A high response rate among institutions and graduates is essential to the statistical integrity of the data. High-quality data ensure that analyses and policy decisions are based on all research doctorate recipients. Further, participation in the SED ensures your institution’s doctorate recipients are represented in the Doctorate Records File, a data bank on U.S. doctorate recipients reaching back to 1920.

Data from the SED can be used by institutions to compare their graduates with national statistics. Using recent data, researchers have learned:

1. The number of research doctoral degrees awarded by U.S. institutions increased from 57,806 in 2023 to 58,131 in 2024. This increase is similar to the increase between 2022 and 2023. Since the SED began collecting data in academic year 1958, there has been an upward trend in the number of doctorates awarded by U.S. institutions – with an average annual growth of 3.0%, punctuated by periods of slower growth and some declines.
2. Over the past 20 years, the average proportions of U.S. citizens and permanent residents and temporary visa holders earning S&E doctorates from U.S. institutions has remained stable at 62% and 38%, respectively. During that period, the number of doctorates awarded to temporary visa holders increased by 76% in S&E fields and by 24% in non-S&E fields, compared with a 61% increase in S&E and a 20% decline in non-S&E doctorates awarded to U.S. citizens and permanent residents.
3. In 2024, 40% of doctorate recipients with definite non-postdoc employment commitments in the United States reported that their principal job would be in academia, down from 56% in 2004. The largest percentage-point declines between 2004 and 2024 were in mathematics and statistics, dropping from 73% to 39%, followed by computer and information sciences, dropping from 53% to 28%.

The results of this annual survey provide an objective basis for policy decisions that aim to improve our system of doctoral education. Maintaining a high response rate is essential to the statistical integrity of the SED data and, thus, to the legitimacy of the policy decisions that rely on these data. Consequently, the SED project team works closely with each Graduate School Dean and their staff to help them distribute and collect the SED in ways that facilitate student cooperation without creating undue burden.

In addition to contributing to an accurate and complete data resource, participation in the SED gains your institution access to an institution profile (containing summary information) and an institution dataset.