Survey of Earned Doctorates

As a requirement of graduation, all doctoral candidates must complete the Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED). The survey is sponsored by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Education, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The information provided on the survey questionnaire is confidential and safeguarded in accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended. The survey data are reported only in aggregate form or in a manner that does not identify information about any individual.

Information about the SED

The Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED) is an annual census of all research doctorate recipients in the United States that has been conducted since 1958. The data are collected for the National Science Foundation (NSF). Eligible respondents are doctoral research graduates from U.S. universities who have completed their degree.

Why your response is important

The survey results are critical to our understanding of the specialty research areas of doctorate recipients and their post-graduation employment plans. The data from this survey is used by policy-makers in government and universities when making decisions about funding graduate education, developing new programs, and supporting existing ones.

Please visit the Survey of Earned Doctorates website for more information.

Submitting the Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED)

Doctoral candidates should take this survey online. To complete the web-based survey, you will need to:

• Acquire a PIN and password from NORC. To register for the survey and receive your PIN and password, submit the Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED) registration form.
• Once you’ve received your credentials, go to the current SED questionnaire, where you will be asked for your PIN and password to get access to the questions.
• After taking the survey, make sure to send your certificate of completion. The survey interface will allow you to send an automated email confirming your completion. You may choose to have this email automatically sent to ETD@utrgv.edu, or you may forward the confirmation that will be automatically sent to your own email address to ETD@utrgv.edu after completing the survey. 

Please submit certificates of Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED) completion to etd@utrgv.edu.

Visit the Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED) website for more information about SED, including the purpose and use of the survey and an overview of its privacy policies.