In the academic year of 2020/21, about 85,370 male and 108,690 female students earned a doctoral degree in the United States. By the academic year of 2031/32, these figures are expected to increase to about 88,110 and 141,500 respectively.

In the academic year of 2020/21, about 194,059 students were awarded their doctoral degrees in the United States. This figure is expected to increase until the academic year of 2031/32, when it is forecasted that 229,601 people will earn a doctoral degree.

The Survey of Doctorate Recipients (SDR) provides demographic, education, and career history information from individuals with a U.S. research doctoral degree in a science, engineering, or health (SEH) field. The SDR is sponsored by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics and by the National Institutes of Health. Conducted since 1973, the SDR is a unique source of information about the educational and occupational achievements and career movement of U.S.-trained doctoral scientists and engineers in the United States and abroad. This dataset includes SDR assets for 2019.

Graph and download economic data for Unemployment Rate - College Graduates - Doctoral Degree, 25 years and over (CGDD25O) from Jan 2000 to Jul 2025 about doctoral degree, 25 years +, tertiary schooling, education, unemployment, rate, and USA.

In the academic year of 2020/2021 in the United States, 85,581 doctoral degrees were earned in health professions and related programs - the most out of any field of study. A further 35,976 doctoral degrees were earned in legal professions and studies.

Persistence rates, graduation rates, average time to graduation and number of students in an entry cohort for doctorate degree students, within the province or territory of first enrolment, by demographic characteristics.

Graph and download economic data for Unemployment Level - College Graduates - Doctoral Degree, 55 to 64 years, Men (CGDDUM5564) from Jan 2000 to Jul 2025 about doctoral degree, 55 to 64 years, tertiary schooling, males, education, household survey, unemployment, and USA.

Persistence rates, graduation rates, average time to graduation and number of students in an entry cohort for doctorate degree students, within Canada, by demographic characteristics.

Description: These are research indicators of doctorate holders in Europe that were compiled from the criteria and factors of the Eurostat. This dataset consists of data in five categories (i.e. Career Development of Doctorate Holders; Labour Market - Job Vacancy Statistics; Skill-related Statistics; European and International Co-patenting in EPO Applications and Ownership of Inventors in EPO Applications). The Eurostat Research Indicators consist of (1) Doctorate holders who have studied, worked or carried out research in another EU country (%); (2) Doctorate holders by activity status (%); (3) Doctorate holders by sex and age group; (4) Employed doctorate holders working as researchers by length of stay with the same employer (%); (5) Employed doctorate holders working as researchers by job mobility and sectors of performance over the last 10 years (%); (6) Employed doctorate holders by length of stay with the same employer and sectors of performance (%); (7) Employed doctorate holders by occupation (ISCO_88, %); (8) Employed doctorate holders by occupation (ISCO_08, %); (9) Employed doctorate holders in non-managerial and non-professional occupations by fields of science (%); (10) Level of dissatisfaction of employed doctorate holders by reason and sex (%); (11) National doctorate holders having lived or stayed abroad in the past 10 years by previous region of stay (%); (12) National doctorate holders having lived or stayed abroad in the past 10 years by reason for returning into the country (%); (13) Non-EU doctorate holders in total doctorate holders (%); (14) Unemployment rate of doctorate holders by fields of science; (15) Employment in Foreign Affiliates of Domestic Enterprises; (16) Employment in Foreign Controlled Enterprises; (17) Employment rate of non-EU nationals, age group 20-64; (18) Intra-mural Business Enterprise R&D Expenditures in Foreign Controlled Enterprises; (19) Job vacancy rate by NACE Rev. 2 activity - annual data (from 2001 onwards); (20) Job vacancy statistics by NACE Rev. 2 activity, occupation and NUTS 2 regions - quarterly data; (21) Job vacancy statistics by NACE Rev. 2 activity - quarterly data (from 2001 onwards); (22) Value Added in Foreign Controlled Enterprises; (23) Graduates at doctoral level by sex and age groups - per 1000 of population aged 25-34; (24) Graduates at doctoral level, in science, math., computing, engineering, manufacturing, construction, by sex - per 1000 of population aged 25-34; (25) Level of the best-known foreign language (self-reported) by degree of urbanisation; (26) Level of the best-known foreign language (self-reported) by educational attainment level; (27) Level of the best-known foreign language (self-reported) by labour status; (28) Level of the best-known foreign language (self-reported) by occupation; (29) Number of foreign languages known (self-reported) by educational attainment level; (30) Number of foreign languages known (self-reported) by degree of urbanisation; (31) Number of foreign languages known (self-reported) by labour status; (32) Number of foreign languages known (self-reported) by occupation; (33) Population by educational attainment level, sex, age and country of birth (%); (34) Co-patenting at the EPO according to applicants’/inventors’ country of residence - % in the total of each EU Member State patents; (35) Co-patenting at the EPO: crossing inventors and applicants; (36) Co-patenting at the EPO according to applicants’/inventors’ country of residence - number; (37) EU co-patenting at the EPO according to applicants’/ inventors’ country of residence by international patent classification (IPC) sections - number; (38) EU co-patenting at the EPO according to applicants’/inventors’ country of residence by international patent classification (IPC) sections - % in the total of all EU patents; (39) Domestic ownership of foreign inventions in patent applications to the EPO by priority year; (40) Foreign ownership of domestic inventions in patent applications to the EPO by priority year; and (41) Patent applications to the EPO with foreign co-inventors, by priority year.

Persistence and graduation of doctorate degree students, within the field of study grouping (Variant of the Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) Canada 2021 Version 1.0 for Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and Business, humanities, health, arts, social science and education (BHASE) groupings) and province or territory of first enrolment, by demographic characteristics. The STEM grouping includes fields of study in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and computer sciences. The BHASE grouping includes fields of study in business, humanities, health, arts, social science, education, legal studies, trades, services, natural resources and conservation.

Proportion of students who started in a doctorate degree program and pursued or graduated with a different educational qualification, within Canada, by demographic characteristics.

The Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering survey is an annual census of all U.S. academic institutions granting research-based master's degrees or doctorates in science, engineering, and selected health fields as of fall of the survey year. The survey, sponsored by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics within the National Science Foundation and by the National Institutes of Health, collects the total number of master's and doctoral students, postdoctoral appointees, and doctorate-level nonfaculty researchers by demographic and other characteristics such as source of financial support. Results are used to assess shifts in graduate enrollment and postdoc appointments and trends in financial support.

In the academic year of 2020/21, about 690 doctoral degrees were earned by American Indian or Alaskan Native students in the United States. In that year, a further 23,479 non-resident aliens earned doctoral degrees in the U.S.

The Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED) is an annual census conducted since 1957 of all individuals receiving a research doctorate from an accredited U.S. institution in a given academic year. The SED is sponsored by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) within the National Science Foundation (NSF) and by three other federal agencies: the National Institutes of Health, Department of Education, and National Endowment for the Humanities. The SED collects information on the doctoral recipient's educational history, demographic characteristics, and postgraduation plans. Results are used to assess characteristics of the doctoral population and trends in doctoral education and degrees. This dataset includes SED assets for 2020.

Graph and download economic data for Consumer Unit Characteristics: Percent Homeowner with Mortgage by Highest Education: College Graduate: Master's, Professional, Doctoral Degree (CXU980230LB1409M) from 2012 to 2023 about doctoral degree, consumer unit, homeownership, professional, tertiary schooling, mortgage, education, percent, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Unemployment Level - College Graduates - Doctoral Degree, 25 to 34 years (CGDDU2534) from Jan 2000 to Jul 2025 about doctoral degree, 25 to 34 years, tertiary schooling, education, household survey, unemployment, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Unemployment Rate - College Graduates - Doctoral Degree, 20 to 24 years, Women (CGDD2024W) from Jul 2001 to Jun 2025 about doctoral degree, 20 to 24 years, tertiary schooling, females, education, unemployment, rate, and USA.

United States - Unemployment Rate - College Graduates - Doctoral Degree, 25 years and over was 2.60% in July of 2025, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, United States - Unemployment Rate - College Graduates - Doctoral Degree, 25 years and over reached a record high of 4.50 in June of 2020 and a record low of 0.30 in February of 2001. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for United States - Unemployment Rate - College Graduates - Doctoral Degree, 25 years and over - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on September of 2025.

Graph and download economic data for Consumer Unit Characteristics: Percent Black or African American by Highest Education: College Graduate: Master's, Professional, Doctoral Degree (CXU980270LB1409M) from 2012 to 2023 about doctoral degree, consumer unit, professional, tertiary schooling, African-American, education, percent, and USA.

In 2021, at a total of 24,710, the majority of doctorate recipients in the United States were white or Caucasian. Another 14,595 doctorate recipients were Asian, and a further 4,013 recipients were Hispanic or Latino.