<p>While other education degrees are up, the number of Ph.D.s is on the decline in America
By Thomas Hargrove / Scripps Howard News Service</p>
<p>The number of Americans earning doctoral degrees has declined in recent years, renewing worries that the United States is losing its dominance in Ph.D.-level education to rapidly developing nations like China and India. </p>
<p>The National Center for Education Statistics recently reported that 44,160 Ph.D.s were awarded by U.S. universities in 2002, down from a high of 46,010 doctorates awarded in 1998. </p>
<p>All other education degrees are up dramatically. </p>
<p>The Census Bureau reported that the number of Americans who obtained a bachelor's degree increased from 32 million in 1990, or 20 percent of the population then, to more than 44 million in 2000 -- 24 percent of the population. Master's and professional degrees have also increased significantly. </p>
<p>But only 1 percent of Americans had earned doctorates as of 2000, a figure expected to decline slightly since awarded doctorates are not matching population growth. Census officials reported that there were slightly more than 1.7 million Americans with Ph.D.s as of 2000. </p>
<p>Also don't forget that many of the PhDs awarded here are going to Indian/Chinese students. Why is this a surprise? The next surprise is when our universitites have their campuses "over there" and that the desired faculty are "over there" and the American Students will be the foreign students. Folks now are complaining about tuition costs.....look "over there" for a lower cost. IT is coming.</p>
<p>It is not news, it is not a surprise and it has already happened. The interesting thing to watch right now is how will our politicians mess this up. Did you follow the recent bid for UNOCAL made by CNOOC? Did you notice what the politicians did? It will be interesting to observe this.</p>
<p>Maybe people shouldn't grouse so much whenever I post of list of the top per capita undergrad PhD producers among US colleges and universities. </p>
<p>I don't think there's room on Wall Street for all 295 million Americans to be investment bankers.</p>
<p>In my opinion it's not just numbers of people. Because an interesting statistic to know, I don't have it to hand, is - of those getting degrees in China and India, advanced degrees in particular, how many of them are technical degrees? Way higher percentage than here I think.</p>
<p>In both China and India technology is still seen as the best route to material success and prestige.</p>
<p>not only in India and China, in Pakistan and other countries around that area too. During the late 90's and even know, computer science is the most desirable job and it got so annoying when everyone i knew was in IT.. most of Pakistan's recent Rhodes scholars are also studying computer science. For some reason there is not that much emphasis on poli sci, english etc..</p>
<p>Here, too. Most undergrads do not go on to Ph.D.s, and in fact, grad schools try to limit the number of students they admit into Ph.D. programs because of concerns over job placement. I still, think, though with 2 billions people, there's plenty of room for people who do not graduate from high school, who do not graduate from college, or who go into technical fields and still have plenty left over for Ph.D. programs.</p>
<p>When it comes to China, the numbers are a bit more nebulous. The numbers of college students are indeed enormous, but different sources have reported that not all college were similar to what we consider being colleges, as many schools seem to be advanced technical schools. </p>
<p>
[quote]
"By 2010, Chinese officials estimate, at least 20 percent of high school grads will be enrolled in some form of higher education; that number is expected to rise to 50 percent by 2050. China currently has about 20 million students pursuing higher education.</p>
<p>For new graduates, the most dramatic change may be that a bachelor's degree from an A-list school - once a guaranteed steppingstone to success - is now seen as simply a first step in climbing the economic ladder. More are planning to get master's degrees and even doctorates. Indeed, China almost doubled the number of science and engineering PhDs between 1996 and 2001, to just over 8,000." <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0729/p01s01-woap.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0729/p01s01-woap.html</a>
[/quote]
</p>
<p>That said, there is no reaon to doubt that a nation that is three of four times larger than the United States and is experiencing an economic revolution will need many PhD to teach all the students wanting a college education. Not everything is about research!</p>
<p>One only need to look at universities in various countries in Europe to see how differently higher ed is interpreted. British PhDs, at least in the sciences, are far weaker than US Ph.Ds. Germany has a rather unique system separating engineering from more traditional higher ed. And so forth. </p>
<p>What does it mean? Two generations ago, if you were training in the sciences, you had to go to Europe - before wwII, Germany for physics (OK, a few went to the cavendish and a few to Bohr in Copenhagen) and chemistry, for instance. Now? They come here.</p>
<p>Yes, China and India can crank out degrees all day. But, at least in the sciences, until they have the NSF and NIH priming the pumb with research $$, I for one won't sweat it.</p>
<p>Our country has moved into a post-industrial economy. I hope China and India continue to train engineers, and I hope they're good. That's how we'll continue to afford low priced manufactured goods (love those $30 microwaves and $88 ACs). If they start competing more, we'll save even more.</p>
<p>The demand for the degrees is up and eventually the demand for US Programs "over there" will produce campuses. I guess that is what I see as a part of this future. US intitutions will not need to bring them to US for training but will have US training in the country where demand is.</p>
<p>I know of several US Ph.Ds who have gone back to China and are heading new departments. China has two world-class universities: Beida and Tsinghua; India has ITT; it also has some other excellent universities such as Delhi (the old stomping ground of Nobel Prize winner Amartya Sen) among others.</p>