The Graduate School
Degrees Offered
Degree Completion
Retention
Placement
After James Madison graduated from Princeton in 1771, he remained for a period of “graduate work” to study Hebrew and ethics with President John Witherspoon, the only college president and clergyman to sign the Declaration of Independence. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, other promising students were permitted to stay on after receiving the bachelor’s degree to pursue their postgraduate studies in an ever-widening variety of fields. The first earned Ph.D.’s, in the modern sense, were awarded in 1879 in philosophy and physics.
Since its formal establishment in 1900, the Graduate School has been guided in its evolution by a few basic principles: careful selection of students, accessibility of the faculty, and flexibility of the curriculum.
Today, the Graduate School of Princeton University, with an enrollment of approximately 2,300 students, offers programs of study leading to advanced degrees in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, engineering, architecture, and public affairs. Graduate work is not offered in business, education, law, medicine, or theology.
Of the currently enrolled graduate student body, approximately 38 percent are women, 41 percent are citizens of other countries, and 12 percent are members of U.S. minority groups.
Degrees Offered
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.). The Ph.D. is a research degree and the highest degree offered by the University. All departments and schools except for the Bendheim Center for Finance offer admission to a program leading to the Ph.D. In several cases, interdepartmental programs award the Ph.D. through a participating department.Master’s Degrees. The University awards the following as final professional degrees: Master of Architecture (M.Arch.), Master of Arts in Near Eastern Studies (M.A.-N.E.S.), Master of Engineering (M.Eng.), Master in Finance (M.Fin.), Master of Science in Engineering (M.S.E.), Master of Science (in Chemistry, M.S.), Master in Public Affairs (M.P.A.), and Master in Public Policy (M.P.P.).
Students may enroll for the Master of Arts (M.A.) as a final degree only in Near Eastern studies. In all other fields of study, the Master of Arts (or, in the composition section of the Department of Music, the Master of Fine Arts) is awarded as an incidental degree for which doctoral candidates may apply after passing the general examination.
Degree Completion
Princeton measures the degree completion rate as the percentage of entering students who earn the Ph.D. within seven years of first enrollment. The completion rate varies widely by department and division, but overall, 59 percent of entering Ph.D. students earn the degree within seven years. In general, the average time to degree for Ph.D. programs has been five-and-a-quarter years.
Retention
The retention rate is the percentage of an entering class that enrolls for a second year and subsequent years of study. Based on the last four years’ experience of full-time degree candidates, we find that 90 percent of an entering class, throughout the whole Graduate School, returns to a second year of study; 75 percent of that group returns for a third year; and 85 percent of those return for a fourth year of enrollment.Placement
The Ph.D. placement rate is the percentage of final degree awardees who, in a given academic year, have found employment. Of 288 Ph.D. awardees in 2005–06, 20 percent found, or held at the time of award, employment in academic jobs, 49 percent in post-doctoral positions, and 26 percent in nonacademic jobs.Each year, more than 90 percent of Master of Architecture and Master in Public Affairs degree recipients secure employment related to their areas of study.
The Office of Career Services offers students assistance with nonteaching employment in business, industry, government, academia, and nonprofit organizations. Counseling is available for career decision-making and job-hunting techniques. On-campus interviews with representatives from government, business, and industry seeking advanced-degree candidates are arranged for students each fall and spring.
Among other resources available to graduate students is a vast international network of Princeton graduates. Alumni/ae of the Graduate School actively participate in career networking with students at an annual conference, Career Paths for Advanced Degree Holders, and at a workshop held during Reunions weekend each spring, as well as through electronic discussions, a women’s mentoring program, and other informal gatherings. Additionally, the Association of Princeton Graduate Alumni (APGA) strongly supports graduate students through hosting events that recognize distinguished students. APGA also awards summer research and travel grants.