U.S. sharpens research policy
The U.S. Congress fears that America’s universities are at riskof falling behind. In a response to that, it mandated the NationalResearch Council (NRC) to investigate how the competitiveness ofthe U.S. higher education sector can be boosted.
The NRC
10 points to foster innovation
This would necessitate a number of reforms vital the future ofan innovative U.S. Among them is the demand of creating a stablenationwide policy fostering university R&D and graduateeducation. At the same, greater autonomy should be given to publicresearch universities, an issue which is also currently being
In this context, it is furthermore paramount to strengthen thelinks between research institutes and businesses, the NRC states.Goal should be to accelerate the transfer of knowledge into thereal economy. Finally, the overall output of graduates should beincreased while sustaining a higher level of internationalization.Here, U.S. institutes are experiencing great popularity as recent
Reforming graduate education
Among the 10 recommendations, a major reform of graduateeducation is suggested:
“Improve the capacity of graduate programs to attract talentedstudents by addressing issues such as attrition rates,time-to-degree, funding, and alignment with both student careeropportunities and national interests.
- Research universities should restructure doctoral education toenhance pathways for talented undergraduates, improve completionrates, shorten time-to-degree, and strengthen the preparation ofgraduates for careers both in and beyond the academy.
- Research universities and federal agencies should ensure, asthey implement the above measures, that they improve educationacross the full spectrum of research university graduate programs -including the social and behavioral sciences, the humanities, andthe arts – because of the increasing breadth of academic andprofessional disciplines necessary to address the challenges facingour changing world.
- The federal government should significantly increase itssupport for graduate education through balanced programs offellowships, traineeships, and research assistantships provided byall science agencies that depend upon individuals with advancedtraining.
- Employers – businesses, government agencies, and nonprofits -that hire master’s- and doctoratelevel graduates should more deeplyengage programs in research universities by providing internships,student projects, advice on curriculum design, and real-timeinformation on employment opportunities
Scholarships targeting research priorities
The number of federal fellowships and traineeships should beincreased to support 5,000 new graduate students per year inscience and engineering, an investment amounting to $325 million inyear 1 and climbing to a steady-state expenditure of $1.625 billionper year. This funding is not designed to increase the overallnumbers of doctoral students per se, but to provide incentives forstudents to pursue areas responding to national needs and to shiftsupport from research assistantships to mechanisms that strengthendoctoral training. Implementing other aspects of our recommendationwill save money for the federal government, universities, andstudents. Improving completion rates and reducing time-to-degree indoctoral programs, for example, will increase thecost-effectiveness of federal and other investments in thisarea.
On the whole, improving pathways to doctoral degrees will ensurethat we draw strongly from among the “best and brightest” acrossfields that are critical to our nation’s future. Strengtheningpreparation of doctorates for a broad range of careers, not justthose in academia, assists students in their careers, along withemployers who need their staff to be productive in the shortterm.”
