Agreed. A Ph.D. at a school with a local or regional reputation can get someone a job in a career where local and regional reputations count. This is even true in academia, to an extent. A lot of departments in universities that many people consider lower-tier will favor job candidates with Ph.D.s from mid-tier universities, because hiring departments will assume that the Harvard Ph.D. won’t stick around. If candidates have experience that fits the department (often including working with underrepresented populations or teaching experience in “lower tier” institutions), they have a good shot.
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It sounds like an interesting program. The program seems to emphasize biology, with ~half of UMBC AA future PhDs being in biology related, which fits with having the highest rate of MD/PhDs as listed in the quote – more AA PhDs in biology related than any other college. Looking at PhDs in all fields, the colleges that had the rate of AA students later receiving a PhD were:
Num AA Future PhDs 2010-20 / Num AA Bachelor’s 2001-11
?. Caltech/Reed/Most LACs – Excluded due to insignificant sample size
1 . MIT – 12%
2. Williams – 9%
3. Oberlin – 9%
4. Princeton – 9%
5. Wesleyan – 9%
6. Rice – 9%
7. Swarthmore – 9%
8. Yale – 8%
9. Harvard – 8%
10. Spelman – 8%
For Hispanic students, the ranking is as follows. Most of these 10 are similar to the PhD rate for students of all races.
Num Hispanic Future PhDs 2010-20 / Num Hispanic Bachelor’s 2001-11
1 . Catlech – 42%
2. Reed – 17%
3. Pomona – 16%
4. Swarthmore – 16%
5. MIT – 15%
6. Carleton – 14%
7. Princeton – 13%
8. Oberlin – 13%
9. Haverford – 13%
10. Rice – 13%
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The program at UMBC has had many research papers written and data published reviewing its successes and challenges and has been revolutionary. The Meyerhoff Scholars Program has now been modeled or adapted into programs at Penn St (Millennium Scholars Program), UNC Chapel Hill (Chancellor’s Science Scholars), Howard University (Karsh STEM Scholars Program), UPitt (Strive Program), UC San Diego (PATHS Program), and UC Berkeley (Seed Scholars Honors Program) in the last 10+ years. The program’s level of funding has changed over the years (it used to be a full ride cost of attendance scholarship, but today is a significantly funded scholarship that is normally “stacked” with other scholarships for top scholars. The Meyerhoff program has produced an US surgeon general, a researcher crucial to the development of the Moderna vaccine, and other scientists and policy makers (like my siblings) at research universities, government agencies and private industry all over the US. The program’s funding and student outcomes were so significant that my siblings turned down 10 schools in the top 20 ranked USNWR schools (including 4 Ivys) to attend UMBC and have never once regretted that decision.
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The average salary of those with a phd in criminal justice is $77k, which suggests to me that a great many of them are either adjuncts or employed in jobs for which a doctorate was not required, such as probation officer. In any event, plenty of universities seem happy to accept doctoral students without regard to their future employment prospects. I just hope the schools warn them of that upon acceptance, but rather doubt they do so.
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Why wouldn’t there be research on how to better fight fires and rescue people, so that fire departments can be more effective at their jobs? The linked page indicates that the PhD program is a research program like typical PhD programs.
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Do we really need PhDs for that?
I’m reading elsewhere that it’s $85,000, but regardless, I don’t read the statistics the same way you do. If most of these jobs were adjunct jobs, the average salary would be lower. As to whether a Ph.D. is necessary for non-academic jobs, I couldn’t begin to say, as I am not in that discipline, I would imagine that a doctorate is an advantage, though. Doctorate (PhD), Criminal Justice Salary | PayScale
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Yes, because the Ph.D. is a research degree.
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And that answer justifies phd’s in everything-carpentry, childcare- anything can be researched endlessly. Not necessarily a good thing, nor employable.
Again, please return to topic. Whether a particular professions requires or benefits from a doctorate was not the question asked by the OP.
Just found this thread. Fascinating. Not sure how i missed.
Interesting UC Merced has a higher PhD rate than Berkeley.
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I know a professor at UC Merced. Brilliant guy with a long list of publications. Great mentor. If you are a hard-working undergrad who wants research opportunities, he will take you on and tuck you under his wing. There are lots of opportunities at many schools if you are a student with ambitions. And UC Merced is going nowhere except up.
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