The Inside Higher Ed article, “An Agenda for Graduate Education,” is a call for universities and the government “to renew their commitments to helping students earn advanced degrees.”
According the article American graduate education as at risk—there’s an increasingly low completion rate, insufficient diversity among the student body, an increase in the amount of time it takes students to complete their degrees, and an overall lack of involvement on the part of the federal government to ensure that the higher education system in America remains strong.
A recent report (The Path Forward: The Future of Graduate Education in the United States) shows that by the year 2018, more and more jobs will require that its employees hold graduate degrees. 2.5 million jobs that formerly did not require a grad degree will soon require one—this represents a 17% increase in jobs that require PhDs and an 18% increase in M.A.-required jobs.
The report shows that graduate schools are not doing their part to attract a diverse student body (let alone a significantly sized student body altogether) or to encourage students to finish their degrees on time and then to make use of their degrees. Most graduate programs, the report shows, need to strengthen their career guidance departments.
There are a number of federally-funded programs that are being considered that would help universities reach their goals of increasing diversity and encouraging the timely completion of degrees.
Graduate-Related Accepted.com Resources
- Ten Tips for Better Writing, a free article.
- Financing Your Future: Winning Fellowships, Scholarships and Awards for Grad School, an instantly downloadable ebook.
- Graduate School Forum
- Writing About Goals in Your Statement of Purpose
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Read the full article: Grad Schools Need to Step Up Commitment