The Path Forward

1 The path ForwardThe Future of Graduate Education in the United StatesThe path ForwardThe Future of Graduate Education in the United StatesSuggested citation*: Council of Graduate Schools and Educational Testing Service. (2010). The path Forward : The Future of Graduate Education in the United States. Report from the Commission on the Future of Graduate Education in the United States. Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service. The report was written by Cathy Wendler, Brent Bridgeman, Fred Cline, Catherine Millett, JoAnn Rock, Nathan Bell, and Patricia McAllister. A number of individuals contributed to the project. The ETS team was led by Cathy Wendler and included Brent Bridgeman, Catherine Millett, Fred Cline, David Payne, Shelly Punchatz, JoAnn Rock, Namrata Tognatta, and interns Ross Markle and Leslie Shaw.

2 The CGS team was led by Debra Stewart and included Patricia McAllister, Nathan Bell, Daniel Denecke, and Belle Woods. We thank Aina Daud, Nicole DiCrecchio, Thomas Ewing, Cheryl Flagg, Stuart Heiser, Teresa Jackson, Mark McNutt, William Petzinger, Rosalie Szabo, and Yuan Wang for their support and help on the project.* The above suggested citation replaces the citation provided in the first printing of this report: Wendler, C., Bridgeman, B., Cline, F., Millett, C., Rock, J., Bell, N., and McAllister, P. (2010). The path Forward : The Future of Graduate Education in the United States. Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service. No new data, information, or recommendations are provided in this reprint of the 2010 Dear Colleague:It has been argued that in the knowledge economy, a graduate degree will become the new bachelor s degree, the minimal education credential that high-skills employers require.

3 If that is so, then the United States is in peril of losing its competitive edge, with long-term consequences for our economy, our quality of life, and our global standing. This report examines the data behind these assertions, and proposes a set of recommendations to strengthen graduate education in partnership with industry and United States system of graduate education is a strategic national asset. Like all valuable assets, it must be attended to and nurtured in order to remain viable and strong. Other countries and regions of the world have recognized the value of graduate education as a vital component of economic development and are making investments accordingly.

4 Europe already produces more doctorates in science and engineering than are produced in the United States. China and India are making substantial investments in their graduate education systems. A recent Wall Street Journal ranking of accelerated MBA programs awarded six of the top 10 places to graduate competitiveness in the global economy hinges on our ability to produce sufficient numbers of graduate-degree holders people with the advanced knowledge and critical-thinking abilities to devise solutions to grand challenges such as energy independence, affordable health care, climate change and others. One of our greatest resources is our human talent, and as a nation we must invest in educating more of our population at the graduate level to ensure our capacity to innovate and to secure our intellectual leadership into the , institutions of higher education, and business leaders all have a stake in the process of producing well-prepared graduate degree holders.

5 People with graduate degrees teach in our schools and universities, drive innovation, attract intellectual and commercial investment, and strengthen American prestige and economic power. This report, a collaboration of the Council of Graduate Schools and Educational Testing Service, provides a clear view of the roadblocks and the pathways to a graduate degree and to an improved system of graduate education in the United States. We hope that you find it illuminating, informative and ,Debra W. Stewart Kurt M. Landgraf President President & CEO Council of Graduate Schools Educational Testing ServiceCommission on the Future of Graduate Education in the United StatesChair: William Russel, Dean, Graduate School, Princeton UniversityVice Chair: Suzanne Ortega, Executive Vice President and Provost, University of New Mexico Scott Bass, Provost, American UniversityGene Block, Chancellor, University of California, Los AngelesJohn Seely Brown, Visiting Scholar and Advisor to the Provost, University of Southern CaliforniaThomas Connelly Jr.

6 , Executive Vice President and CIO, DuPont and DePauw, Vice President and Dean for Graduate Education, Virginia TechRoger Ferguson, President and CEO, TIAA-CREFJ effery Gibeling, Dean, Graduate Studies, University of California, DavisStanley S. Litow, Vice President, Corporate Citizenship & Corporate Affairs, IBM and President, IBM International FoundationRonald Mason, President, Jackson State UniversityPatrick Osmer, Vice Provost, Graduate Studies and Dean, Graduate School, The Ohio State University Richard J. Parsons, Executive Vice President, Global Staffing Executive, Bank of AmericaLiora Schmelkin, Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Dean of Graduate Studies, Hofstra UniversitySusan Stites-Doe, Dean of Graduate Studies and Professor of Management, The College at Brockport, State University of New YorkRonald Townsend, Executive Vice President of Global Laboratory Operations, Battelle Memorial InstituteJohn Wiley, Academic Program Director and Professor, Graduate School, University of Wisconsin-MadisonJames Wimbush, Dean, University Graduate School, Indiana UniversityEx Officio MembersKurt Landgraf, President & CEO, Educational Testing ServiceDebra Stewart, President.

7 Council of Graduate SchoolsWe are especially indebted to the following individuals for their time and valuable insights:Thomas Connelly Jr., DuPont and Co.; Norman Bradburn, National Opinion Research Center, University of Chicago; Elliott, Educational Testing Service; Kathryn Kailikole, The Louis Stokes Institute for Opportunity in STEM Education; Jeanie Mabie, IBM; Jane Oates, Department of Labor; Richard J. Parsons, Bank of America; Eva Pell, Under Secretary for Science at the Smithsonian Institution; Chandra Taylor Smith, The Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education; Eldna Smith, ExxonMobil; and Ronald Townsend, Thomas Snowberger, and Richard Rosen, Battelle Memorial of ContentsIntroduction.

8 1 Why Focus on Graduate Education? .. 1 Threats to the System .. 2 The path Forward .. 3 Current Trends in Graduate Education .. 5 The Pathway to Graduate School .. 5 Graduate Degree Recipients .. 13 Understanding International Competition .. 20 Current Vulnerabilities in Our System of Graduate Education .. 27 The University Domain .. 27 The Industry Domain .. 35 The Government Domain .. 37 Moving Forward : Recommendations and Actions .. 41 Recommendations for Universities .. 41 Recommendations for Employers .. 45 Recommendations for Policymakers: The Federal Role .. 48In Summary: The path Forward .. 55 References .. 591 Why Focus on Graduate Education?The fruits of graduate education touch our lives in countless ways every day.

9 We ride in automobiles with systems designed by engineers having graduate degrees; send our children to schools where a growing num-ber of teachers have graduate degrees and were themselves trained by people with advanced degrees; pick up prescriptions for drugs designed and tested by scientists with graduate degrees; visit museums and view displays arranged by curators with graduate degrees; and go to movies enhanced by sophisticated computer-generated special effects designed by men and women who have graduate degrees. Recent figures show that students enrolled in graduate education repre-sent 3% of the students enrolled in all levels of With the ongoing debate on how to address the needs of K 12, 2-year colleges, and 4-year colleges, is it premature to debate the virtues of obtaining a graduate degree?

10 We believe not indeed, now is the critical time to address and understand the value of graduate education. Finding innovative solutions to many of the greatest challenges facing this nation and the world in the 21st century will depend upon having a highly skilled workforce. Tasks such as finding efficient alternative energy sources, improving agricultural practices in developing coun-tries to feed the growing world population, and understanding other cultures that must coexist in the global village will require individuals with graduate-level training. However, as Gary Locke, Secretary of Commerce, remarked to the President s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, America has a broken innovation ecosystem that does not efficiently create the right incentives or allocate enough resources to generate new ideas; develop those ideas with focused research; and turn them into businesses that can create good jobs.