National Graduate Education Overview

Aggregate data from NSF Survey of Earned Doctorates, NSF Graduate Student Survey, and IPEDS

58,131
Doctorates Awarded (2024)
33.3%
Temporary Visa Holders (2024)
36.5%
S&E Foreign (Temp Visa, 2024)
314,569
NRA Grad Students (IPEDS 2022)
38.4%
Grad NRA Share (IPEDS 2022)
45,103
Chinese PhDs (2018-2024 Total)

Doctorate Trends, 1979-2024

Total doctorates awarded by citizenship status (NSF SED Table 1-6)

Source: NSF Survey of Earned Doctorates, Table 1-6

Foreign Share by STEM Field

% Non-Resident Alien enrollment (NSF GSS)

Source: NSF Graduate Students Survey, 2022

PhD Funding Sources

Primary financial support, all fields (NSF SED Table 4-1)

Source: NSF SED Table 4-1 (2024 doctorate recipients)

Top Source Countries for Temp Visa Doctorates

Total doctorates 2018-2024 and % intending to stay in U.S. (NSF SED Table 2-8)

Source: NSF SED Table 2-8

Work Authorization Pipeline: OPT, STEM OPT, and CPT

Annual authorizations with employment start dates. OPT grew 11x from 2007 to 2024. The 2016 STEM OPT 24-month extension rule dramatically expanded STEM work authorization. Source: ICE/SEVP SEVIS By the Numbers

269,323
Total OPT Authorizations (2024)
95,384
STEM OPT Extensions (2024)
130,586
CPT Authorizations (2024)
11x
OPT Growth Since 2007

Source: ICE/SEVP — Total Number Annual OPT, STEM OPT, CPT Authorizations CY2007-2024

Top 50 Universities by NRA Graduate Enrollment

IPEDS Fall 2022 graduate enrollment. Click column headers to sort.

# University Total Grad NRA NRA% Carnegie

Source: IPEDS Fall 2022 Enrollment