A doctorate in education takes a median of 12.3 years from starting graduate school, more than twice the 6.0 years typical in the physical sciences, according to an analysis of United States federal data published by dissertation coaching firm Grad Coach.

The figures come from the National Science Foundation's Survey of Earned Doctorates, a full census rather than a sample, covering the 58,131 people who earned a research doctorate from a US institution in 2024. Across all fields the median is 7.3 years.

"The education doctorates we work with are nearly always part-time, and the student is holding down a full-time job while they do it, usually in a school, a district or a university department," said Derek Jansen, Founder of Grad Coach.

The analysis also separates three measures of time to degree that are commonly conflated: time since the bachelor's degree, time since starting graduate school, and time since starting the doctoral programme itself. Each produces a materially different answer to the same question, and Grad Coach argues that which one is quoted changes what a prospective student thinks they are committing to.

The analysis covers United States data only. Grad Coach notes that no comparable United Kingdom median is published and declines to estimate one, pointing out that figures circulating online for UK doctoral duration trace back to aggregator sites without a primary source.

The full analysis, How Long Does a PhD Really Take?, is published at https://gradcoach.com/how-long-does-a-phd-take/

About Grad Coach

Grad Coach is a dissertation and thesis coaching service providing one-on-one support from doctoral-qualified coaches, alongside language editing, transcription, qualitative data coding and self-paced courses. Founded in 2017 and trading as Think Digital Limited, the company is a member of The Tutors' Association. Grad Coach publishes a free library of research templates, guides and video tutorials at gradcoach.com.

Media contact

Derek Jansen, Founder, Grad Coach
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