An investigative study of retention rates in physics graduate programs

Graduate students and degree holders play a central role in the growth of science and technology for both institutions and the country. Historically, STEM graduate programs have had a stable retention rate of around 60%, potentially causing a high cost for those leaving the programs and for society. We aim to identify programs with greater trends of retention to learn which should be emulated to achieve the greatest number of PhDs awarded. We use 23 years of data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education System (IPEDS) and the Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering (GSS) to examine retention rates for physics graduate students and compare these trends to current literature. By observing the trends, we can make general observations about the current state of physics graduate education in the United States. We find that retention rates vary between different physics graduate programs.