Paying for Doctoral Study in the Humanities
- Humanities and arts Ph.D.’s graduating in 2020 were most likely to report teaching assistantships and grants/fellowships as their primary source of support for their graduate education (Indicator II-30a). Forty percent of graduates reported supporting themselves primarily through teaching, while 37% indicated that a grant or fellowship was their primary support. Another 20% of graduates relied primarily on their own resources (including loans, savings, spousal and family support, and employment other than teaching and research assistantships).
- From 1998 to 2020, the importance of some forms of graduate education support for humanities and arts recipients changed substantially. Personal resources were the primary source of support for 37% of new humanities and arts Ph.D.’s in 1998 and the most relied-upon form of support. By 2013, however, the share of students relying primarily on their own resources had dropped to approximately 20%, a level near which it remained through 2020. Conversely, the share of graduates who relied primarily on teaching assistantships or (especially) grants/fellowships rose substantially, so that by 2020, students were much likelier to have relied on these sources of support than on personal resources to fund their graduate education.
- The humanities and arts Ph.D.’s graduating in 2020 were more dependent on teaching assistantships as a source of support for doctoral study than any other field (Indicator II-30b). Just 21.5% of the new Ph.D. population as a whole relied primarily on this funding source, while 40% of humanities and arts Ph.D.’s supported themselves primarily by teaching. Almost as large a share of mathematics and computer science graduates relied on teaching assistantships (37%), while engineering and education reported the smallest shares (12% of each field’s graduates).
- Humanities and arts Ph.D.’s graduating in 2020 were more likely to draw on their own resources than their counterparts in engineering or the natural sciences. While almost a fifth of humanities and arts Ph.D.’s relied primarily on their own funds, only 12% of the doctoral degree recipients from the life sciences did so. Less than 6% of mathematics and computer science graduates—and even smaller shares of graduates from engineering and physical/earth sciences—relied primarily on their own resources. New education Ph.D.’s were the extreme in the other direction, with 45% relying primarily on their own resources.
- Throughout the 2015–2020 time period, the extent to which men earning a doctorate in the humanities and arts have relied on various forms of support differed only modestly from what was observed among women (Indicator II-30c). Women were somewhat more likely than men to report teaching assistantships as their primary source of financial support (42% versus 37.5% in 2020), while a slightly larger percentage of men reported personal resources as their primary source of financial support (21% for men versus 18% for women in 2020).
* Percentages do not total to 100% for any year because this indicator does not track funding from foreign governments and other sources (these funds represent a very small share of humanities and arts students’ financial support).
** The category of “own resources” includes loans, personal savings, personal earnings outside the institutional sources listed, and earnings or savings of spouse, partner, or family.
Source: For years 1998–2006: National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago: Doctorate Recipients from United States Universities: Summary Report (Chicago, IL: NORC, 1999–2007). For 2007–2008: National Science Foundation, Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences, Division of Science Resources Statistics, Doctorate Recipients from U.S. Universities: Summary Report 2007–08, NSF 10-309 (Arlington, VA: National Science Foundation, 2009), tables 22 and S-42. For remaining years, National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Doctorate Recipients from U.S. Universities (Data Tables, Years 2009–2020), https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/doctorates (accessed 2/15/2022). Table numbers for years: 2009—32; and 2010 to 2020—35. Data presented by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Humanities Indicators (www.humanitiesindicators.org).
The data on which this indicator is based are collected as part of the federal Survey of Earned Doctorates, a national census of recently graduated doctorate recipients.
* The category of “own resources” includes loans, personal savings, personal earnings outside the institutional sources listed, and earnings or savings of spouse, partner, or family.
Source: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Doctorate Recipients from U.S. Universities: 2020 (Data Tables), Table 35, https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/doctorates/ (accessed 2/15/2022). Data presented by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Humanities Indicators (www.humanitiesindicators.org).
The data on which this indicator is based are collected as part of the federal Survey of Earned Doctorates, a national census of recently graduated doctorate recipients.
II-30c: Primary Source of Financial Support for Graduate Education Reported by New Humanities and Arts Doctorate Recipients, by Gender, Graduation Years 2015–2020*
* The Survey of Earned Doctorates, the source of this information, does not report gender or sex beyond “female” and “male.”
** The category of “own resources” includes loans, personal savings, personal earnings outside the institutional sources listed, and earnings or savings of spouse, partner, or family.
Source: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Doctorate Recipients from U.S. Universities: 2020 (Data Tables), Table 35, https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/doctorates/ (accessed 2/15/2022). Data presented by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Humanities Indicators (www.humanitiesindicators.org).
The data on which this indicator is based are collected as part of the federal Survey of Earned Doctorates, a national census of recently graduated doctorate recipients.
