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Ph. D. Completion and Attrition: Baseline Program Data

Ph. D. Completion and Attrition: Baseline Program Data. Robert Sowell CGS Annual Meeting December 7, 2007. Ph.D. Completion Project. Goals: To study doctoral student completion and attrition patterns at a specifically selected set of Research and Project Partners institutions.

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Ph. D. Completion and Attrition: Baseline Program Data

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  1. Ph. D. Completion and Attrition: Baseline Program Data Robert Sowell CGS Annual Meeting December 7, 2007

  2. Ph.D. Completion Project • Goals: • To study doctoral student completion and attrition patterns at a specifically selected set of Research and Project Partners institutions. • To give deans context to lead conversations about what attrition and completion patterns actually are at their universities, and what practices could be implemented to improve these patterns. • To empower graduate deans to develop interventions that are tailored to disciplines, departments, and programs at their universities.

  3. Ph.D. Completion Project • Funding provided by Pfizer Inc and the Ford Foundation • 29 Research Partner institutions received grants • 25 Project Partner institutions are currently participating in various project aspects (unfunded) • Institutions participate in one or both project phases: • Phase I (2004-2007) • Phase II (2007-2010)

  4. 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

  5. Categories of Potential Interventions • Selection/Matching • Mentoring and Advising • Financial Support and Structure • Program Environments • Research Experiences • Curricular and Administrative Processes and Procedures

  6. New CGS Publication “Ph.D. Completion and Attrition: Analysis of Baseline Program Data from the Ph.D. Completion Project”

  7. Number of Programs and Entering Students in Baseline Data

  8. Cohort Definitions for Baseline Data Analysis • A-Cohorts(10-year cohorts) • Students enrolling in 1992-93; 1993-94; 1994-95 • 12,135 students (313 programs) • B-Cohorts (7-year cohorts) • Students enrolling in 1995-96; 1996-97; 1997-98 • 11,697 students (320 programs) • C-Cohorts(4-year cohorts) • Students enrolling in 1998-99; 1999-2000; 2000-01 • 12,125 students (323 programs)

  9. 60 56.6 54.6 50.9 45.5 40 36.1 Cumulative Completion Rate 22.5 20 10.5 4.5 0 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Source: Council of Graduate Schools Completion and Attrition Program Data Overall Ten-Year Completion Rates

  10. 30.6 30.2 29.5 30 28.4 27 25.4 23.6 19.9 20 Cumulative Attrition Rate 13.8 10 6.6 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Source: Council of Graduate Schools Completion and Attrition Program Data Overall Ten-Year Attrition Rates

  11. 70 60 50 40 Cumulative Completion Rate 30 20 10 0 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Year Engineering Life Sciences Mathematics & Physical Sciences Social Sciences Humanities Source: Council of Graduate Schools Completion and Attrition Program Data Ten-Year Completion Rates by Broad Field 63.6 56.8 62.9 55.9 53.7 54.7 48.2 49.3 40.9 29.3

  12. 40 35 30 25 Cumulative Attrition Rate 20 15 10 5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Year Engineering Life Sciences Mathematics & Physical Sciences Social Sciences Humanities NOTE: 10-Year Attrition Rates include all cohorts entering 1992-93 through 1994-95 Source: Council of Graduate Schools Completion and Attrition Program Data Ten-year Attrition Rates by Broad Field

  13. By Year 10, Percentage of Continuing Students Plateaus in SEM, but Not SSH Fields 100 80 60 Cumulative Rates % 40 20 0 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 STEM Fields Social Sciences & Humanities Continuing Completion Attrition Note: 10-Year Cohorts include all cohorts entering 1992-93 through 1994-95 Source: Council of Graduate Schools Completion and Attrition Program Data

  14. 70 60 50 40 Cumulative Completion Rate 30 20 10 0 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 year Chemistry Computer and Information Sciences Mathematics Physics and Astronomy Source: Council of Graduate Schools Completion and Attrition Program Data Ten-Year Completion Rates for Mathematics& Physical Science Disciplines

  15. 50 45 40 35 30 Cumulative Attrition Rate 25 20 15 10 5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Year Chemistry Computer and Information Sciences Mathematics Physics and Astronomy NOTE: 10-Year Attrition Rates include all cohorts entering 1992-93 through 1994-95 Source: Council of Graduate Schools Completion and Attrition Program Data Ten-Year Attrition Rates for Mathematics& Physical Science Disciplines

  16. 60 50 40 30 Cumulative Completion Rate 20 10 0 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Year Private Public Source: Council of Graduate Schools Completion and Attrition Program Data Ten-Year Completion Rates by Institution Type

  17. 60 50 40 30 Cumulative Completion Rate 20 10 0 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Year Small Medium Large Source: Council of Graduate Schools Completion and Attrition Program Data Ten-Year Completion Rates by Cohort Size Small: 1-7 Medium: 8-14 Large: 15+

  18. 51.9 SEM Fields 50.6 35.8 SSH Fields 35.7 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 Cumulative Completion Rate A-cohorts B-cohorts NOTE: A-cohorts include all students entering 1992-93 through 1994-95 B-cohorts include all students entering 1995-96 through 1997-98 Source: Council of Graduate Schools Completion and Attrition Program Data Seven-Year Completion Rates Over Time:A- and B- Cohorts, SEM vs. SSH Fields

  19. 23.6 24.2 20.2 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 Attrition Rate A B C NOTE: A-cohorts include all students entering 1992-93 through 1994-95 B-cohorts include all students entering 1995-96 through 1997-98 C-cohorts include all cohorts entering 1998-99 through 2000-01 Source: Council of Graduate Schools Completion and Attrition Program Data Four-Year (Early) Attrition Rates Over Time:A-, B- and C-Cohorts

  20. Four-Year Attrition Rates Over Time:A-, B- and C-Cohorts, SEM vs. SSH 20

  21. Four-Year Continuing Rates Over Time:A-, B- and C-Cohorts 21

  22. Trend of Decreasing Attrition and Increasing Continuing Student Rates at Four Years 22

  23. Future Questions to be Addressed in the Ph.D. Completion Project • How do completion patterns vary by ethnicity, gender and citizenship? • Why do students say they complete (or not)? What are the perceptions about graduate school of completers and non-completers? • What is the impact of the six categories of interventions? How does efficacy vary across broad field and for which populations? • Can we project ultimate completion and time to degree from our completion and attrition data?

  24. Future Ph.D. Completion Project Publications • Baseline demographic data (publication expected March 2008) • Student exit surveys (publication expected late fall 2008) • Promising practices, policies and activities • Publications based on 2007 and 2009 data submissions (2008-2010) • Final “Best Practices” report (2010)

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