CGS signed a letter that was submitted by the American Council on Education (ACE) to the Senate Appropriations Committee which expressed strong support for the National Science Foundation (NSF) and urged rejection of reductions in funding or restriction of NSF support for political or other sciences.

To read the full letter, please click here.

The Computing Research Association’s Data Buddies project gathers data on undergraduate and graduate students from a sample of computing departments nationwide. Two waves of surveys so far have helped improve evaluation of several broadening participation programs by developing a comparison group of nonparticipating students; in addition, the responses are a rich source of data on students’ decisions about graduate school and research careers.

Betsy Bizot, Kenneth Hines, and Delicia Mapp, Computing Research Association

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

CGS President, Debra W. Stewart, issued the following statement on the National Research Council’s June 2012 report, Research Universities and the Future of America: Ten Breakthrough Actions Vital to Our Nation’s Prosperity and Security.

Washington, D.C.  ̶  The Council of Graduate Schools commends the National Research Council for its thorough review of the role of U.S. research universities in enhancing the nation’s prosperity and security.  The report’s ten breakthrough actions affirm priorities identified by the U.S. graduate community and other key stakeholders, in particular, the need to build U.S. global competitiveness through strategic investments in U.S. graduate institutions, with a focus on the role of doctoral education in preparing highly skilled talent.

We strongly endorse the recommendation to support graduate education through a balanced program of fellowships, traineeships and research assistantships, specifically by providing federal support for an initial 5,000 new graduate students per year based on assessments of national need.  This recommendation is consistent with findings and recommendations from the 2010 CGS-ETS report, The Path Forward:  The Future of Graduate Education in the United States. Among other things, that report recommended the creation of a COMPETES Doctoral Traineeship program focused on areas of national need, with the goal of developing the highly skilled talent that can sustain and revitalize U.S. innovation.

A 2012 report, Pathways through Graduate School and Into Careers, recommended greater collaboration among key stakeholders in business, higher education and public policy, to support the nation’s graduate education system, a strategic national asset.  We are pleased that the need for enhanced collaboration among leaders in business and higher education to support U.S. research universities is also echoed in Research Universities and the Future of America.

CGS also applauds the NRC’s recommendations to increase the participation of domestic students in graduate education, particularly those from under-represented groups in the STEM education pipeline, while also ensuring the continued participation of international students and scholars in U.S. educational programs. The ability to recruit and develop talent both domestically and globally has been an essential ingredient in the success of U.S. institutions and the U.S. research enterprise. Strategic efforts to build this capacity become even more important in the context of globalization, especially as other countries redouble their efforts to build and recruit highly-skilled talent.

In conclusion, we urge federal and state policymakers to heed the report’s recommendations to make investments in graduate education and the higher education research enterprise.  Such a “third wave” of investment, which builds on past accomplishments set forth in the Morrill Act and “Science the Endless Frontier,” will help strengthen the U.S.’s global leadership in the related areas of higher education, research and development, and innovation.

This publication identifies good practices in graduate admissions and graduate enrollment management. Topics addressed include organizational structures and university-wide policies and procedures, departmental guidelines, and legal and financial issues. This 2012 revision includes new discussion of: "enrollment management" as opposed to a narrow "admissions" approach, international student recruiting, and recent changes affecting affirmative action/diversity efforts.

This article examines the impact of cuts to the Ronald E. McNair program’s funding on the numbers of ethnic minorities who earn doctoral degrees. The Council of Graduate Schools/Council for Opportunity in Education’s Joint McNair Committee’s data were cited.

Student loan debt in the United States is at a record high. In February 2012, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York released data indicating that student loan debt reached $867 billion in the fourth quarter of 2011, exceeding the $704 billion Americans owed in credit card debt (Federal Reserve Bank of New York, 2012). The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau puts the student loan debt figure even higher, reporting in March 2012 that student loan debt is estimated to exceed $1 trillion (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 2012). While the exact amount owed in student loans may be in question, it is clear that Americans collectively owe a tremendous amount of money in student loans.

In academic year 2010-11 alone, students took out an estimated $112 billion in student loans, with graduate and professional students accounting for more than $35 billion of the total (The College Board, 2011). The majority of the student loans taken out by graduate and professional students in 2010-11 ($34 billion) came from the federal government, most commonly in the form of unsubsidized and subsidized Stafford loans, as shown in Figure 1.

Over time, graduate students have become increasingly reliant on student loans to finance their education. According to The College Board, graduate and professional students received an average of about $6,750 in non-loan financial support and about $16,400 in federal student loans per FTE student in academic year 2010-11. When comparing these figures to those from 2000-01, graduate and professional students received 19% more in non-loan financial support per FTE in 2010-11 than they did a decade earlier (after adjusting for inflation), but they borrowed 75% more per FTE in federal student loans.

About half of all doctorate recipients now graduate with debt. According to the National Science Foundation (NSF), individuals earning research doctorates in academic year 2009-10 did so owing over $20,400 on average in education-related debt, of which about $14,100 on average was graduate debt and about $6,400 on average was undergraduate debt (National Science Foundation, 2011). While 52% of all research doctorate recipients graduated with no debt, 16% did so owing more than $50,000 in combined undergraduate and graduate debt (Figure 2).

While NSF’s data indicate that only about 48% of doctorate recipients graduate with education-related debt, their data only include individuals earning research doctorates. Data from the U.S. Department of Education’s National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS), which includes students earning research doctorates as well as those earning professional and practice-oriented doctorates (such as the Ed.D.), put the figure slightly higher. Among individuals earning doctorates in academic year 2007-08 (the latest year for which data are available from the NPSAS), 56% did so with undergraduate and/or graduate debt, and those with debt owed nearly $59,000 on average (National Center for Education Statistics, 2009). (Note that NSF’s $20,400 average debt burden is for all doctorate recipients while the $59,000 figure from the NPSAS is only for those doctorate recipients with debt, meaning that these are not direct comparisons.) Individuals earning master’s degrees in 2007-08 were even more likely to graduate with debt; 69% had undergraduate and/or graduate student loans, with those with loans owing more than $40,000 on average. Overall, 2% of master’s graduates and 13% of doctorate recipients in 2007-08 graduated with $80,000 or more in student loan debt.

When the NPSAS data are disaggregated by citizenship and race/ethnicity, it becomes clear that debt is not evenly distributed.  Among doctorate recipients in 2007-08, 71% of U.S. citizens graduated with undergraduate and/or graduate debt, compared with just 25% of permanent residents, and 15% of non-U.S. citizens on temporary visas. Among master’s degree recipients in 2007-08, 74% of U.S. citizens graduated with debt, compared with 52% of permanent residents, and 31% of non-U.S. citizens on temporary visas.

Among U.S. citizens and permanent residents, African Americans are most likely to graduate with debt. At the doctoral level, 85% of African American graduates in 2007-08 had debt, compared with 72% of Whites, 47% of Hispanics, and 40% of Asians. At the master’s level, 87% of African American graduates in 2007-08 had debt, compared with 82% of Hispanics, 70% of Whites, and 61% of Asians. Not only are African Americans most likely to graduate with debt, but those with debt owe more on average than their peers of other races/ethnicities. African American doctorate recipients in 2007-08 with debt owed more than $68,000 on average upon graduation, compared with about $60,000 for both Hispanics and Whites. At the master’s level, African Americans with debt owed nearly $52,000 on average, compared with about $46,000 for Hispanics and $38,000 for Whites.

While many graduate students, particularly those in the sciences and engineering, complete graduate school with little or no debt, the data indicate that a growing number of graduate students are not that fortunate. The increased reliance on student loans to finance graduate education, combined with the elimination of subsidized Stafford loans for graduate students, increases in tuition and fees, and decreasing or stagnant support for higher education in many states suggest that debt levels will continue to rise. Many graduates are already entering the workforce saddled with debt that exceeds their annual salaries, and without changes to existing financial aid policies, more graduates will be in this position.

The federal government, state governments, universities, and businesses need to work together to help students earn advanced degrees without incurring massive debt. The recent CGS/ETS report, Pathways Through Graduate School and Into Careers, provides several recommendations to reduce the debt burden of graduate students. For example, the report recommends the implementation of tax policies that encourage employer-provided assistance for graduate study, a COMPETES doctoral traineeship program, and a new Integrative Graduate Humanities Education and Research Training (IGHERT) program, among other recommendations (Wendler et al., 2012). The global competitiveness of the United States and our capacity for innovation depend on individuals with graduate degrees. In order to ensure the future success of this nation, we must address the issue of student debt to guarantee that the workforce of the future includes adequate numbers of individuals with graduate degrees.

By Nathan E. Bell, Director, Research and Policy Analysis, Council of Graduate Schools

References:

The College Board. (2011). Trends in Student Aid 2011. 

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. (2012). “Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Releases Financial Aid Comparison Shopper.” 

Federal Reserve Bank of New York. (2012). Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit. 

National Center for Education Statistics. (2009). 2007-08 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study. Dataset.

National Science Foundation. (2011). Doctorate Recipients from U.S. Universities: 2010. Retrieved from http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/sed/

Wendler, C., Bridgeman, B., Markle, R., Cline, F., Bell, N., McAllister, P., and Kent, J. (2012). Pathways Through Graduate School and Into Careers. Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service.

A letter sent to Congressman Rush Holt (D-NJ) in support of legislation he introduced entitled the “America Innovates Act of 2012.”  This legislation recognizes the vital role played by U.S. graduate education in preparing the highly skilled scientific and technological talent the country needs to support its innovation agenda.  The bill contains several provisions relating to federal support of graduate education at the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Joint degrees, dual degrees, and international research collaborations hold out exciting opportunities for North American universities, but they also present many challenges and questions. This publication reviews what is currently known about graduate international collaborations, what the current gaps in our understanding are, and what areas call for greater clarification. Includes findings from a CGS NSF-funded project, problem-solving scenarios, information about print and online resources, and a checklist for Memoranda of Understanding.

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The 2010 Strategic Leaders Global Summit was held in Brisbane, Australia, and addressed the challenging topic of measuring quality in graduate education. Representing the contributions of graduate education leaders in 17 countries, these proceedings highlight a variety of emerging best practices for program and institutional assessment. Special attention is given to communicating with campus stakeholders and planning assessment-based interventions in the areas of mentoring, research training, and professional development for graduate students.

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