Growth in postgraduate salaries for psychology doctorates outpaced inflation

¹ National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics. (2014–18). Doctorate Recipients From U.S. Universities. Retrieved from www.nsf.gov/statistics/doctorates. This report included 1,017 individuals earning psychology research doctorates from U.S. institutions in the 2017–18 academic year who had definite employment plans at the time they applied for graduation. A research doctorate requires the completion of a dissertation or equivalent project and is not primarily intended for the practice of a profession. Respondents were asked “What best describes the status of your postgraduate plans?” and those selected “I accepted or am employed in a position other than a postdoc or training position” were coded as having definite postgraduate employment plans. Median salaries were based on the basic annual salary from the position they accepted or were employed at and were rounded to the nearest thousand.

²Academe included employment in four-year colleges or universities, medical schools, university-affiliated research institutes or other educational institutions. Business and industry includes employment in non-educational institutions, in business or industry (for profit), and self-employment.

³2014 median salaries were adjusted for inflation to 2018 dollars using the Consumer Price Index inflationcalculator: www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htmopens in new window. The rate of inflation was 5.8% between 2014 and 2018.