By Kate Duey
Kate Duey is a private college counselor serving gifted students. She has worked with students on traditional schooling paths, home schooled students, community college students, and students seeking accelerated or early college entrance. Kate is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Business School. She has a Certificate in College Counseling from UCLA.
Is an aspiring Ph.D. in the sciences better served by an undergraduate education at a liberal arts college or a research university? The vast majority (83%) of Ph.D.’s in science are awarded to students who graduated from research universities. The top ten research universities graduating undergraduates who go on to earn the most Ph.D.’s in the sciences are:
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- UC Berkeley
- University of Michigan
- Cornell University
- M.I.T.
- University of Wisconsin, Madison
- Penn State
- UCLA
- Harvard
- University of Minnesota
- University of Washington
Liberal arts schools, however, educate roughly 8% of American college students, and from those 8% come 17% of Ph.D.’s in science. Thought of another way, the per capita distribution of science Ph.D.’s is twice as high in a liberal arts college as in a research university. Among the National Academy of Science members, 19% received their undergraduate education at liberal arts schools. The top ten liberal arts colleges graduating undergraduates who per capita go on to earn the most Ph.D.’s in the sciences are:
- Swarthmore
- Carleton
- Haverford
- Grinnell
- Oberlin
- Pomona
- Bryn Mawr
- Williams
- Amherst
- Wesleyan
Why are liberal arts colleges more productive at preparing science Ph.D.’s?
Thomas R. Cech, a Nobel Prize winner in chemistry who led breakthroughs in the catalytic properties of RNA, discusses this in “Science at Liberal Arts Colleges: A Better Education?”.
Dr. Cech offers several explanations for the imbalance, including:
| Characteristic | Liberal Arts Colleges | Research Universities |
| Professorial focus | – Teaching undergraduates – Researching on a small scale – Access to professors leads to confidence and self-worth |
– Teaching graduate students – Researching on a large scale – Publishing – Applying for research funding – Building national and international prominence – Fundraising for the university – Performing public service in other educational settings – Working on state-wide economic development programs – Coordinating intellectual property controls – Teaching undergraduates |
| Cross-training | – More requirements in multiple fields – Seeing conflicting data in multiple fields – More demands to interpret new information – More written assignments – More in-class discussions and presentations |
– Fewer requirements in multiple fields – Can take more science classes |
| Which students gain experience as lab assistants? | Juniors or seniors who have distinguished themselves | Graduate and Postdoctoral students who are required to work as part of stipend |
| Lab schedules | – Fewer lab users – Lab assignments can become open-ended – Less competition for equipment – Professors typically supervise lab work |
– More lab users – Lab time must be scheduled – Lab experiments are designed to be straight-forward and predictable to accommodate demands on lab time – Budget cuts intensify these issues |
| Professorial Contact | – Introductory classes typically have 50 students – 3rd and 4th year classes typically have 12 students |
– Introductory classes typically have 500 students – 3rd and 4th year classes typically have 100 students |
| Fellow students | – Selectivity means stronger academic preparedness overall – Higher performing students create a culture of academic development |
– Undergraduates witness higher levels of scholarship and competitiveness of academic research |
As Dr. Cech illustrates, it is worth exploring all options available to you when looking for a university science program, including liberal arts universities.
What has your experience been with science programs at liberal arts or research universities? Please share in the comment section below!
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