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), (accessed 2/15/2022). Table numbers for years: 2009—32; and 2010 to 2020—35. Data presented by the American Ƶ of Arts and Sciences’ Humanities Indicators ().
The data on which this indicator is based are collected as part of the federal , 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, (accessed 2/15/2022). Data presented by the American Ƶ of Arts and Sciences’ Humanities Indicators ().
The data on which this indicator is based are collected as part of the federal , 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, (accessed 2/15/2022). Data presented by the American Ƶ of Arts and Sciences’ Humanities Indicators ().
The data on which this indicator is based are collected as part of the federal , a national census of recently graduated doctorate recipients.
