UMaine Doctoral Student Completion Rates Surpass National Average
Contact: Susan K. Gardner, 581-3122
ORONO — University of Maine doctoral students complete their programs at higher rates than the national average, according to research by a faculty member in the UMaine College of Education and Human Development.
Susan K. Gardner, an assistant professor of higher education who studies doctoral student success and retention, spent the past nine months investigating doctoral completion rates at the UMaine, analyzing data for nearly 1,500 doctoral students who have enrolled in the advanced programs since 1990.
Her analysis revealed a completion rate of 54.6 percent for UMaine doctoral candidates, which is above the often-cited national average of 50 percent. In addition, Gardner was able to determine that graduating doctoral students completed their degrees in an average of five years, well below the national average of seven or more years.
According to Gardner, the numbers illustrate the effectiveness of doctoral education at UMaine and the quality of experiences available to students.
Gardner will continue the study in 2009 as she investigates the departments with the highest completion rates at UMaine. From this study, she plans to release a list of best practices that these programs have utilized to further facilitate doctoral student success.