Slow growth in doctorates
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Enrolment in doctoral programs in Canada has been on the rise since around 2001, but that has not yet translated into more doctoral graduates.
In the 2005/2006 academic year, enrolment increased 5.8% to 36,700 candidates. This was the largest percentage increase in enrolment among all programs at the university level and it followed enrolment growth that averaged 8.2% a year for the previous three years.
However, the number of doctoral degree recipients was only slightly higher than almost a decade earlier. In 2005, 4,200 students received a doctoral degree, compared with 4,000 in 1998.
The same slow growth has not occurred in the United States. In 2005/2006, the number of graduates from U.S. institutions grew 5.1% to 45,596 research doctoral degrees. Doctoral students in Canada were more likely to graduate in the biological and health sciences, whereas those in the United States were more likely to graduate in the humanities and education.
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