Part
01
of one
Part
01
How much time, on average, do Americans take to complete the following things? Earn a college degree Earn a PhD (without master’s), Earn a graduate degree, Earn a graduate certificate, Remain in one job
Hello, and thank you for your request for the average amount of time Americans remain in a single job and how long they take to earn a college degree, a PhD, a graduate degree, a graduate certificate. In short, it takes Americans, on average, 5.1 years to earn a Bachelor's degree, between 4-7 years for a PhD (depending on the course of study), between 2-5 years for a Master's, and as little as 6 months for a Graduate Certificate. As of January 2016, the average worker had been with their current employer 4.2 years, down from 4.6 years in 2014.
Per your request, we used academic or data-driven sources rather than speculative or editorial reporting. Please read on for a deep dive of our research.
EARNING A COLLEGE DEGREE
A 2016 report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center looked at both the enrolled time (defined as full-time active enrollment) and elapsed time (the calendar years between initial enrollment and graduation) to a degree for American college students. They found that during their study period (2014-2015), the time to degree was on average 3.4 years in a two-year public school, but it took an elapsed time of 5.6 years overall to earn the degree.
Students earning four year degrees spent on average 5.2, 4.8, and 5.8 years of enrolled time at four-year public, four-year private nonprofit and four-year private for-profit schools respectively. Elapsed time spent at these schools was 5.6, 5.4, and 8.8 years respectively. The study calculated an average of 5.1 years to earn a Bachelor's degree.
The report found that there to be very little difference in enrolled time to degree between men and women at the various types of institutions, with no more than two-tenths of a percentage point separating the genders. Elapsed time to degree was similarly comparable, though women had a slightly longer two-year public elapsed time than men (5.8 vs. 5.4 years).
There were significant differences in time to degree between age groups, the report found. While enrolled time of those over and under the age of twenty is similar, there are stark contrasts in elapsed time. Those under 20 spent an elapsed time of 5.1, 5.3, 4.8, and 10.2 years earning a degree at two-year private, four-year public, four-year private nonprofit and four-year private for-profit schools respectively. Those over 20 reported 6.9, 8.4, 8.9, and 8.1 years elapsed time to degree.
EARNING A DOCTORATE (PhD)
Looking next at the time it takes to earn a PhD (without simultaneously earning a Master's), we find that it varies by field of study. GradSchoolHub reports that "the average length of a dissertation program today is 8.2 years," though some in hard sciences, like Physics require less time (5 years). On the flip side, the article reports that Doctorates in Education often take 13 years.
The Open Education Database, a college rankings organization, supports the data provided by GradSchoolHub. OEDb reports that the average time to complete a PhD is four to seven years. They confirm that the time investment is largely dependent on the field of study and that some PhDs can be obtained in as few as three years.
EARNING A GRADUATE DEGREE
GradSchoolHub also lends insight into the time it takes the average American to earn a Graduate Degree, such as a Master's. According to their report, if a student has already earned their Bachelor's, most Master's programs can be completed in one to two years. This assumes the student is able to attend full-time. Many part-time MBA programs could take up to 4 years to complete.
Study.com confirms this data. They report that most Master's level programs take 2 years to complete, depending on the course of study. They say to expect 2-5 years of active enrollment for part time students and 3-5 years for those seeking dual degrees (i.e. a specialized Master's program to accompany a J.D. degree).
EARNING A GRADUATE CERTIFICATE
American International University defines a Graduate Certificate, also known as a Professional Certificate, as an opportunity for professionals "to gain needed skills, typically in a shorter period, through a course of study in a specific area." They are potentially an alternative to a Master's Degree.
We could find very little statistical data around Graduate Certificates. However, we did find that Graduate Certificates are offered in a number of fields. For example, Northeastern University offers programs in global studies, digital video, health management, and more. They report that each of their certificates take about one year to complete. Penn State, Thunderbird, Stanford, and a handful of other prestigious universities also offer certificate programs in, for example, financial management. Thunderbird's Executive Certificate in Global Finance takes just three, 8-week blocks to complete.
TIME SPENT IN A SINGLE JOB
In late 2016, the Bureau of Labor and Statistics released its latest Employee Tenure Summary. They found that as of January 2016, the average worker had been with their current employer 4.2 years. This is down from 4.6 years, the figure reported in 2014.
The report found that tenure for men was down from 4.7 years in 2014 to 4.3 years in 2016. Women also saw a decline, down from 4.5 years in 2014 to 4.0 years in 2016. Older workers, as one might expect, had a longer tenure than their younger counterparts. Those 55 to 64 years of age had been with their current employer an average of 10.2 years, whereas those 25 to 34 had a tenure of just 2.8 years.
The report also had some interesting findings around race. The BLS survey discovered that 22% of Hispanics had a tenure of ten or more years in 2016, as compared to 30% of Whites and 25% of Blacks and Asians.
Lastly the report found a significant difference in tenure between public and private sector workers. Public sector employees reported a tenure of 7.7 years, while those in the private sector reported just 3.7 years with their current employer. Among the private sector workers, those in manufacturing reported the longest tenures at 5.3 years. Those in the leisure and hospitality industries, on the other hand, reported just 2.2 years of tenure.
BLS collects data on employee tenure every two years through a survey of roughly 60,000 households. It accounts for workers over the age of 16.
CONCLUSION
To sum it up, it takes Americans about 5.1 years to earn a Bachelor's degree. PhD's take between 4-7 years and Master's Degrees can be achieved in 2-5 years, both dependent on the field of study. It can take as little as 6 months to a year to earn a Graduate Certificate. As of January 2016, the average worker had been with their current employer 4.2 years, down from 4.6 years in 2014.
Thanks for using Wonder! We look forward to helping you with your next project.