The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) is a nonprofit higher education organization with headquarters in Washington, DC. Its mission is to advance graduate education and research. Its main activities consist of best practice initiatives, data analysis, advocacy, and global engagement.
CGS membership includes approximately 500 universities in the United States and Canada, as well as international institutions. [1] The council is concerned principally with the efforts of graduate schools, particularly those providing PhD and master's programs. Its efforts do not extend to professional degrees in medicine or law. CGS member institutions annually award approximately 86% of U.S. doctorates and 60% of U.S. master's degrees. [2]
Institutional members are principally represented by the official directly responsible for overseeing graduate programs at the university, usually the dean of the graduate school.
Corporations, nonprofit organizations, and university system offices may also join CGS as nonvoting members.
CGS is affiliated with the regional graduate associations the Conference of Southern Graduate Schools (CSGS), the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools (MAGS), the Northeastern Association of Graduate Schools (NEAGS), and the Western Association of Graduate Schools (WAGS).
CGS is governed by a member-elected board of directors. Members of CGS's board of directors are elected to one- to three-year terms. The current president of CGS, Suzanne Ortega, began her tenure July 2014 after serving as the senior vice president for academic affairs at the University of North Carolina. [3] [4]
Past CGS presidents:
The Council of Graduate Schools was founded in 1961, when what was then known as the “Council of Graduate Schools in the United States” invited 100 institutions to join as founding members. These institutions were selected based on the number and variety of doctoral degrees each awarded.
In 1987 the CGS membership voted to change the organization's name to the Council of Graduate Schools and began admitting Canadian institutions as members.
CGS collaborates with members on initiatives that address common challenges in graduate education. Examples of these initiatives include understanding PhD career pathways, [5] [6] financial literacy, [7] challenges in degree completion and attrition, [8] Preparing Future Faculty (launched in 1993), [9] mental health and wellness, [10] [11] and scholarly integrity and the Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR). [12] [13]
CGS researches and publishes its findings on specific metrics related to graduate education, including graduate enrollment and degrees and international graduate student applications, admissions and enrollments. [14] [15]
CGS advocates for graduate education before Congress and the Administration, working both independently and collaboratively with other national organizations to advance federal policies. Issue areas have included diversity and inclusiveness; the Higher Education Reauthorization Act; immigration reform; [16] tax; and workforce development. CGS also provides resources and opportunities for its members to advocate on behalf of graduate education and research with campus stakeholders and policymakers. [17]
CGS hosts meetings and publishes research on global trends in graduate education as well as graduate education in a global context. Examples of its global engagement include the annual Strategic Leaders Global Summit on Graduate Education, [18] traditionally hosted outside the U.S., and the international graduate admissions survey issued annually.
CGS also has an international membership program, whereby interested international universities may apply for membership in CGS. [19]
The Council of Graduate Schools convenes members for two major meetings per year: an annual meeting in early December [20] and a summer workshop and New Deans Institute held in July.
Tertiary education, also referred to as third-level, third-stage or post-secondary education, is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank, for example, defines tertiary education as including universities as well as trade schools and colleges. Higher education is taken to include undergraduate and postgraduate education, while vocational education beyond secondary education is known as further education in the United Kingdom, or included under the category of continuing education in the United States.
The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later. UNT is a member of the University of North Texas System, which includes additional universities in Dallas and Fort Worth. UNT also has a location in Frisco.
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) is a public research university in Clear Water Bay Peninsula, New Territories, Hong Kong. Founded in 1991 by the British Hong Kong Government, it was the territory's third institution to be granted university status.
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James Bennett Milliken is the chancellor of the University of Texas System. He is the former chancellor of the City University of New York, the largest urban university system in the U.S. from 2014 to 2018, after serving as president of the University of Nebraska from 2004 to 2014, where he was also a professor at the School of Public Affairs and at the College of Law. He served as senior vice president of the University of North Carolina's 16-campus system from 1998 to 2004. Before his career in academic administration, Milliken practiced law in New York City.
Alliance University ) is a private Christian university affiliated with the Christian and Missionary Alliance and located in New York, New York. Enrolling just over 2,000 students, the school consists of undergraduate programs, graduate professional programs, and the Alliance Theological Seminary. The university has been continuously accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education since 1962, and maintains several specialized professional accreditations pertaining to its programs.
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In the United States, higher education is an optional stage of formal learning following secondary education. It is also referred as post-secondary education, third-stage, third-level, or tertiary education. It covers stages 5 to 8 on the International ISCED 2011 scale. It is delivered at 4,360 Title IV degree-granting institutions, known as colleges or universities. These may be public or private universities, research universities, liberal arts colleges, community colleges, or for-profit colleges. US higher education is loosely regulated by the government and by several third-party organizations. Attending college has been thought of as "a rite of passage" to which the American Dream is deeply embedded.
The education system of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan includes basic, secondary, and higher education and has dramatically evolved since the establishment of the state in the early 1900s. The role played by a good education system has been significant in the development of Jordan from a predominantly agrarian to an industrialized nation over time.
The University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences is a public research university in Beijing, China, under the direct leadership of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). Renamed in 2012, UCAS was founded as the Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1978 by the approval of the State Council as the first graduate school in China.
The Islamic University of Gaza, also known as IUG andIU Gaza, is an independent Palestinian university established in 1978 in Gaza City. It was the first higher education institution to be established in Gaza Strip. The university has eleven faculties capable of awarding BA, BSc, MA, MSc, MD, PhD, diplomas and higher diplomas, in addition to twenty research centers and institutes and the affiliated Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital.
The University of Management and Technology (UMT) is a private for-profit university in Arlington, Virginia. The university was founded in 1998 and offers accredited undergraduate and graduate degrees, including associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees as well as certificate programs. UMT's degree programs in project management are also accredited by the Global Accreditation Center (GAC) of the Project Management Institute (PMI). UMT is an institutional member of the Council of Higher Education Accreditation – CHEA and a Global Registered Education Provider of PMI. UMT is authorized by the U.S. Department of Education to provide Federal Student Aid (FSA) to eligible students enrolled in eligible programs. UMT is authorized by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to accept F-1 visa students. UMT is authorized by the U.S. Department of State to sponsor J-1 visa international exchange students. UMT is approved by the Virginia State Approving Agency for the purposes of various veterans' education benefits programs. The institution is certified by the U.S. Department of Education to participate in Title IV, HEA programs Higher Education Act of 1965. The institution will undergo another comprehensive review for its next renewal of accreditation by January 2026.
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Neal King, is an American educator, writer, consultant and psychologist. He is President-Emeritus, and former chair of the Board of Directors, of the International Association of University Presidents. He is also President Emeritus of Antioch University Los Angeles and Sofia University in Palo Alto, California.
The higher education bubble in the United States is the concern that excessive investment in higher education could have negative repercussions in the broader economy. Although college tuition payments are rising, the supply of college graduates in many fields of study is exceeding the demand for their skills, which aggravates graduate unemployment and underemployment while increasing the burden of student loan defaults on financial institutions and taxpayers. Moreover, the higher education bubble might be even more serious than load of student debts. Without safeguards in place for funding and loans, the government risks creating a moral hazard in which schools charge students expensive tuition fees without offering them marketable skills in return. The claim has generally been used to justify cuts to public higher education spending, tax cuts, or a shift of government spending towards law enforcement and national security. There is a further concern that having an excess supply of college graduates exacerbates political instability, historically linked to having a bulge in the number of young degree holders.
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Charisma University (CU) is an academic institution located in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI), British Overseas Territories of the United Kingdom. Charisma University is a non-profit institution recognized by the Turks and Caicos Islands Ministry of Education, Labour, Employment and Customer Service to offer accredited undergraduate, graduate, post-graduate degree programs and certificate programs in various disciplines taught by over 100 faculty members.
