The nine universities that granted the most doctoral degrees in 2015 were public institutions. The only private institution in the top 10 was Harvard University. The most doctorates in a particular field were granted by the Georgia Institute of Technology, which awarded 353 research doctorates in engineering.
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All
| 1. | U. of Michigan at Ann Arbor | 852 |
| 2. | U. of Texas at Austin | 841 |
| 3. | U. of Wisconsin at Madison | 836 |
| 4. | U. of California at Berkeley | 811 |
| 5. | U. of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign | 781 |
| 6. | U. of Florida | 747 |
| 7. | U. of California at Los Angeles | 744 |
| 8. | Texas A&M U. at College Station and Health Science Center | 732 |
| 9. | Ohio State U. | 726 |
| 10. | Harvard U. | 715 |
| 11. | Purdue U. at West Lafayette | 714 |
| 12. | U. of Minnesota- Twin Cities | 711 |
| 13. | Pennsylvania State U. at University Park and Hershey Medical Center | 694 |
| 14. | Stanford U. | 689 |
| 15. | U. of Washington | 666 |
| 16. | U. of Maryland at College Park | 619 |
| 17. | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 606 |
| 18. | Michigan State U. | 597 |
| 19. | Walden U. | 562 |
| 20. | U. of California at Davis | 539 |
| 21. | Georgia Institute of Technology | 526 |
| 22. | U. of California at San Diego | 501 |
| 23. | Johns Hopkins U. | 492 |
| 23. | U. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | 492 |
| 25. | U. of Arizona | 485 |
| 26. | Cornell U. | 481 |
| 26. | U. of Pennsylvania | 481 |
| 28. | Columbia U. | 475 |
| 29. | North Carolina State U. | 472 |
| 30. | Arizona State U. | 471 |
| 31. | U. of Southern California | 452 |
| 31. | Virginia Tech | 452 |
| 33. | Indiana U. at Bloomington | 448 |
| 34. | New York U. | 430 |
| 35. | Northwestern U. | 425 |
| 36. | U. of Georgia | 424 |
| 37. | Yale U. | 420 |
| 38. | U. of Colorado at Boulder | 418 |
| 39. | U. Pittsburgh main campus | 417 |
| 40. | City U. of New York Graduate Center | 408 |
| 41. | Boston U. | 399 |
| 42. | U. of Chicago | 392 |
| 43. | U. of California at Irvine | 390 |
| 44. | Rutgers U. at New Brunswick | 389 |
| 45. | Florida State U. | 383 |
| 46. | Princeton U. | 373 |
| 47. | U. of Utah | 372 |
| 48. | Duke U. | 366 |
| 49. | U. of Kansas | 351 |
| 50. | U. of Virginia | 346 |
| All institutions | 55,006 |
Education
| 1. | Teachers College, Columbia U. | 136 |
| 2. | U. of Georgia | 95 |
| 3. | Walden U. | 93 |
| 4. | Michigan State U. | 87 |
| 5. | U. of Texas at Austin | 83 |
| All institutions | 5,117 |
Engineering
| 1. | Georgia Institute of Technology | 353 |
| 2. | Purdue U. at West Lafayette | 280 |
| 3. | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 266 |
| 4. | U. of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign | 231 |
| 5. | Stanford U. | 229 |
| All institutions | 9,897 |
Humanities and arts
| 1. | New York U. | 120 |
| 1. | U. of California at Los Angeles | 120 |
| 3. | U. of California at Berkeley | 119 |
| 4. | Harvard U. | 116 |
| 5. | Teachers College, Columbia U. | 113 |
| All institutions | 5,600 |
Life sciences
| 1. | Johns Hopkins U. | 261 |
| 2. | Harvard U. | 255 |
| 3. | U. of Florida | 246 |
| 4. | U. of Wisconsin at Madison | 216 |
| 5. | U. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | 209 |
| All institutions | 12,520 |
Mathematics and computer sciences
| 1. | Purdue U. at West Lafayette | 74 |
| 2. | Carnegie Mellon U. | 72 |
| 3. | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 71 |
| 3. | U. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | 71 |
| 5. | North Carolina State U. | 70 |
| 5. | U. of California at Los Angeles | 70 |
| 5. | U. of Washington | 70 |
| All institutions | 3,825 |
Physical sciences and earth sciences
| 1. | U. of Michigan at Ann Arbor | 116 |
| 2. | U. of Wisconsin at Madison | 112 |
| 3. | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 109 |
| 4. | U. of California at Berkeley | 100 |
| 5. | U. of Texas at Austin | 99 |
| All institutions | 5,924 |
Psychology and social sciences
| 1. | Walden U. | 230 |
| 2. | City U. of New York Graduate Center | 148 |
| 3. | U. of California at Los Angeles | 131 |
| 4. | U. of Texas at Austin | 129 |
| 5. | Harvard U. | 128 |
| All institutions | 9,095 |
Note: Data cover the academic year from July 1, 2014, to June 30, 2015. Ninety-eight percent of the research doctorates were Ph.D.s, and 1.1 percent were Ed.D.s. Recipients of professional doctoral degrees like M.D., D.D.S., and J.D. were excluded. For rankings by field, the category “Other” was excluded. Tied institutions are listed alphabetically. More data can be found at www.nsf.gov/statistics/2017/nsf17306/data.cfm.
Source: “Survey of Earned Doctorates, 2015,” by National Science Foundation and five other federal agencies