Ph. D. Completion and Attrition:
Analysis of Baseline Data
NSF AGEP Evaluation Capacity Meeting
September 19, 2008
Robert Sowell
Council of Graduate Schools
Ph.D. Completion Project
 Guiding Principles:
• Students admitted to Ph.D. programs should be
given every opportunity to complete their
degrees.
• Understanding and improving student degree
completion and attrition rates is key to
increasing the effectiveness of doctoral
programs.
• Graduate deans are in the best position to lead
conversations about the best practices that will
improve student completion rates.
Ph.D. Completion Project
 Funding provided by Pfizer Inc and the
Ford Foundation
• Phase I (2004-2007)
• Phase II (2007-2010)
 29 Research Partner institutions received
grants
 Additional (~25) Project Partner institutions
are currently participating in various aspects
of the project (unfunded)
Ph.D. Completion Project
 Goal - to improve Ph.D. student completion
• Selected set of institutions
 Implement new interventions
 Provide baseline completion and
attrition data
 Focus - underrepresented minorities and
women
Requirements to Participate in the Ph.D.
Completion Project
 Engage in activities to increase Ph.D.
completion in at least eight programs
 Provide baseline completion and attrition
data for each program for an initial twelveyear period followed by an additional four
years
 Implement at least six new interventions in
an effort to increase completion
Baseline Data Requirements
 Completion and attrition data by program
 Aggregate demographic completion data by
broad field
 Factor assessments for each institution and
program
 Student Exit Surveys (Completers and NonCompleters)
Categories of Potential Interventions






Selection/Matching
Mentoring and Advising
Financial Support and Structure
Program Environments
Research Experiences
Curricular and Administrative Processes and
Procedures
CGS Ph.D. Completion Project
Quantitative Data Submitted by Institutions
12 Years (1992-93 through 2003-04)
 Program completion  Broad field demographic
and attrition
completion
•
•
•
•
•
30 Institutions
5 Broad Fields
54 Disciplines
330 Programs
~49,000 Students
•
•
•
•
•
Gender (G)
Citizenship/Ethnicity (CE)
24 Institutions (G)
23 Institutions (CE)
~40,000 Students
Ten-Year Completion Analysis:
For Students Entering Ph.D. Programs in
1992-93 through 1994-95 (A Cohorts)
 From Program Data
• Completion: Overall, broad field and
discipline
 From Demographic Data
• Completion: Overall and broad field
 Gender
 Citizenship
 Ethnicity
Profile of Data (A-Cohorts) for Ten-Year
Completion Analysis
Program Data
12,135
Gender Data
9,683
Citizenship&
Ethnicity Data
9,359
Approximate distribution across fields
60
Overall Ten-Year Completion Rates
Cumulative Completion Rate (%)
20
40
55
57
51
46
36
23
11
0
5
3
4
5
Source: Council of Graduate Schools
Completion and Attrition Program Data
6
7
8
9
10
Completion Rate (%)
10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Ten-Year Cumulative Completion Rates by Broad Field
64
63
56
55
49
57
54
48
41
0
29
3
4
5
6
7
Year
8
9
10
Engineering
Life Sciences
Mathematics & Physical Sciences
Humanities
Social Sciences
Ten-Year Completion Rates for Selected Disciplines
Engineering (64%)
Life Science (63%)
Civil
78%
Genetics
69%
Mechanical
66%
Micro/Immunology
69%
Chemical
63%
Neuroscience
65%
Biomedical
63%
Mole/Cell Biology
64%
Electrical
56%
Biology
59%
Mathematics and Physical
Sciences (55%)
Chemistry
62%
Physics
59%
Mathematics
51%
Computer Science
41%
Ten-Year Completion Rates for Selected Disciplines
Social Science (56%)
Psychology
65%
Economics
52%
Anthropology
46%
Sociology
45%
Political Science
44%
Humanities (49%)
English Language and Literature
52%
Philosophy
49%
Foreign Languages and Literatures
48%
History
47%
Ten-Year Completion Rates for Students Entering from
1992-93 through 1994-95, by Institution Type and Broad Field
60
Math & Physical Sciences
40
20
0
0
0
20 40 60
20 40 60
Life Sciences
2
4
6
8
10
2
4
6
8
10
Humanities
20
20
40
40
60
60
Social Sciences
0
0
Cumulative Completion Rates
Engineering
2
4
6
8
10
2
4
6
8
10
Year
Private
Graphs by BF
Source: Council of Graduate Schools
Completion and Attrition Program Data
Public
2
4
6
8
10
Ten-Year Attrition Rates for Students Entering from
1992-93 through 1994-95, by Cohort Sizes and Broad Field
0
10 20 30
0
10 20 30 40
Mathematics & Physical Sciences
10 20 30
Life Sciences
0
5
10
0
5
10
0
5
10
0
5
Small
Large
Source: Council of Graduate Schools
Completion and Attrition Program Data
5
Small: 1-7
Medium: 8-14
Large: 15+
10
Year
Graphs by BF
0
Humanities
0 10 20 30 40
Social Sciences
0 10 20 30 40
Cumulative Attrition Rates
Engineering
Medium
10
Gender Data
100%
Male
Female
Engineering
1,606
277
Life Science
602
489
Math/Phys.
Science
2,251
792
80%
40%
85%
an
um
s
i.
Sc
Female
ite
s.
hy
ce
en
ci
/P
ce
Male
H
h
at
S
al
ci
So
M
3,441
n
ie
Sc
6,242
g
782
0%
fe
Li
869
45% 53%
55%
in
er
Humanities
74%
e
in
1,101
55% 47%
60%
g
En
914
26%
45%
20%
Social
Science
Total
15%
Ten-Year Completion Rates: Broad Field and Gender
70
Completion Rate (%)
65
60
64
Female
Male
59
56
57
56
52
53
50
52
47
40
Engineering Life Sciences
Math &
Physical
Sciences
Social
Sciences
Humanities
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Cumulative Completion Rate (%)
Cumulative Ten-Year Ph.D. Completion Rates by
Gender in Engineering
3
4
5
6
Year
Female
7
8
9
Male
10
16
12
8
4
0
Annual Completion Rate (%)
20
Annual Ph.D. Completion Rates by Gender in
Engineering
3
4
5
6
7
Year
Female
8
9
Male
10
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Cumulative Completion Rate (%)
Cumulative Ten-Year Ph.D. Completion Rates by
Gender in Life Sciences
3
4
5
6
7
Year
Female
8
9
Male
10
16
12
8
4
0
Annual Completion Rate (%)
20
Annual Ph.D. Completion Rates by Gender in Life
Sciences
3
4
5
6
7
Year
Female
8
9
Male
10
50
40
30
20
10
0
Cumulative Completion Rate (%)
60
Cumulative Ten-Year Ph.D. Completion Rates by
Gender in Mathematics & Physical Sciences
3
4
5
6
7
Year
Female
8
9
Male
10
16
12
8
4
0
Annual Completion Rate (%)
20
Annual Ph.D. Completion Rates by Gender in
Mathematics & Physical Sciences
3
4
5
6
7
Year
Female
8
9
Male
10
50
40
30
20
10
0
Cumulative Completion Rate (%)
60
Cumulative Ten-Year Ph.D. Completion Rates by
Gender in Social Sciences
3
4
5
6
Year
Female
7
8
9
Male
10
8
4
0
Annual Completion Rate (%)
12
Annual Ph.D. Completion Rates by Gender in Social
Sciences
3
4
5
6
7
Year
Female
8
9
Male
10
0
Cumulative Completion Rate (%)
10
20
30
40 50
60
Cumulative Ph.D. Completion Rates by Gender and
Institution Type
3
4
5
6
Female in Public
Female in Private
7
Year
8
9
Male in Public
Male in Private
10
Citizenship Data
100%
Domestic
Intl.
Engineering
970
888
Life Science
811
212
941
an
um
s
International
ite
i.
Sc
ce
en
ci
g
Domestic
H
S
al
ci
So
2,433
s.
hy
6,926
/P
Total
0%
h
at
114
52%
ce
1,390
69%
M
Humanities
20%
79%
n
ie
Sc
278
40%
fe
Li
1,655
86% 92%
in
er
Social
Science
31%
60%
e
in
2,100
48%
g
En
Math/Phys.
Science
80%
21%
14% 8%
Ten-Year Completion Rates: Broad Field and Citizenship
75
70
70
68
Completion Rate (%)
66
65
60
63
59
58
56
55
51
50
52
50
45
40
Engineering Life Sciences
Math &
Physical
Sciences
Domestic
Social
Sciences
International
Humanities
Race/Ethnicity Data
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
Engineering
Life Science
Math &
Physical
Science
Hispanic American
20
24
38
85
41
208
White
700
671
1,629
1,272
1,156
5,428
Asian American
171
62
207
95
52
587
African American
38
25
85
157
98
403
Social Science
Humanities
Total
Ten-Year Completion Rates: Broad Field and Ethnicity
65
61
60
60
Completion Rate (%)
60
57
55
55
50
47
55
54
53
53 53
52
47
52
47
51
46
44
45
40
37
37
35
30
Engineering
Life Sciences
Math & Physical Social Sciences
Sciences
African American
Asian
Hispanic
White
Humanities
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Cumulative Completion Rate (%)
Cumulative Ten-Year Ph.D. Completion Rates by
Race/Ethnicity in Engineering
3
4
5
Asian American
Hispanic American
6
Year
7
White
8
9
10
African American
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Cumulative Completion Rate (%)
Cumulative Ten-Year Ph.D. Completion Rates by
Race/Ethnicity in Life Sciences
3
4
5
Asian American
Hispanic American
6
Year
7
8
White
9
10
African American
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Cumulative Completion Rate (%)
Cumulative Ten-Year Ph.D. Completion Rates by
Race/Ethnicity in Mathematics & Physical Sciences
3
4
5
Asian American
Hispanic American
6
Year
7
8
White
9
10
African American
50
40
30
20
10
0
Cumulative Completion Rate (%)
60
Cumulative Ten-Year Ph.D. Completion Rates by
Race/Ethnicity in Social Sciences
3
4
5
Asian American
Hispanic American
6
Year
7
8
White
9
10
African American
Ten-Year Completion Rates: Ethnicity + Int’l and Broad Field
65
61
60
60
60
57
Completion Rate (%)
55
55
50
52
47
47
53
53
47
54
55
53
52
51
46
44
45
40
37
37
35
30
African American
Engineering
Life Sciences
Asian
Hispanic
Math & Physical Sciences
Social Sciences
White
Humanities
60
Cumulative 10-Year Ph.D. Completion Rates by Broad
Fields for African American Students
60
Completion Rate (%)
10 20 30 40 50
52
47
47
0
37
3
4
5
6
Engineering
Math & Physical Sci
Humanities
Year
7
8
9
Life Sciences
Social Sciences
10
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Cumulative Completion Rate (%)
Cumulative Ph.D. Completion Rates by Broad Field for
Hispanic American Students
3
4
5
6
Engineering
Math & Physical Sci.
Humanities
Year
7
8
9
Life Sciences
Social Sciences
10
Cumulative Ten-Year Ph.D. Completion Rates by
Race/Ethnicity and Institution Type
Private
Public
65
61
Completion Rate (%)
60
58
57
54
55
52
50
49
50
45
58
47
44
40
35
30
African
American
Asian
American
Hispanic
American
White
All Domestic
Comparison of Seven-Year Completion Rates For
Students Entering Ph.D. Programs in
1992-93 through 1994-95 (A-Cohorts) vs.
1996-97 through 1998-99 (B-Cohorts)
 Completion: Overall and Broad Field
 Gender
 Ethnicity
Cumulative Seven-Year Ph.D. Completion Rates for Aversus B- Cohorts by Gender
41
Female
43
48
Male
49
0
10
20
30
Cumulative Completion Rate (%)
A-Cohorts
40
B-Cohorts
50
Cumulative Seven-Year Ph.D. Completion Rates for Aversus B- Cohorts by Race/Ethnicity
39
Asian American
40
43
White
46
34
African American
35
33
Hispanic American
34
0
10
20
30
40
Cumulative Completion Rate (%)
A-Cohorts
B-cohorts
50
Interventions: Selection and Matching
 Pre-admission visits to campus.
 Adapt best practices in recruiting for different
disciplines and demographics.
 Increase minority student recruitment activities
during the academic year with the efforts of the new
Diversity Coordinator
 Incorporate alumni into program recruitment
strategies, in particular women and members of
underrepresented groups.
Interventions: Mentoring and Advising
 Require each first year student to have an advisor or
advisory structure.
 Monitor the process of advisor/mentor selection,
especially for minorities and women.
 Participate in peer-to-peer mentoring programs for
new students, especially women and
underrepresented groups.
 Develop a graduate student supervision workshop
for new faculty
Interventions: Program Environments
 Monthly support group for minority students
 Initiate a seminar series to address the theme of
inclusion and diversity.
 Women’s Leadership Society that links prominent
professional and graduate women with current
doctoral students.
 Develop institution-wide policies on family and
medical leave for graduate assistants.
Interventions: Other
 Dissertation assistance workshops, “Dissertation
Boot Camps.”
 Web-based systems for tracking student progress to
degree.
 Study student data from the past ten years to assess
patterns of attrition versus short-term enrollment
gaps.
 Inclusion of completion rates and time-to-degree in
the program review process.
Future Ph.D. Completion Project
Activities & Reports
 Student exit surveys
 Document promising interventions, practices,
policies and other activities
 Collect completion and attrition data through data
through the 2007-08
 Final “Best Practices” report at the conclusion of
the project in 2010 documenting impact of new
interventions on completion and attrition