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News

Universities That Granted the Most Research Doctorates, Over All and by Field, FY 2016

Almanac 2018 August 19, 2018

Nine of the 10 universities that granted the most doctoral degrees in 2016 were public institutions. The only private institution in the top 10 was Stanford University. The most doctorates in a particular field were granted by the Georgia Institute of Technology, which awarded 324 research doctorates in engineering. The field in which the most doctorates were awarded was life sciences, followed by engineering and psychology.

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Nine of the 10 universities that granted the most doctoral degrees in 2016 were public institutions. The only private institution in the top 10 was Stanford University. The most doctorates in a particular field were granted by the Georgia Institute of Technology, which awarded 324 research doctorates in engineering. The field in which the most doctorates were awarded was life sciences, followed by engineering and psychology.


Return to the Almanac home page, or go to the Profession, Students, Finance, or States section. To purchase a copy of the Almanac in print or as a downloadable interactive PDF, visit the Chronicle Store. Help guide us to give you the data you need by taking our 10-minute online Almanac survey.


All

RankInstitutionDoctorate
recipients
1. U. of Texas at Austin 849
2. U. of Wisconsin at Madison 823
3. U. of Michigan at Ann Arbor 819
4. U. of California at Berkeley 796
5. U. of Minnesota-Twin Cities 787
6. Stanford U. 763
7. U. of Florida 730
8. Purdue U. at West Lafayette 727
9. Ohio State U. 716
10. U. of California at Los Angeles 689
11. Texas A&M U. at College Station and Health Science Center 684
12. Pennsylvania State U. at University Park and Hershey Medical Center 680
13. U. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 678
14. Harvard U. 677
15. Massachusetts Institute of Technology 646
16. Walden U. 635
17. U. of Washington 615
18. U. of Maryland at College Park 546
19. Georgia Institute of Technology 531
20. U. of California at San Diego 521
21. U. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 510
22. Michigan State U. 503
23. U. of California at Davis 501
24. Columbia U. 500
25. Cornell U. 492
26. U. of Southern California 491
27. New York U. 483
28. North Carolina State U. 482
29. Johns Hopkins U. 476
30. Virginia Tech 472
31. U. of Pennsylvania 464
32. U. of Georgia 455
33. Northwestern U. 454
34. U. of Pittsburgh main campus 447
35. U. of Arizona 436
36. City U. of New York Graduate Center 431
37. Rutgers U. at New Brunswick 416
38. Arizona State U. 411
39. Duke U. 408
40. Yale U. 407
41. Indiana U. at Bloomington 405
42. U. of Colorado at Boulder 400
43. U. of Chicago 395
44. U. of California at Irvine 393
45. Boston U. 385
46. Princeton U. 373
47. U. of Iowa 369
48. Florida State U. 362
49. U. at Buffalo 335
49. U. of Tennessee at Knoxville 335
All 436 institutions 54,904

Education

RankInstitutionDoctorate
recipients
1. Teachers College, Columbia U. 119
2. U. of Georgia 101
3. Walden U. 95
4. Michigan State U. 84
5. U. of Minnesota-Twin Cities 80
All institutions 5,153

Engineering

RankInstitutionDoctorate
recipients
1. Georgia Institute of Technology 324
2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology 279
3. Purdue U. at West Lafayette 270
4. Stanford U. 255
5. U. of Texas at Austin 227
All institutions 9,469

Humanities and arts

RankInstitutionDoctorate
recipients
1. New York U. 140
2. City U. of New York Graduate Center 115
3. Columbia U. 113
4. Harvard U. 111
5. U. of Texas at Austin 110
All institutions 5,484

Life sciences

RankInstitutionDoctorate
recipients
1. U. of Wisconsin at Madison 246
2. U. of Florida 241
3. Johns Hopkins U. 227
4. Harvard U. 218
5. U. of Minnesota-Twin Cities 198
5. U. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 198
All institutions 12,568

Mathematics and computer sciences

RankInstitutionDoctorate
recipients
1. Carnegie Mellon U. 81
2. North Carolina State U. 77
3. Purdue U. at West Lafayette 69
3. U. of California at Berkeley 69
3. U. of Wisconsin at Madison 69
All institutions 3,957

Physical sciences and earth sciences

RankInstitutionDoctorate
recipients
1. U. of Michigan at Ann Arbor 131
2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology 127
3. U. of Texas at Austin 114
4. U. of California at Berkeley 111
5. Stanford U. 102
All institutions 6,252

Psychology and social sciences

RankInstitutionDoctorate
recipients
1. Walden U. 229
2. City U. of New York Graduate Center 152
3. U. of Minnesota-Twin Cities 141
4. U. of California at Berkeley 139
5. Harvard U. 133
All institutions 9,078

Note: Data cover the academic year from July 1, 2015, to June 30, 2016. Of the 54,904 research doctorates awarded in the 2016 fiscal year, 98.1 percent 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 here. Questions or comments on the Almanac should be sent to the Almanac editor.

Source: “Survey of Earned Doctorates, 2017,” by National Science Foundation and five other federal agencies

A version of this article appeared in the August 24, 2018, issue.
Read other items in Students: Almanac 2018.
We welcome your thoughts and questions about this article. Please email the editors or submit a letter for publication.
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