Oceanography The Official Magazine of
The Oceanography Society
Volume 29 Issue 01

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Volume 29, No. 1
Pages 16 - 21

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The Ocean Science Graduate Education Landscape: A 2015 Perspective

By Susan B. Cook , Amanda Holloway, Matthew Lettrich, and Kristen Yarincik  
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Article Abstract

This article draws on several sources to provide background information on the composition of the 2015 ocean science graduate education community. We identify 148 US institutions of higher education that offer graduate degrees in the marine and ocean related sciences. Using data on degree completions and program size, the balance between master’s and doctoral programs, and the demographic characteristics of degree recipients for the 73 higher education institutions that report marine degree data to the federal government, we develop a descriptive snapshot of the 2015 ocean sciences graduate education landscape. For programs administered by members of the Ocean Sciences Educators’ Retreat community within the Consortium for Ocean Leadership, we present time-series information on the “supply side” of program dynamics (i.e., applications, enrollment), including detailed demographics, as well as an overview of curricular patterns and administrative structures. This information provides a framework that the graduate education community can use for further reflection, discussion, and collaborative action focused on the future of post-baccalaureate education in the ocean sciences.

Citation

Cook, S.B., A. Holloway, M. Lettrich, and K. Yarincik. 2016. The ocean science graduate education landscape: A 2015 perspective. Oceanography 29(1):16–21, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2016.04.

Supplementary Materials

TABLE: A complete list of the academic institutions in this article’s 2015 snapshot
> 46 KB pdf
> 16 KB Excel file

References

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Copyright & Usage

This is an open access article made available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format as long as users cite the materials appropriately, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate the changes that were made to the original content. Images, animations, videos, or other third-party material used in articles are included in the Creative Commons license unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If the material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission directly from the license holder to reproduce the material.