Indicator

Paying for Doctoral Study in the Humanities

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While they may not always be considered within the framework of humanities funding, teaching and research assistantships, grants, employer support, and student self-funding and borrowing help subsidize advanced study in the field. The federal Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED) provides useful data on the share of recent Ph.D.’s relying on various forms of support in the course of their doctoral education.

(Note: These indicators present data for Ph.D.’s in both the humanities and the arts, which the National Science Foundation’s National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics combine in its public reporting of findings from the SED. But because the humanities produces substantially more Ph.D.’s each year than the fine/performing arts, the SED provides useful insight about the state of doctoral education in the humanities.)

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* Percentages do not total to 100% for any year because this indicator does not track funding from foreign governments and other sources (these funds represent a very small share of humanities and arts students’ financial support).
** The category of “own resources” includes loans, personal savings, personal earnings outside the institutional sources listed, and earnings or savings of spouse, partner, or family.

Source: For years 1998–2006: National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago: Doctorate Recipients from United States Universities: Summary Report (Chicago, IL: NORC, 1999–2007). For 2007–2008: National Science Foundation, Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences, Division of Science Resources Statistics, Doctorate Recipients from U.S. Universities: Summary Report 2007–08, NSF 10-309 (Arlington, VA: National Science Foundation, 2009), tables 22 and S-42. For remaining years, National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Doctorate Recipients from U.S. Universities (Data Tables, Years 2009–2020), https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/doctorates (accessed 2/15/2022). Table numbers for years: 2009—32; and 2010 to 2020—35. Data presented by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Humanities Indicators (www.humanitiesindicators.org).

The data on which this indicator is based are collected as part of the federal Survey of Earned Doctorates, a national census of recently graduated doctorate recipients.

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* The category of “own resources” includes loans, personal savings, personal earnings outside the institutional sources listed, and earnings or savings of spouse, partner, or family.

Source: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Doctorate Recipients from U.S. Universities: 2020 (Data Tables), Table 35, https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/doctorates/ (accessed 2/15/2022). Data presented by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Humanities Indicators (www.humanitiesindicators.org).

The data on which this indicator is based are collected as part of the federal Survey of Earned Doctorates, a national census of recently graduated doctorate recipients.

II-30c: Primary Source of Financial Support for Graduate Education Reported by New Humanities and Arts Doctorate Recipients, by Gender, Graduation Years 2015–2020*

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* The Survey of Earned Doctorates, the source of this information, does not report gender or sex beyond “female” and “male.”
** The category of “own resources” includes loans, personal savings, personal earnings outside the institutional sources listed, and earnings or savings of spouse, partner, or family.

Source: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Doctorate Recipients from U.S. Universities: 2020 (Data Tables), Table 35, https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/doctorates/ (accessed 2/15/2022). Data presented by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Humanities Indicators (www.humanitiesindicators.org).

The data on which this indicator is based are collected as part of the federal Survey of Earned Doctorates, a national census of recently graduated doctorate recipients.

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