Doctoral recipients

A record 54 070 doctoral degrees were awarded across all fields by US universities in 2014, according to NSF, which has conducted annual surveys on PhD recipients since 1957. Of those PhDs, 2246 were in physics and astronomy.

The survey notes that the US remains one of the most attractive countries for study but warns that “the continued preeminence of U.S. doctoral education is not assured. Other nations, recognizing the contributions doctorate recipients make to economies and cultures, are investing heavily in doctoral education.”

Highlights from the latest survey include the following:

► The numbers of both citizens and noncitizens earning PhDs continue to grow, with each up more than 40% from 2004 to 2014. Noncitizens made up 29% of all US doctoral recipients in 2014. More than half came from China, India, and South Korea.

► From 2004 to 2014, science and engineering made up 75% of all doctorates earned in the US.

► In 2014, women earned 46% of all US doctorates, up from 39% in 1994. In physical science and engineering fields, the number of women earning doctorates grew from 1995 to 4999 over those two decades. The fastest-growing subfields for women were computer and information science and materials science engineering.

► From 1994 to 2014, the number of doctorates earned by African Americans grew by 70%, to 2167; among Latinos, the number more than doubled, to 2196.

The full report on the Survey of Earned Doctorates can be found at www.nsf.gov/statistics/2016/nsf16300/start.cfm .