics. The data provide a comprehensive outlook of employment in the United States through 2020.

The Council of Graduate Schools offers internship opportunities for graduate students with no resource requirements. If your institution has a program to support graduate student internships in the higher education and/or non-profit sector, or you are aware of graduate students with external support who could benefit from an internship at CGS, please contact Keith Peregonov (kperegonov@cgs.nche.edu) for more information.

Financial hardship may affect graduate programs in a variety of ways, including fewer stipends, faculty furloughs, and shrinking recruiting budgets. In the extreme, difficult choices must be made as to whether or not doctoral programs should be completely eliminated, and how such drastic change should be implemented. Sudden or catastrophic events necessitate bold, broad and immediate program elimination. Such was the case at Tulane University in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The effects of Tulane’s financial exigency on graduate education were dramatic.