The COVID-19 pandemic presents new obstacles to the matriculation, persistence and completion of U.S. graduate students, with those who are first-generation, low-income, racially and ethnically underrepresented (URM) at greatest risk for educational disruptions. With funding from the National Science Foundation’s (NSF #2037360) Rapid Response Research (RAPID) program, CGS will collaborate with the Council for Opportunity in Education (COE) and the Council of Historically Black Graduate Schools (CHBGS) to understand challenges currently faced by URM and first-generation students and to provide just-in-time information that will help support their success.

The new project, Investigating Challenges to Matriculation and Completion for Underrepresented STEM Graduate Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic, will focus on four specific areas of research: obstacles to matriculation, obstacles to retention, challenges to sustaining graduate school aspirations for rising college seniors, and strategies for graduate school success. The findings will inform graduate student advising and support structures and guide interventions to broaden URM student participation in STEM graduate education.

Press Release: CGS Takes Action to Protect Pathways to Graduate Schools for Underrepresented Graduate Students during COVID-19

Contact

Suzanne Ortega

On June 18, in a 5 to 4 decision, the Supreme Court deemed the Trump Administration’s move to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program unlawful. CGS applauds the high court’s ruling to uphold DACA, which will provide immediate relief for the over 650,000 individuals who have DACA status (“Dreamers”). 

“This marks a victory not just for Dreamers, but for our communities and our nation, as a whole,” said Suzanne T. Ortega, president of the Council of Graduate Schools. “With so many Dreamers enrolled in our colleges and universities, ensuring they are able to remain in the United States— the country they call home— means they will continue to serve as vital members of their campuses and the communities in which they learn and work. A growing number of these hard-working and passionate individuals are pursuing graduate education. These are our future public servants, researchers, and leaders. If we want to be a nation that values liberty and justice for all, longer term solutions are needed. We have and will continue to stand with them.”

While the Supreme Court’s decision safeguards DACA from immediate repeal, it does not permanently protect Dreamers. Ultimately, Congressional action is needed to enact legislation that provides Dreamers a pathway to citizenship.

STATEMENT FROM THE CGS PRESIDENT AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Dear Colleagues,

Recent days and weeks have brought us heart-wrenching reminders of race-based inequality and injustice. In addition to COVID-19’s disproportionate impact on students of color and their families, we have witnessed appalling acts of racism and violence toward African Americans—most recently George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and Tony McDade—acts that cause further distress and fear among communities already suffering. 

The CGS Board of Directors condemns both the deeply embedded and structural forms of racism and injustice we see around us as well as their most immediate manifestations. We also stand in solidarity with people of color in our community as they confront painful examples of violence and injustice.

We also acknowledge that words are not enough.  As an organization, we affirm our commitment to fostering diversity and inclusion at all levels of graduate education. We will continue working with our members to make programs more diverse and accessible, to promote diversity as a principle that supports the learning of all students, to deepen our understanding of inclusive mentoring practices, and to provide inclusive and accessible student support services. 

Of equal importance, we commit to helping our students develop the conceptual frameworks and analytic methods necessary to understand social and economic forms of injustice, in all their manifestations.  We also commit to helping them develop the leadership skills necessary to begin building a better, more just society.  To paraphrase Mahatma Gandhi, we must create graduate programs and institutional cultures that prepare students to be the change this world so desperately needs.

If you have suggestions for how CGS can better support this work, please contact president@cgs.nche.edu.

In solidarity with you, your staff, and your students,

Suzanne T. Ortega
President
Council of Graduate Schools

Sally Pratt 
Chair, CGS Board of Directors (2020)
Vice Provost for Graduate Programs University of Southern California
on behalf of the CGS Board of Directors

“Hispanic Serving Institutions: A Critical Pipeline to Graduate School for Latinx Students” is an information brief and interactive toolkit designed to help close the gap in graduate degree attainment for Latinx students. The project was led by JoAnn Canales, CGS’s Dean-In-Residence from 2018 through 2019. Dr. Canales’ work underscores how the graduate enrollment and degree attainment of Latinx students continues to lag behind those of other groups. The project identified Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) - defined as accredited, degree-granting public or private non-profit institutions of higher education with at least 25% full-time equivalent undergraduate students who identify as Hispanic - as a possible vanguard to lead the higher education community as they address this disparity. 

The brief is accompanied by a set of checklists looking at how Latinx students can be more successfully recruited, retained, and supported during various phases of the graduate student lifecycle. These checklists are not only designed as a complimentary framework to the brief, but also to provide administrators with a tool to help assess and implement the resources needed to improve Latinx student outcomes.  

Additional CGS Resources

Doctoral Initiative on Minority Attrition and Completion 

Innovation in Graduate Admissions Through Holistic Review 

The Global Postgraduate Diversity Resource - A CGS-ETS Joint Initiative

Graduate Enrollment and Degrees, 2008-2018

Building a Diverse, Equitable, Accessible, and Inclusive Graduate Community: A Statement of Principles

Contact

Julia Kent

Contact:

Katherine Hazelrigg: (202) 461-3888 / khazelrigg@cgs.nche.edu

Washington, DC - In mid-April, the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) received a letter from student body presidents and leaders at 157 universities requesting formal acknowledgment of the “unprecedented challenges undergraduates have faced during the COVID-19 pandemic” and recognition of a set of principles regarding admissions policies. In response, CGS released the following statement on graduate admissions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The past few weeks have been filled with new challenges and extreme uncertainty for undergraduate and graduate students. Nevertheless, postsecondary students have shown extraordinary resilience during this time, balancing their studies and research in an online environment with personal responsibilities and planning for an unpredictable future.

Given the extraordinary disruptions we’re experiencing as a community, it’s important to ensure that our admissions practices continue to be as fair and transparent as possible. While CGS is not in a position to direct university graduate admissions policies, we encourage the graduate education community to continue to consider the impact of COVID-19 on students; to be flexible regarding existing deadlines, policies, and procedures; and to regularly communicate with both current and prospective students to reassure them of our support.

This guidance is consistent with the Council’s support and advocacy for holistic file review practices. Since we began our holistic admissions work in 2015, we have encouraged graduate programs to consider a broad range of candidate qualities when assessing graduate school applications rather than using strict GPA or standardized test score cutoffs. Determining a prospective graduate student’s potential to succeed in a program requires an evaluation of a broad range of attributes.

The principles of holistic review have special importance at a time when social and economic disparities are becoming starker. Undue emphasis on the quantifiable measures of academic achievement may disproportionately affect students who are managing greater responsibilities—including financial burdens-- during this time, including underrepresented minorities and women. Examining the fullest range of student qualities possible, and placing scores and GPA’s in the broader context of a student’s personal and intellectual qualities, will help us assess all candidates more fairly.

Several CGS members have already issued formal statements to reassure prospective graduate students of their commitment to holistic file review, and some graduate schools suggest students consider addressing their unique challenges and experiences during the pandemic in their personal statements. These statements explicitly address student concerns regarding changes to university grading policies from designated letter grades to a P/F or S/U system for this semester. CGS encourages all members to take the opportunity to emphasize holistic review as a good admissions practice that benefits programs, institutions, and students under any circumstances.”

CGS is providing information, networks, and a resource hub for member institutions as they work to support their students throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. A list of CGS resources for navigating the pandemic can be seen below. New resources and opportunities to connect with your colleagues and CGS leadership will be added, so check this page frequently.

• The Graduate Community’s Response to COVID-19: A Conversation with Graduate Deans
• President Suzanne Ortega’s Office Hours
• Dean’s Discussion Board
• April 15 Resolution

This page is designed to provide information on COVID-19 that may be relevant to your graduate programs and students. As this public health situation evolves, CGS may begin adding links to CGS member resources and communications.

April 15 Statement

• Click here to read CGS's update on how COVID-19 will impact the April 15 resolution.

Federal Agency Guidance (please note these are subject to updates/changes)

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):

Guidance for Institutions of Higher Education with Students Participating in International Travel or Study Abroad Programs

Interim Guidance for Administrators of US Institutions of Higher Education

Department of Homeland Security:

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and Potential Procedural Adaptations for F and M Nonimmigrant Students

COVID-19: Guidance for SEVP Stakeholders

USCIS Temporarily Suspends Routine In-Person Services

Department of Education:

COVID-19 ("Coronavirus") Information and Resources for Schools and School Personnel

National Science Foundation:

Interim Guidance for Travel, Merit Review Panels, and NSF-Sponsored Meetings

RAPID Research on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Dear Colleague Letter (DCL)

NSF Supporting Research to Address Coronavirus Disease blog

National Institutes of Health:

General Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)- Proposal Submission and Award Management Related to COVID-19

University Responses

• APLU offers general guidance as well as a list of responses from its member institutions to the virus.

Additional Resources on International Issues

• NAFSA maintains a hub of news and information on education abroad, international students and scholars, and regulatory information.
• Educational Testing Service (click here for GRE and here for TOEFL), Cambridge English, IELTS maintain web pages with updates to information for international English and GRE test takers.

Additional Resources on Student Financial Aid Issues

• National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) maintains information related to COVID-19 on their Today’s News page.

CGS COVID-19 Legislative and Regulatory Updates

This resource hub includes resources on federal legislative and regulatory actions related to COVID-19, in addition to highlighting letters CGS has signed requesting specific actions to Congress and the Administration.

• Summary of higher education and research provisions in the CARES Act
• Table of individual legislative proposals to address COVID-19

To submit a resource for consideration, please email Matthew Linton. 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Katherine Hazelrigg  (202) 461-3888 / khazelrigg@cgs.nche.edu

Washington, DC — Today the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) announced a partnership with the University of Maryland’s PERVADE: Pervasive Data Ethics to identify ways to enhance and influence the training graduate students receive when using big data methods in their research. The project, which will convene thought leaders from the big data ethics community and graduate deans from research-intensive institutions, has received funding support from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Office of Research Integrity (ORI) and Elsevier.

An increasing number of research disciplines and industry leaders embrace big data approaches as they pursue important research questions and product development. However, the methods used to assemble large datasets, and their applications in decision-making contexts, challenge existing ethical paradigms for data management, data integrity, human subject protections, and data use. Unfortunately, current attempts to identify and address these challenges are often focused within specific disciplines or corporate settings and offer little opportunity to integrate these evolving ethical concerns within master’s and doctoral programs.

“Graduate deans often oversee professional development and Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) training curricula and are uniquely positioned to present the ethical concerns of big data research to their university communities and to bridge potential silos that impede the sharing of best practices to address these evolving challenges,” said CGS President Suzanne T. Ortega.

CGS has long been interested in scholarly integrity in graduate education, including training graduate students in the ethical use of big data. The CGS 2015 Global Summit (“Implications of ‘Big Data’ for Graduate Education”) brought together policy experts from 15 countries to discuss the implications of big data in research but did not develop specific strategies to train graduate students in the ethical issues arising from its use to study human behaviors and activities. The 1.5-day workshop, which will take place in June 2020, will address a critical gap in our training of graduate students and future researchers: understanding the unique ethical challenges of data ownership and data management within the context of big data research.

Workshop goals include identifying specific ethical challenges that arise from the use of big data resources in graduate student research, critiquing existing resources for training, identifying potential levers for change, and formulating strategies for deploying and embedding resources for big data ethics within the RCR training curriculum. This conversation will empower graduate deans to expand our current training paradigms for scholarly integrity to address the evolving ethical challenges presented by big data.

# # #

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                  

Contact: Katherine Hazelrigg  (202) 461-3888 / khazelrigg@cgs.nche.edu

While overall rates are up, some universities continue to see declines

Washington, DC —The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) has published new data showing that international graduate application and first-time enrollment rates have increased at U.S. universities for the first time since Fall 2016. For Fall 2019, the final application counts from prospective international students increased by 3%, and the first-time enrollment of international graduate students increased by 4%. The proportion of first-time international graduate enrollment in master’s and certificate programs (75%) vs. doctoral programs (25%) has remained roughly the same.

The growth is driven primarily by increases in applications (3%) and first-time enrollment (4%) to master’s and certificate programs. While the overall increases are welcome news, some institutions did not see more student interest. For Doctoral Universities with Highest Research Activity (R1) and Master’s Colleges and Universities and Other Institutions (M1-3), applications and first-time enrollment increased across the board. However, for Doctoral Universities with Higher or Moderate Research Activity (R2 & R3), first-time enrollment declined in doctoral programs (-6%) and stagnated in master’s and certificate programs (-1%).

“We are pleased to see that the overall application and first-time enrollment numbers for international graduate students are on the rise. Our member universities work hard to ensure a welcoming environment for students and scholars from across the globe,” said CGS President Suzanne Ortega. “We remain vigilant, however, in monitoring obstacles, including the latest Executive Order “travel ban” and other changes in immigration and visa policy, that may negatively impact our ability to attract talented students from around the world.”

Highlights by Country of Origin

China and India continue to represent the largest shares of international graduate applications, first-time international graduate enrollments, and total international graduate enrollments. Between Fall 2018 and Fall 2019, the number of graduate applications and first-time graduate enrollments for Chinese nationals increased by 3%.

This is the second consecutive year of strong growth in graduate applications (11%) and first-time enrollments (22%) from sub-Saharan African students to U.S. graduate schools. While after two years of decline, applications (4%) and first-time enrollments (10%) from Mexican nationals rose.

Highlights by Field of Study

Across broad fields of study, international graduate applications increased in arts and humanities (6%), health sciences (7%), mathematics and computer sciences (7%), and biological and agricultural sciences (14%) between Fall 2018 and Fall 2019. By contrast, applications in engineering (-2%) and business (-3%), two of the largest broad fields of study, decreased. The largest one-year increases in first-time international graduate enrollment by broad field of study were in mathematics and computer sciences (11%), social and behavioral sciences (11%), and biological and agricultural sciences (10%).

About the survey and report

Conducted since 2004, the CGS International Graduate Admissions Survey tracks the applications and enrollments of international students seeking U.S. master’s and doctoral degrees. As the only report of its kind to offer data on the current academic year, International Graduate Applications and Enrollment: Fall 2019 reports applications, admissions, and enrollments of international master’s, certificate, and doctoral students at U.S. colleges and universities. In Fall 2016 the survey was redesigned to collect data by degree objective (master’s and graduate certificate vs. doctorate), and for all seven regions of origin, eight countries of origin, and all eleven broad fields of study, yielding the only degree-level data currently available for graduate admissions and enrollments. 403 U.S. graduate institutions who are members of CGS or its regional affiliates responded to the 2019 survey.

###

On February 10, the Trump Administration released its Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 Budget proposal outlining federal funding priorities. “We are troubled by the direction the Administration’s budget takes with respect to certain programs that support graduate education, research, and scholarship,” said Suzanne T. Ortega, president of the Council of Graduate Schools. “The national agenda requires strengthened investments that will propel the country’s academic and innovative success. Unfortunately, the proposal calls for scaling back or complete elimination of federal support that promotes access to graduate education, bolsters the research enterprise, and augments scholarship for a variety of disciplines within STEM and the arts and humanities.”

The budget would eliminate the Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need, the Fulbright-Hays program, and the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. It would also eliminate the National Endowment for the Humanities.  Additionally, new annual and lifetime limits would be placed on graduate student borrowing, which has the potential to disenfranchise some students from being able to finance their education.  Cuts to several agencies that provide research grants to CGS institutions, including the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Energy, and others, would stymie innovations that impact technology, public health, and national security.

CGS is committed to working in a bipartisan fashion with House and Senate appropriators in the coming months to ensure that graduate education and research receive strong investments in FY 2021.