Non-STEM Thesis & Dissertation Lists — High NRA Universities

NRA = Non-Resident Alien. Universities ranked by NRA share of STEM doctoral completions (IPEDS).

Non-STEM fields (Education, Humanities, Social Sciences, etc.). Every name links to the university's institutional repository for direct verification. 126,943 total records across 101 schools.

Data scraping still in progress. Record counts may change as new data is collected.
269,323
OPT Work Authorizations (2024)
8,238
Non-STEM PhDs Awarded across these 101 universities (2024)
1,922
NRA Non-STEM PhDs (23.3%)
115,569
Total non-STEM thesis records on this site

Non-STEM PhD Completions by Citizenship

Non-STEM PhDs (Education, Humanities, Social Sciences) saw NRA share rise from ~17% to ~23% over the same period.

Source: IPEDS Completions Survey

OPT Work Authorization Pipeline

OPT authorizations grew 11x since 2007. The 2016 STEM OPT 24-month rule dramatically expanded foreign work authorization.

Source: ICE/SEVP SEVIS

OPT (Optional Practical Training): 12-month post-graduation work authorization for F-1 visa holders. STEM OPT: additional 24-month extension for STEM graduates (expanded from 17 months in 2016). CPT (Curricular Practical Training): work authorization during enrollment, must be part of established curriculum.

Total Foreign Work Authorizations

Combined OPT + H-1B work authorizations issued per year. Foreign nationals working in the US via university pipeline.

Source: ICE/SEVP SEVIS, USCIS H-1B Employer Data Hub

US Visa Issuances by Type

F-1 (student), H-1B (specialty worker), J-1 (exchange visitor), and O-1 (extraordinary ability) visa stamps issued annually at US consulates.

Source: US State Department Visa Statistics

Cumulative Visa Calculator

Total visa issuances between two years. Select a range to see cumulative counts.

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Source: US State Department visa issuances at consulates abroad

About this data

This page shows ALL graduates — every student who submitted a thesis or dissertation to the institutional repository in the 2016–2024 window, not only non-resident aliens. Americans, permanent residents, and international students are all included.

Data source: Names were collected from each university's OAI-PMH "Theses and Dissertations" collections. These typically include both doctoral dissertations and master's theses. Only Caltech has explicit PhD-only filtering. Where possible, records are labeled PhD or MS based on available metadata, but many records cannot be distinguished. Each name links directly to the original record for verification.

IPEDS NRA % — NRA stands for Non-Resident Alien, the IPEDS classification for students on temporary visas (F-1, J-1, etc.) who are not US citizens or permanent residents. The percentage shown (e.g., Missouri S&T 73.2%) represents the share of STEM doctoral degrees completed by NRA students at that university, as reported in the IPEDS Completions Survey from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). This is a graduation metric — it counts PhD degrees awarded, not enrollment. Universities are ranked by this NRA share of STEM doctoral completions.

Origin estimates are produced by a name-classification model and should be treated as approximate. Toggle "Show estimated origin" above to display or hide these labels.

Show Master's Theses
R&D Funding
Enrollment
H-1B & OPT

R&D Expenditures

Sources: NSF HERD Survey (R&D) · IPEDS Finance Survey (Revenue) · SHEEO SHEF (State Appropriations) · USAspending.gov (Federal Awards)
R&D Expenditures (NSF HERD)

Graduate Enrollment Demographics

Sources: NSF GSS (Enrollment, 2024) · IPEDS Completions (PhD Trend, 2010–2024)
Enrollment by Citizenship (NSF GSS)
PhD Completions Trend (IPEDS)

Immigration via Education Pipeline

Sources: ICE/SEVP (OPT, CY 2017-2024) · USCIS (H-1B, FY 2010-2026) · DOL (LCA + PERM)
OPT Students Employed (ICE/SEVP)
H-1B Petitions Filed as Employer (USCIS)
Top H-1B Job Titles & Salaries (DOL LCA)

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