a day ago
No Pipeline, No Progress: Meeting The Demand For Advanced Degrees
As demand for master's and doctoral degrees surges, too few programs exist to support the students most often excluded—despite their potential.
The United States stands at a crossroads. While innovation, competitiveness, and global leadership increasingly depend on highly educated workers, access to graduate education remains deeply unequal and underfunded.
Over 60% of business and government leaders hold graduate degrees—with more than half in business and nearly a third in law. A 2020 report by Brint and colleagues found that 61% of top media figures and 78% of think tank and foundation leaders also held advanced degrees. In many leadership roles, graduate education is no longer a competitive advantage—it's a requirement.
Demand is rising. A 2024 report from Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce projects that nearly 1 in 5 jobs will soon require an advanced degree. Among 'good jobs'—those offering middle-class wages of $43,000 or more—1 in 4 will demand graduate credentials.
Yet access to graduate education remains deeply inequitable. Madeline Brighouse Glueck finds that parental education still shapes graduate enrollment, especially in high-investment, high-return programs like law, medicine, and PhDs. In medicine alone, over 75% of students come from the top two income quintiles. Even academically qualified first-generation and low-income students are often left behind.
While families with financial and social capital can navigate elite admissions and cover soaring costs, others are shut out. The only federally funded graduate pipeline program is the McNair Scholars Program, which supports first-generation, low-income, and underrepresented undergraduates seeking PhDs. This program—and others like Upward Bound—are now at risk of being defunded.
As the federal government grows increasingly hostile toward identity-based programs in higher education, the burden of promoting equitable access is falling to the private sector and nonprofit organizations. Yet only a handful of national nonprofits directly focus on this issue:
These organizations are doing powerful work—but their combined reach can only serve a fraction of the students who deserve access.
To meet the moment, coordinated investments are needed—not just in graduate preparation, but also in affordability, mentorship, and long-term support:
Graduate education is not a luxury—it is a national imperative. If we want to lead in science, health, law, and business—and if we believe in opportunity—we must invest in the people who will lead those fields.
Let's ensure that talent, not zip code or family background, determines who has a seat at the table. Change can't wait. The time to invest is now.
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