Nationally, just over half of all PhD students finish their degrees
In the United States, nearly half of all students who enroll in a PhD program will not complete their degree. These numbers may sound surprising, but they are true. Students’ reasons for non-completion are varied, from being underprepared to simply not being willing — or not wanting — to do the work.
The PhD Completion Project, an exhaustive study of attrition rates, sponsored by the Council of Graduate Schools in 2010, highlighted many of these factors. It looked also at the “general culpability” of faculty and administration.
The rate of graduate student attrition at Purdue is slightly better than the US average. The 2010–15 Graduate School Strategic Plan sought to address the issue, looking at reasons students are unable to finish their degrees, time to degree, and barriers to completion.
The Graduate School identified four goals and 12 strategies to help with student success and retention. The goals included student enrollment, diversity, degree completion and retention, and time to degree.
The 12 strategies include looking at areas such as graduate student support, job placement, professional support and mentoring, predictive models for admission, program offerings, distributed and personalized learning, and interdisciplinary research.
Colleen Gabauer, managing director of interdisciplinary graduate programs, stresses many factors come together when considering a student’s possible time to degree and ultimate completion. For example, you might consider a predictive modeling approach, whereby you review profiles on successful students to determine future factors for admission. It is critical, however, that this type of approach is integrated with a holistic admissions process, or a whole-story approach to application review.
“We need to train faculty in holistic admissions and implicit bias,” she says. “Look at how to review applications and changes in terms of admitting underrepresented groups.”
Decisions on whom to admit ultimately lie with faculty, says Tom Atkinson (A’82, MS EDU’84), associate dean of the graduate school. Many faculty look at whether students have done research before and whether they know how to do research in their field.
“I hear over and over again, you look for a passion in the research as well,” says Gabauer. “Faculty say they’re looking for that fire in the belly. It comes through, often in their statement of purpose and in other ways as well.”
Purdue has been increasing the numbers of interdisciplinary students and adding new programs that help students identify their strengths. Several programs have a mandatory rotation, where students look at several areas before committing to one.
“Students in the Interdisciplinary Life Science Program, for example, come here with the ability to shop for the right major professor and the right lab,” Atkinson says. “That model allows students to get into a lab where they fit and helps people to be successful and graduate.”
Support for Students
Mentoring has always been available, but it has been increased. It is especially important for incoming students, helping them “make a smoother transition, be more successful, identify a major professor and research topic, and start on their research earlier,” Atkinson says. Modules for mentors have been created, particularly dealing with cultural competencies and how they apply to underrepresented groups.
Mentoring has become even more central to the conversation, says Gabauer. Students and faculty interact, but peer mentoring is strongly encouraged. Students are matched and encouraged to spend time together, perhaps share a meal. Again, it’s all about students connecting and feeling less isolated, thus increasing their engagement.
Some programs have supplemented their advising, much as they do with undergraduate students. Matt Golden, graduate program director for electrical and computer engineering, says the ECE graduate office supports the academic program of students by helping them understand degree requirements, advising on timelines for completing milestones, and providing counseling when they face obstacles in their program. Some of the common obstacles graduate students face relate to identifying a major professor to supervise the doctorate, finding funding, making career-related choices and how these choices affects their degree program, and dealing with the stress of a graduate program and assessing resources to help through those stressful periods.
Career services have increased, with a designated office assigned to help place students find placements after graduation. Amruta Inamdar, career services consultant at the Center for Career Opportunities, focuses specifically on job placement for graduate students.
These efforts are always being adapted to the changing needs of students, stresses Gabauer. The strategic report focused on 2010-15. And while she thinks they’ve met their goals, Gabauer says these are issues that are ongoing.
“These are issues you hone and rehone,” she says.
Currently, the Graduate School sees the majority of PhD students completing their degrees in 15 semesters or 5.49 years, with 51 percent completing in six years; of students in master’s programs, the average is six semesters, or 2.43 years, with 82 percent completing in three years. Average non-thesis master’s students complete in five semesters or 2.13 years, with 68 percent completing in three years.
Atkinson recently followed up on 18 graduate students who had been enrolled in master’s or doctoral programs for longer than 10 years. He has seen that number drop significantly. And graduate work is changing, he says. With the development of professional master’s programs, online, hybrid, and executive programs, students have new ways of completing graduate work, and Purdue has new ways to help students succeed.