Better Funding Can Increase the Number and Diversity of Doctoral Students

by Shaun M. Dougherty and Walter G. Ecton When a doctoral program in education introduced a comprehensive funding package that covered tuition, it led to an increase in the number of applicants. The increase in the share of Black applicants and enrollees was particularly notable. That’s according to a new study published in AERA Open, a peer-reviewed, open-access journal of the American Educational Research Association. We did the study with co-authors Chris Bennett, Kenny Nienhusser and Milagros Castillo-Montoya. The funding, which was offered to doctoral program applicants in the form of a fellowship during two application cycles, included four years of guaranteed free tuition. The applicants were […]