Overview
A steadily declining share of doctoral students rely primarily on their own resources—loans, personal savings, personal earnings, and the earnings or savings of their spouse, partner, or family—to finance their doctoral studies. In turn, a growing proportion of students over the past 10 years has relied on research assistantships and teaching assistantships for their financial support during graduate school. The share of doctoral students reporting fellowships or grants as their most important source of financial support has remained relatively stable since 2005 (figure C).
Primary source of financial support for U.S. doctorate recipients: 2005–15
| Year | Teaching assistantship | Research assistantship | Fellowship or grant | Own resources | Other sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 17.1 | 26.9 | 27.5 | 22.7 | 5.7 |
| 2006 | 17.4 | 28.6 | 27.5 | 21.3 | 5.3 |
| 2007 | 17.6 | 31.0 | 25.7 | 20.4 | 5.3 |
| 2008 | 17.7 | 30.8 | 26.9 | 19.8 | 4.8 |
| 2009 | 18.1 | 30.3 | 27.5 | 19.7 | 4.5 |
| 2010 | 19.0 | 31.1 | 27.7 | 17.9 | 4.3 |
| 2011 | 19.9 | 31.4 | 27.9 | 16.5 | 4.3 |
| 2012 | 20.5 | 31.6 | 27.5 | 16.1 | 4.3 |
| 2013 | 20.8 | 31.9 | 27.0 | 15.5 | 4.6 |
| 2014 | 20.7 | 32.2 | 27.3 | 15.3 | 4.6 |
| 2015 | 20.7 | 32.1 | 27.3 | 15.3 | 4.7 |
NOTE: Percentages are based on the number of doctorate recipients responding to the primary source of financial support item.
- SOURCE: Doctorate Recipients from U.S. Universities 2015. Related detailed data: table 35.
