Biomedical Ph.D. production has increased dramatically. In 1995, United States institutions awarded 5,878 new Ph.D.'s in biomedical sciences, a 55 percent increase over the 3,791 degrees in 1985 (Washington, D.C., National Research Council, Survey of Earned Doctorates, unpublished survey). What forces drove this increase? The number of biology graduate students with research assistantships doubled from 1977 to 1985, while other forms of student aid remained level or declined. This suggests that the demand for research assistants was associated with increased production of new Ph.D.'s.
The growing demand for graduate students has been met by an increase in the number of non-U.S. citizens in U.S. graduate programs. Doctorates awarded to non-U.S. citizens rose from 587 in 1985 to 2,031 in 1995, while the number of Ph.D.'s earned by U.S. citizens grew from 3,050 in 1985 to 3,746 in 1995. (Citizenship status was not reported by 154 Ph.D.'s in 1985 and by ...
