Graduate School Completion

Over 1 million graduate credentials were completed in 2016. Of these, 77.0 percent were master’s degrees, 10.4 percent were professional degrees, 6.8 percent were doctoral degrees, and 5.8 percent were post-baccalaureate certificates. While the vast majority of graduate students earned master’s degrees rather than other forms of credentials, variation emerged across student groups. A larger proportion of Asian students completed a professional degree (23.2 percent) than did any other group. Black or African American students (6.9 percent) and international students (1.7 percent) were much less likely to complete professional degrees than their peers, but were more likely to have completed a master’s degree (81.1 percent for Black or African American students and 83.7 percent for international students).