CGS is delighted to celebrate each year a number of scholars whose work has made exceptional contributions to their fields. Duke University was also announced as the winner of the 2014 ETS/CGS Award.  

2014 CGS/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Awards

Michael Titelbaum Wins 2014 Arlt Award in the Humanities

Duke University wins 2014 ETS/CGS Award for Innovation in Promoting Success in Graduate Education

Contact:

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

Washington, D.C. — The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS), in collaboration with Hobsons, today announced a new initiative to better understand current holistic graduate application processes. With input from its member institutions, CGS will explore the implications of new technologies for achieving improvements in graduate admissions and student success rates.

As graduate institutions focus increasing attention on identifying and developing talent, the process of “whole-file” or holistic review is becoming more important. Holistic review of individual applicants is a process by which programs consider a broad range of admissions criteria when selecting applicants, including non-cognitive and personal attributes.

At the Council of Graduate Schools’ Annual Meeting in Washington, DC today, CGS President Suzanne T. Ortega announced, “With this project, CGS reaffirms its commitment to enhancing the quality of graduate education from admissions to completion and into careers. Understanding the practices and value of holistic review will help graduate institutions develop a broader understanding of the applicant qualities that translate into student success.”

Many leaders in graduate education believe that some version of holistic review has the potential to help universities achieve a more appropriate match between programs and students, to improve access to graduate education, and to improve the success rates of students who enter graduate programs at the master’s and doctoral levels. A recurring discussion among graduate deans is how to encourage programs and departments to engage in the review of a broader range of admissions criteria, rather than focusing on a few indicators of potential student success.

“Core to our mission at Hobsons is the belief that we can help improve long-term student outcomes by helping academic institutions to more effectively and efficiently find right-fit applicants during the admissions process,” said Stephen M. Smith, President of Advising and Admissions Solutions at Hobsons.  “We’re proud to support the work of CGS to increase access to graduate education through improved matching of students to higher education options.”

The year-long project will include a survey of over 500 universities on their current practices and emerging needs in graduate application review, a white paper exploring the current state of holistic review processes and the value of using such approaches, and a two-day intensive workshop of researchers, graduate deans, admissions professionals and other experts on the subject of holistic application review.

Attendees at the CGS 54th Annual Meeting in Washington, DC, enjoyed engaging sessions, terrific speakers and exciting networking. Click on the images below to view this album at our Facebook page.

Shifts Emerge in Student Demographics, Fields of Study

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

Washington, DC — The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) today reported that first-time enrollment of international students at U.S. graduate institutions has grown for the fifth consecutive year. Between 2013 and 2014, first-time enrollment of international graduate students increased by 8%, while total graduate enrollment also increased by 8%. The findings are based on the 2014 CGS International Graduate Enrollment Survey, Phase III: Final Offers of Admission and Enrollment.

The new data indicate that U.S. graduate programs continue to be a destination of choice for many of the world’s prospective graduate students, despite increasing global competition to attract top talent. This trend is consistent with a growth in applications from prospective international students, which has grown each year over the past nine years.

CGS President Suzanne Ortega noted that the growth trends may also reflect the fact that U.S. graduate institutions have become more strategic about recruiting international students to their campuses. “Given the growing international competition for top students, U.S. institutions have been developing new ways of communicating with prospective students and offering students who matriculate stronger support services after they arrive. Universities understand that they can’t afford to lose the contributions of these talented students to research and innovation on their campuses.”

Despite the general upward trend of first-time enrollments of international graduate students, survey findings also indicate emerging shifts in students’ countries of origin and fields of study. For example, first-time enrollment of students from India increased 27%, marking the second year in a row of double-digit growth in first-time enrollments of students from that country. The increase in Indian enrollment offset a 1% dip in first-time enrollments of students from China in 2014, the first decline measured since the survey was initiated in 2004. This change in Chinese first-time enrollment concerns a relatively large number of students, since Chinese students constitute 33 percent of the total enrollment of international graduate students in the U.S.

The survey report also provides a glimpse of shifts in interest in various fields of study. Fields that have historically drawn a high proportion of graduate students, physical & earth sciences and engineering, showed the highest growth in first-time enrollment for 2014, at 20% and 11% respectively. On the other hand, arts and humanities programs, not traditionally associated with international graduate students, have shown modest but steady gains in first-time enrollment, increasing by 3% for 2014, and following gains of 9% for 2012-2013, 5% for 2011-2012, and 5% for 2010-2011. A 2% increase in first-time enrollment in business marks a slowing down of growth documented earlier in this field, which had seen an increase in first-time enrollment of 6% for 2012-2013, 15% for 2011-2012, and 9% for 2010-2011.

Trends by country/region of origin

Substantial variations in growth were found among the sending countries and regions analyzed in the study:

• First-time enrollment of students from India increased 27% in 2014, following a 40% increase in first-time enrollment in 2013.
• First-time enrollment of Chinese students decreased 1% in 2014.
• First-time enrollment of students from Brazil increased 91% in 2014, following a 17% increase in 2013 and a 14% increase in 2012. It should be noted that these increases concern a relatively small number of students.
• First-time graduate enrollment of students from South Korea and Taiwan declined 7% and 8% respectively in 2014.
• Changes in first-time graduate enrollment of students from the Middle East were the largest among the three regions followed (8%), a trend that has been consistent for the past three years.

Trends by broad field of study

First-time enrollment of international graduate students increased in all but one of the fields for which the survey collects data. Survey data showed a 1% decrease in first-time enrollment of international students in education, although it is important to note that the number of international students pursuing graduate studies in this field is relatively small compared with other fields. The largest gains in enrollment occurred in physical and earth sciences (20%) and engineering (11%), followed by life sciences (7%), arts and humanities (3%), ‘other’ fields (2%), business (2%), and social sciences and psychology (2%). Changes in first-time enrollment by field are shown in the table below.

*Includes Mathematics and Computer Sciences

International first-time graduate enrollment increased at both public institutions and private, not-for-profit institutions in 2014. At public institutions, international first-time graduate enrollment increased 9% in 2014 following an 11% gain in 2013, while at private not-for-profit institutions, international first-time graduate enrollment increased 6% in 2014 following an 8% increase in 2013.

About the report

Findings from the 2014 CGS International Graduate Admissions Survey, Phase III: Final Offers of Admission and Enrollment is based on the third phase of a three-part annual survey of international graduate student applications, admissions, and enrollment among U.S. member institutions. The survey had a response rate of 62%, including 80 of the 100 institutions that award the largest number of graduate degrees to international students. The report is posted at http://www.cgsnet.org/benchmarking/international-graduate-admissions-survey. Overall, the 308 institutions responding to the Phase III survey conferred 67% of the approximately 109,000 graduate degrees awarded to international students in the United States in 2011/12.

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CGS members have access to a special online report, Graduate Enrollment and Degrees by Fine Field: 2003 to 2013.

This report includes data tables on first-time and total graduate enrollment data by field of study (chemistry, history, philosophy, etc.), gender, citizenship, and race/ethnicity, and also includes, for the first time, data on graduate degrees awarded by field of study, degree level (master's vs. doctoral), and gender.

Data for 2013 are presented, along with one-, five-, and ten-year trends.

You must be logged in to access the report online.

For more information, please contact:

Jeff Allum

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.

Contacts

Maureen Terese McCarthy, CGS: (202) 223-3791 / mmccarthy@cgs.nche.edu
Sandy Woolfrey-Fahey: (709) 864 4873 / sandywf@mun.ca

St. John’s, Canada (September 10, 2014) — Leaders of graduate institutions from 14 countries today agreed on a set of principles supporting interdisciplinary learning in graduate education.

The statement was released at the conclusion of the Eighth Annual Global Summit on Graduate Education, “Interdisciplinary Learning in Graduate Education and Research,” co-hosted by the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) and Memorial University of Newfoundland. The Global Summit is an annual event designed to promote international best practices in master’s and doctoral education.

This year’s theme was chosen by an international steering committee to recognize that complex questions in a global society cannot be answered using a single method or approach. Master’s and doctoral students will be called upon to approach these questions as researchers, and graduate institutions are challenged to prepare them to conduct research and collaborate beyond the bounds of one academic discipline.

Summit participants shared examples and background on the national and international context for interdisciplinary learning in their countries and institutions.

Session topics addressed the organizational and administrative challenges to supporting interdisciplinary methods, including:

• creating institutional cultures that value interdisciplinary learning;
• structures for interdisciplinary research and collaboration within science, technology engineering and mathematics (STEM) and the humanities, as well as across broad fields;
• assessment of learning outcomes;
• innovations in program design, including tuition allocation, credit requirements, advising of interdisciplinary students, and informal and extracurricular opportunities for interdisciplinary learning; and,
• new models for funding interdisciplinary programs, including partnerships with public, private, and non-profit funders.  

Dr. Noreen Golfman, provost and vice-president (academic) pro tempore and dean of Graduate Studies at Memorial University, commented that, “We tend to agree on the importance of interdisciplinarity as a concept, but practicing interdisciplinary teaching, research, and learning presents real challenges for graduate schools and administrators. This week we established a set of principles to guide graduate communities when considering how best to incorporate interdisciplinary learning and research as core values in their academic programs.”  

CGS President Suzanne T. Ortega noted, “The questions that will advance human knowledge often lie at the boundaries of current disciplines, so interdisciplinary knowledge and ways of thinking are central to today’s master’s and doctoral education. It is essential that graduate students learn to communicate across disciplines in the full variety of contexts they will encounter throughout their careers.”

Participants in the summit included deans and other leaders of graduate schools and representatives of national and international associations devoted to graduate education. Along with Canada and the United States, the countries represented were: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, China (PRC and Hong Kong), Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.

The consensus statement is below.

Principles for Supporting Interdisciplinarity
in (Post)graduate[1] Education and Research

Interdisciplinarity is an important feature of (post)graduate education. Established academic disciplines inform and are informed by interdisciplinary scholarship. With a firm basis in principles of interdisciplinarity, students will be poised to succeed as the researchers, teachers, and leaders of the future. Diverse understandings exist, however, as to the definitions, practices, and purposes of interdisciplinarity—and these definitions themselves, along with the borders of academic disciplines, continue to change. Practices of interdisciplinarity vary, and may include extracurricular offerings and events, interdisciplinary programs or degrees, incentives for interdepartmental collaboration or co-mentoring, and problem-based research teams and curricula.

Many stakeholders stand to gain from an increased commitment to interdisciplinarity, including university administrators, academic staff, students, and faculty, as well as regions, nations, and societies at large. Documenting the impact of interdisciplinary research and programs is important for accountability to these stakeholders, as well as for facilitating assessment and improvement of any offerings. Interdisciplinarity is not, however, an end in and of itself. Interdisciplinarity in graduate education and research must answer specific, identifiable needs.

Representing 14 countries, the participants in the 2014 Strategic Leaders Global Summit recommend that (post)graduate institutions consider the following principles when making decisions about interdisciplinarity in (post)graduate education and research.

1. Articulate the added value of interdisciplinary approaches and initiatives within institutional contexts.
2. Communicate and advocate for the value of interdisciplinary research and learning to the broader community. Education efforts should include not only the broad value of interdisciplinary research and learning, but also the specific relevance and benefits to each stakeholder group.
3. Identify and develop the skills (post)graduate students will need engage effectively in interdisciplinary research collaborations or research projects throughout their careers.
4. Provide opportunities and spaces for (post)graduate students and faculty to meet colleagues in other disciplines, work on interdisciplinary research teams or on interdisciplinary research projects.
5. Build administrative bridges to encourage interdisciplinary research and learning. Where existing structures inhibit cross-disciplinary collaborations, find ways to remove barriers and provide incentives.
6. Value interdisciplinary mentoring or research in faculty tenure and promotion procedures.
7. Encourage funding agencies to support interdisciplinary research projects and training.