IP: ALL THE GRADUATE STUDENTS GONE?

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

WHERE HAVE ALL THE GRADUATE STUDENTS GONE?
Commentary from The Christian Science Monitor

PASADENA, CALIF. – Is it just me, or are things getting kind of quiet
around here? For several years now, a complaint has been heard in the
hallways of our top universities: where have all the graduate students
gone? Every year, there seem to be fewer and fewer qualified students
applying for positions in science and engineering doctoral programs.

The problem is far from anecdotal. Now, with statistics compiled by the
National Science Foundation, professional science organizations, and the
federal government, it's official. Prospective students are turning away
from careers in science. Since a peak in the early 1990s, the number of
science and engineering students has tanked. In some fields, the decrease
has been as much as 5 percent per year, according to a study published by
the National Science Foundation. In electrical engineering, enrollments
have dropped nearly 30 percent in the last 10 years. Overall, the number of
Ph.D. students in science and engineering is at a 40-year low, and there is
little sign of a turnaround.

This trend has sent academic departments and education experts scurrying.
Graduate students are the lifeblood of research universities, working in
the trenches to produce the discoveries that lead to publications, as well
as shouldering much of the teaching load. The top dozen or so American
universities may have to admit students they don't feel are up to their
standards, but for other universities, the problem is far more acute.
<http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0725/p25s01-cogn.html>





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