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Phone: 913.895-4616
Fax: 913.895-4652
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Research and Global Issues
About the Research and Global Issues Committee
The Research and Globall Issues Committee designs and implements research projects in a continuing effort to provide relevant comparative data on both professionally related activities and national issues that affect graduate school policies and requirements. The results of completed surveys are published and shared with NAGAP members and the broader graduate education community.
This section is reserved for reports, surveys, and studies from the NAGAP membership. If you have a report or study that you would like to share with the membership, contact the Research and Global Issues Committee for information on placing it on this web site.
The National Association of Graduate Admissions Professionals (NAGAP) Graduate Student Enrollment Management Research Grant
The grant is designed to encourage emerging knowledge and understanding of the complexities of graduate enrollment management including all aspects of admissions and recruitment, enrollment, retention, and graduation in higher education.
This Award Includes
- a $2,500 check, payable directly to the individual researcher. NAGAP will not pay institutional overhead or indirect costs.
- one year of NAGAP membership with full privileges.
- travel and registration to the NAGAP national conference during the year of the award.
- recognition at the NAGAP national conference.
View NAGAP Research Grant Proposal Information and Guidelines
NAGAP Research Reports and Studies
Each year the Research and Global Issues Committee produces reports or research studies of interest to NAGAP members. The recent research reports below are available as downloadable Adobe Acrobat (PDF) documents.
(You will need Adobe Acrobat on your system in order to view the reports. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat you must download it here.)
- NAGAP 2006 Recruiting Survey Report: (Fall 2006) - REQUIRES MEMBER LOGIN. Once logged in you will need to scroll down to the bottom of the Member Services page and click on the link " NAGAP Recruiting Survey Report."
- NAGAP 2005 Recruiting Survey Report: (Fall 2005) - REQUIRES MEMBER LOGIN. Once logged in you will need to scroll down to the bottom of the Member Services page and click on the link " NAGAP Recruiting Survey Report."
- NAGAP 2004 Membership Survey: Includes position and salary data (Fall 2004) - REQUIRES MEMBER LOGIN. Once logged in you will need to scroll down to the bottom of the Member Services page and click on the link " NAGAP Membership Report."
- The Admissions Process: What Works, What Doesn't? (July 2002) Graduate Fair Survey (January 2000)
- The Use of the Internet in Selecting a Graduate Program (Collaboration with NAGAP and ETS - September 2000)
- NAGAP 2001 Membership Survey: Includes position and salary data.
- Council of Graduate Schools Annual Report (June 2008)- 2008 International Graduate Admissions Survey
- Graduate Education and the Public Good (July 2008)
NAGAP Member Research Exchange
This section is reserved for reports, surveys, and studies from the NAGAP membership. If you have a report or study that you would like to share with the membership, contact the Research and Global Issues Committee for information on placing it on this web site.
Other Research and Global Issues Links
The following research-related links are provided for your convenience. If you know of other links of potential use to NAGAP members, please contact the Research and Global Issues Committee.
“How to Cut Ph.D. Time to Degree” by Scott Jaschik, InsideHigherEd.com, December 17, 2007. http://insidehighered.com/news/2007/12/17/phd
This article examines a series of new policies for Ph.D. programs in the humanities and social sciences at Harvard University, meant to push academic departments and their faculty to graduate their doctoral students more quickly. The changes were built around an announced policy that “for every five graduate students in years eight or higher of a Ph.D. program, the department would lose one admissions slot for a new doctoral student”. The result was that faculty in departments which had large numbers of students in their doctoral program for more than eight year began working with these students and many students were able to graduate with their Ph.D. degree more quickly than in the past. The program includes financing for a full year of dissertation writing and a rule that students in their dissertation writing year cannot be a teaching assistant. In the two years since this policy was implemented, the number of Ph.D.’s awarded in both the humanities and the social sciences has increased dramatically, while the percentage of students in their ninth year or higher of doctoral studies decreased from 8.5 percent to 4.5 percent. The number of departments at risk of losing at least one admission slot fell from 16 in the first year of the policy to two departments in the most recent year.
“First-time, Full-time Graduate Student Enrollment in Science and Engineering Increases in 2006, Especially Among Foreign Students”, by Julia Oliver, InfoBrief, (NSF 08-302), December 2007. http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf08302/
Overall enrollments in science and engineering graduate programs increased almost two percent from 2005 to 2006 with an increase in first-time enrollments of six percent during that period. This gain was led by a 15.8 percent increase in first-time international student enrollees and this group of students accounted for a 21 percent increase in first-time international enrollments in computer science, as well as increases of 12.1 and 11.3 percent in social sciences and mathematical sciences enrollments, respectively. Although first-time international enrollments increased dramatically in computer science, overall enrollment in that discipline decreased almost one percent from 2005 to 2006, but has decreased almost 14 percent since its peak in 2002. Women account for 43 percent of all science and engineering graduate students in 2006 and enrollment of female students in these disciplines has increased every year for the last 20 years. Enrollment by male students declined every year from 1993 to 1998, followed by a 14 percent increase between 1998 and 2003, with international male students accounting for most of this growth.
“Data Sources: The Rise of the ‘Older’ Graduate Students” by Kenneth E. Redd, CGS Communicator, Vol. 40, No. 10, December, 2007, pp. 3-4. http://www.cgsnet.org/portals/0/pdf/comm_2007_12.pdf
Kenneth Redd’s latest contribution to his informative “Data Sources” column in the CGS newsletter addresses the growing population of graduate students who are 40 years of age or older. This cohort of graduate students has grown in the last decade and is expected to continue to grow in the coming decades as older individuals make up a larger percentage of our population and as they increasingly see benefits to continuing their education. The typical profile of an older student is a U.S. citizen, enrolled part-time, enrolled in a private, for-profit institution and far more likely to be enrolled in a non-degree seeking course of study. Redd notes two predominate reasons for this growth in graduate populations: “they [older individuals] are looking to enhance their current careers or to start new ones; and they live longer, healthier lives and believe further education will help them remain physically and mentally active for much longer periods”. Like younger students, they are interested in the same areas of study: graduate study in education remains the most popular major, followed by business and science, engineering and mathematics. Because older students tend to be already employed, and employed in well-paying jobs, they are not generally seeking assistantships or other means of financing their graduate education.
“Attacking the GMAT Monopoly”, by Scott Jaschik, InsideHigherEd.com, January 8, 2008.http://insidehighered.com/news/2008/01/08/gmat
This article tracks some recent developments concerning the use of the GRE by graduate business programs, instead of the more commonly used GMAT. In the last year, graduate business schools at Stanford, MIT, and Johns Hopkins have all offered to substitute the GRE for the GMAT as part of their admissions process. While this represents a very small number of the 1,800 graduate business schools worldwide which require the GMAT, the high standing of these programs has led some other business schools to consider allowing students to use the GRE, at least on a case-by-case basis. While the GMAT is still the most widely recognized exam for graduate business admissions and claims to offer a more secure test environment and a better predictor of business school success, the cost difference between the GRE ($140) and the GMAT ($250) and the fact that many students already take the GRE in order to apply for other graduate programs or even doctoral programs in Business makes it a compelling opportunity for some graduate business programs looking to increase their number of qualified applicants while reducing the financial strain of taking multiple standardized tests.
Minorities in Higher Education Twenty-second Annual Status Report (2006), American Council on Education (ACE). This report finds that total minority enrollment in U.S. colleges and universities increased by 50.7% between 1993 and 2003, with minority students making up 27.8% of students on college campuses. Even with this increase, African Americans (41.1%) and Hispanics (35.2%) still lag behind white peers (47.3%) in the rate which they enroll in college.
Of interest to graduate enrollment managers, the fastest rate of degree growth occurred at the master’s level. From 1993 to 2003 whites earned 21.5% more master’s degrees, while minorities earned 105.7% more master’s degrees. At all degree levels, minority women showed stronger gains than minority men. African Americans more than doubled the number of master’s degrees earned and the most significant increase for American Indians occurred at the master’s degree level (+77.4%) as well. At the doctoral level, African Americans earned 105.9% more doctoral degrees in 2003 compared to 1993 and Hispanics increased their number of doctoral degrees by over 73%. The study also found increases in faculty appointments for minorities.
International Graduate Enrollment Increases for First Time in Four Years: Findings From the 2006 CGS International Graduate Admissions Survey, Council of Graduate Schools.
Two studies released in November suggest that international students are returning to the United States for university study. While overall enrollment of international students in U.S. colleges and universities remains largely unchanged from the previous year, this year has seen a significant increase in the number of new international students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. There is also a strong indication that changes in immigration policy by the U.S. government and increased recruitment of international students by U.S. universities will lead to increased new international enrollments in future years.
Restoring U.S. Competiveness for International Students and Scholars: A report from the National Association of International Educators related to changes needed to better compete for international students.
Graduate Student Stipends: A report prepared by the Chronicle of Higher Education on the stipends and benefits offered by top university to graduate and research assistants.
Professional and Academic Organizations
NAFSA: Association of International Educators promotes the exchange of students and scholars to and from the United States. The site includes updates on immigration issues, press releases, and policy advocacy.
The American Council on Education through its "Eye on Washington" site provides up-to-date analyses and press releases on events in Washington that impact the higher education community.
EducationUSA is a global network of more than 450 advising and information centers in 170 countries supported by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
The Council of Graduate Schools works toward the improvement and advancement of graduate education. The organization's Virtual Center for Research (VCR) is an electronic clearinghouse for studies relating to graduate education and offers an array of valuable research findings.
The Chronicle of Higher Education's Special Issues and Data website covers a variety of issues important to graduate education professionals.
The American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO) provides professional development, guidelines and voluntary standards to be used by higher education officials regarding the best practices in records management, admissions, enrollment management, administrative information technology and student services. AACRAO's Publication Center is a depository for papers and presentations that have been contributed by members and other individuals in the profession.
Findings from the 2007 CGS International Graduate Admissions Survey, Phase One: Applications, Council of Graduate Schools, April 16, 2007.
http://www.cgsnet.org/portals/0/pdf/R_IntlApps07_I.pdf
The Council of Graduate Schools released its latest report in its continuing study of international applications, admissions, and enrollments in U.S. graduate programs. The most recent data concerning applications from international students for 2007 finds that applications are up 8%. This increase is less than the 12% increase the previous year, but continues to build on increases following significant application declines in 2005 and 2004. Much of the increase in international applications this year is found at the largest universities, which have seen international applications increase 13% this year, compared to only a 5% increase for universities with smaller international graduate enrollments.
Application numbers from Chinese students remained strong, with an increase of 17% this year, while applications from India increased by only 6% compared to 26% the previous year. Similarly, applications to the fields of engineering and physical sciences continued an upward trend (both up 8%), but a trend that slowed compared to gains the previous year (+19% and +15% respectively). Applications from the Middle East, as well as in the fields of life sciences and humanities, continued to show growth.
Graduate Education: The Backbone of American Competitiveness and Innovation, Council of Graduate Schools Advisory Committee on Graduate Education and American Competitiveness, April 26, 2007.
http://www.cgsnet.org/portals/0/pdf/GR_GradEdAmComp_0407.pdf
A press release summarizing the Committee’s findings is available online:
http://www.cgsnet.org/portals/0/pdf/N_pr_GradEdAmComp_0407.pdf
CGS recently released this report, calling for greater support of graduate education in the United States and increased collaboration between government, higher education, and the business community. Noting significant past achievements through collaborative ventures between U.S. higher education and the business community, as well as the increased competitiveness of other nations’ higher education systems, the report calls for a renewed commitment on the part of all sectors of the U.S. to developing our domestic talent pool while also bringing the best and brightest international students to the U.S. to pursue their education.
Specifically, the report recommends the creation of incentives, particularly for underrepresented student groups, leading to reduced attrition and shortening the time required to complete a degree; increased support for degree programs that are responsive to workforce needs in critical STEM fields, such as professional master’s degrees; continued improvement and reform in the international student visa process; and increased federal funding for graduate education by at least 10% at every agency.