Despite a nationwide trend of increased doctorate degrees being awarded, the University has seen a decrease in awards during the past few years.
The number of doctorate degrees awarded to candidates from schools in the United States increased from 48,763 in 2008 to 49,562 in 2009, a rise of 1.6 percent, according to a recent survey by the National Science Foundation. During that same time frame, though, the University saw a decrease of 19.8 percent.
This discrepancy may be partially mitigated by the fact that the national increase during the past two years is actually much smaller compared to what it was in previous years. While doctorate awards rose from 43,381 in 2005 to 45,617 in 2006 - an increase of 5.15 percent - and 45,617 in 2006 to 48,130 in 2007 - an increase of 5.5 percent - last year's study found a smaller increase; the number of doctorate awards rose from 48,130 in 2007 to 48,763 - an increase of only 1.3 percent.
Dave Wolcott, the University's assistant vice president for Graduate Studies, said the number of doctorate degrees a university awards can depend on several factors, namely the economy because it has limited research funding and enrollment.
Concurrently, the University actually saw an increase in the number of doctorate degrees it award to candidates from 2007 to 2008, a jump from 259 degrees to 314 - an increase of 21 percent. In 2009, however, the University awarded only 262 degrees - a 19.8-percent drop.
In the wake of an unpromising job market, NSF spokesperson Bobbie Mixon also noted that the amount of research funding a school has also can affect the number of doctorate candidates it enrolls. Furthermore, some schools simply enroll fewer students and therefore enroll fewer doctoral candidates, Mixon said.
But at the same time, students often choose to continue their education in hopes of entering a more promising job market in the future. Mixon also noted that fields that were once popular have decreased in recent years, specifically non-practice oriented fields.
Mixon said NSF has employed its Survey of Earned Doctorates annually since 1953 to collect data on individuals who receive research degrees from accredited U.S. institutions.This year, the study looked at a record number of doctorate awards.
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