Analysis of Earned Doctorates by American Academy of Arts and Sciences

WIH

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences released new analysis of the Survey of Earned Doctorates. The survey is an annual census conducted since 1957 of individuals receiving a research doctorate at an accredited U.S. institution. Some key findings in the analysis include:

Approximately two-thirds of new humanities and arts Ph.D.’s carried no or minimal debt out of their doctoral studies in 2020.
Nearly 58 percent of new humanities and arts Ph.D.’s had no debt related to their graduate education, similar to what it had been in 2004.
From 2015 to 2020, the distribution of graduate debt in every academic field drifted toward increases in both the share of those with no debt and the share with debt of more than $90,000
Averaging across 2015–2020, 55 percent of American Indian/Alaska Native and Black/African American and students receiving a Ph.D. in the humanities or arts completed their Ph.D. programs with more than $30,000 in graduate education debt.