NRC Program Questionnaire Median Time to Degree (TTD) Columbus, OH October 2007 Chad Muntz SR. Research and Policy Analyst University of Maryland

Median Time To Degree 2003/04 – 2005/06 Time To Degree All Students (TTDALL) Some programs (6) reported “0” Some programs (31) did not report Non-zero range 2.1 (Colorado; Cognitive Science) to 16.3 (Washington; Music) Time to Degree Full Time Only (TTDFULL) Some programs (73) reported “0” Some programs (152) did not report Non-zero range 2.0 (Arizona; East Asian Studies) to 12.8 (Missouri; Classics) 955/1716 (56%) of fields had the same TTD for All and Full 189/368 (51%) in Arts and Humanities 289/493 (59%) in Life Sciences 328/550 (60%) in Physical Science, Mathematics and Engineering 149/305 (49%) in Social Sciences

Analyses Mean—average of all reported median TTD (non-zero or missing) Median—median of all reported median TTD (non-zero or missing) Min—minimum TTD (non-zero or missing) Max—maximum TTD Range—difference between the max and min 90 th —90 th percentile of TTD scores (non-zero or missing) –Used to determine if 90% of the graduates will be reported in the completions tables The following are used to determine if meaningful reductions in TTD are found: Master’s Policy (C4 on Program Questionnaire) Continuous Enrollment (C6 &C7) Candidacy Requirements (C13 and C14) Teaching Assistantship Requirements (D5 & D6) Size of the degree cohorts used in the TTD calculation Size of the Core/New Faculty

TTD By NRC Area Time To Degree ALL (C2a) Excludes missing and zero NRC AREANMeanMedianMINMAXRange90th Arts and Humanities Life Sciences Physical Sciences, Mathematics and Engineering Social and Behavioral Sciences Total Time To Degree FULL (C2b) Excludes missing and zero NRC AREANMeanMedianMINMAXRange90th Arts and Humanities Life Sciences Physical Sciences, Mathematics and Engineering Social and Behavioral Sciences Total

TTD By NRC Area (TTD ALL ≠ TTD FULL) Time To Degree ALL (C2a) Excludes missing and zero Excludes TTD ALL = TTD FULL NRC AREANMeanMedianMINMAXRange90th Arts and Humanities Life Sciences Physical Sciences, Mathematics and Engineering Social and Behavioral Sciences Total Time To Degree FULL (C2b) Excludes missing and zero Excludes TTD ALL = TTD FULL NRC AREANMeanMedianMINMAXRange90th Arts and Humanities Life Sciences Physical Sciences, Mathematics and Engineering Social and Behavioral Sciences Total The purpose of this analyses is to get the true difference between TTD ALL and TTD Full for programs that reported differences. In these tables, it can be seen that there is a larger difference for the students who were full-time. However, when the entire data set is used (including the 56% of the data where TTD ALL = TTD Full), measures of Central Tendency show very little differences as seen in the previous table. Therefore, it is difficult to use all of the data to make meaningful conclusions about full-time enrollment.

Master’s Policy Time To Degree ALL (C2a) By Master's Policy Excludes missing and zero Master's PolicyNMeanMedianMINMAXRange90th Master's Required For Admission Earn Master's in doctoral program Neither of the Above Time To Degree FULL (C2b) By Master's Policy Excludes missing and zero Master's PolicyNMeanMedianMINMAXRange90th Master's Required For Admission Earn Master's in doctoral program Neither of the Above

Master’s Policy By NRC Area

Continuous Enrollment

Continuous Enrollment Applies To:

Other Comparisons Faculty Award for Mentoring –About 0.10 year reduction in time to degree (TTDALL) Size of Core/New Faculty –No significant correlation with time to degree (alpha >.05) Size of Degree Cohort –Significant (small) correlation (corr=-.101; alpha <.0001) for TTD All (More grads who graduated in a program, the shorter TTD) Required Teaching Assistantships with Median TTDALL –511 programs with 0 semesters (5.74); 257 programs w/ 1 semester (5.72); 275 programs w/ 2 semster (5.70) –Nonlinear relationship that median TTDALL peaks with 4-7 semesters required for TA Note: That most 1,043 of 1,311 reported 2 or fewer semester requirements Programs with Candidacy Requirements shortened time to degree by.25 for TTDALL (Median All: 5.74 versus 6.00) –Written Exams (Median 5.72) –Oral Exams (Median 5.70) –Master’s Degree (Median 5.98) –Defense of Dissertation Proposal (5.75)

Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED)