Using restricted-access "Survey of Earned Doctorates" data, we investigate which attributes of a doctoral institution predict the share of its undergraduate BAs that will earn a PhD. We use truncation-correction to account for PhD receipt post-sample. Across the fields of humanities, physical, natural, and social sciences, PhD production…

In this paper, the author argues that a combination of short- and longer-run economic and political forces pose a threat to the well-being of the nation's doctoral programs. After briefly touching on the impact of current economic problems on doctoral education at private universities, he then discusses the growing pressure on academia to expand…

Despite the worldwide prestige of America's doctoral programs in the humanities, all is not well in this area of higher education and hasn't been for some time. The content of graduate programs has undergone major changes, while high rates of student attrition, long times to degree, and financial burdens prevail. In response, the Andrew W. Mellon…

Doctoral programs in the humanities and related social sciences are characterized by high attrition and long times to degree. In 1991 the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation launched the Graduate Education Initiative (GEI) to improve the quality of graduate programs and in turn reduce attrition and shorten time-to-degree. Over a 10-year period, the…

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation's Graduate Education Initiative (GEI) provided funding to 54 departments in the humanities and related social sciences during the 1990s to improve their PhD programs. This article estimates the aspects of PhD programs the GEI influenced and how these aspects influenced attrition and graduation probabilities. It uses…

Describes how to employ multivariate regression models and National Research Council data (used to rank doctoral programs) to analyze how measures of program size, faculty seniority, and faculty research and doctoral-degree productivity influence subjective ratings of doctoral programs in 35 academic fields. Illustrates how to compute the effects…

This report briefly summarizes findings from the 2002 Cornell Higher Education Research Institute survey of start-up costs at the over 220 universities classified as research and doctoral universities by the Carnegie Foundation in 1994. It reports the mean start-up cost packages across institutions for new assistant professors and senior faculty,…

Data from all Ph.D. students in four fields at Cornell University, 1962-1986, showed that students with fellowships or research assistantships had higher completion rates and took less time to complete their degrees than did than those with teaching assistantships, tuition waivers, or self-support. (SK)

Using the 1995 National Research Council ratings of doctoral programs in 41 fields, a statistical methodology is offered for assessing how measures of program size, faculty seniority, faculty research productivity, and faculty productivity in producing doctoral degrees influenced raters' decisions. Then using data for one field, economics,…