Thesis & Dissertation Lists — High NRA Universities
NRA = Non-Resident Alien. Universities ranked by NRA share of STEM doctoral completions (IPEDS).
Every name links to the university's institutional repository for direct verification. 328,581 total records across 101 schools.
STEM PhD Completions by Citizenship
NRA share grew from 32% to 34% while total PhDs rose 50% — American graduate production barely moved
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.
R&D Funding vs American STEM PhDs
University R&D spending nearly doubled since 2010. American PhD production grew only 11%.
Source: NSF HERD Survey, IPEDS
American STEM PhDs = Total STEM doctorate completions minus Non-Resident Alien (NRA) completions, from IPEDS. Includes US citizens and permanent residents of all races/ethnicities. R&D Spending = total university R&D expenditures from the NSF Higher Education Research & Development (HERD) Survey.
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.
Cumulative Visa Calculator
Total visa issuances between two years. Select a range to see cumulative counts.
Source: US State Department visa issuances at consulates abroad
NRA Enrollment by STEM Field
In Computer Science and Engineering, the majority of graduate students are non-resident aliens.
Source: NSF Graduate Student Survey (STEM only — non-STEM equivalent not yet plotted)
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.
ArabicR&D Expenditures
Graduate Enrollment Demographics
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