University of Wisconsin granted more doctorates in 2017 than any other U.S. institution, according to a new survey.
The Survey of Earned Doctorates, an annual census conducted of individuals receiving a doctorate from a U.S. institution in any given year, found that UW awarded 844 doctorates in 2017, ranking it first place.
University of California-Berkeley came in second place with 799 doctorates and University of Texas-Austin came in third with 795 doctorates.
UW’s total doctorates were up from 2016, when the university granted 823 doctorates – good enough for second place spot. UT-Austin took the top spot that year with 849 doctorates.
Survey ranks UW sixth in research expenditures, retains 2016 rank
U.S. institutions granted 54,664 doctorates in 2017 overall, a decrease of about half a percent from 2016.
UW also ranked second in granting doctorates in life sciences, which includes biological sciences, biomedical sciences, health sciences and agricultural sciences.
In general, doctoral degrees require completion of an extensive research project culminating in a thesis or dissertation. They are usually done under a university faculty member and the final paper is subject to scrutiny by a board of faculty, with the hopeful doctoral student defending their work.
UW placed sixth in research expenditure in 2017 according to the National Science Foundation’s Higher Education Research and Development Survey. UW spent more than $1.19 billion dollars in research funding that year.
The HERD survey is a source of information on research and expenditures at American universities and colleges. Calculating expenditure is often used as a method to measure academic research activity.
Funding for research at UW comes primarily from the federal government. The NSF is one source of this funding.
In September, UW was declared a co-leader of a NSF five-year, $10 million grant. The grant is designed to help broaden and diversify STEM faculty.
UW is also a recipient of the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program, which provides three years of financial support for graduate study, with a $34,000 annual stipend and $12,000 education allowance.
