Vanderbilt’s commitment to graduate education is paying big dividends. Applications have risen by 36 percent during the past five years, from 5,203 in 2005 to 7,109 in 2010. The university made offers of admission to 13 percent of applicants in 2010, as compared to 17 percent in 2005. The number of doctoral students has increased from 2,085 to 2,250, and the number of Ph.D.s awarded each year has grown from 194 to 252.
“For the past decade Vanderbilt has been devoting increasing attention and resources to its Ph.D. programs throughout the entire campus,” says Dennis Hall, vice provost for research and dean of the graduate school. “All of that effort and emphasis has placed graduate education at Vanderbilt on a steep upward trajectory.”