North Dakota leads the nation for growth in graduate degree production according to a recent Council of Graduate Schools survey.
Doctoral degree production increased 226 percent in North Dakota from 1998 to 2008, compared to 25 percent nationally. NDSU officials attribute this growth to its creation of graduate programs during the past decade. In 1998, 31 students earned doctoral degrees at NDSU, and in 2008, there were 79. Since 1998, the NDSU Graduate School has added 26 doctoral programs.
The survey, CGS/GRE Survey of Graduate Enrollment and Degrees, studied the enrollment and degree trends at the state level, compared to population growth and state appropriations for higher education. The survey includes information provided by 535 colleges and universities and excludes online institutions.
Nationwide, graduate enrollment increased 32 percent from fall 1998 and fall 2008, but state enrollment varied widely. Vermont, North Dakota and North Carolina grew in enrollment, while South Carolina, Rhode Island, Idaho and Michigan declined.
In some states, there appears to be a link between state population growth and graduate education, but in North Dakota, the state experienced no population growth between 2000-08 and ranked second with 85 percent change (Vermont was ranked first with 115 percent) in graduate enrollment growth in the past decade.
The Graduate School offers 44 doctoral degree programs, 63 master's degree programs and 10 graduate certificate programs in eight colleges. The NDSU Graduate School is proud of its recent growth including enrollment of more than 2,100 students, 600 graduate faculty members and research expenditures exceeding $100 million. For more information about graduate degree programs at NDSU, visit www.ndsu.edu/gradschool or call (701) 231-7033.