Goal 3: Strengthen and Develop Graduate Programs.

The College of Engineering has shown a steady growth in graduate programs. Graduate student enrollment has increased by 80 since 1988 (Table 4—MS and Table 5—Ph.D.). The number of graduate degrees awarded annually has also grown since 1988 (Figure 5).

TABLE 4. College of Engineering Masters Enrollment (Fall Count).

	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996
Chemical	20	14	21	24	25	22	15	20	20
Civil/Env	35	30	30	33	39	51	49	53	47
Electrical	43	58	65	63	53	59	58	50	39
Geological	16	13	11	13	17	18	11	18	15
Mechanical	67	66	59	61	65	63	83	83	74
Metallurgy	18	17	21	15	20	21	22	24	30
Mining	3	1	1	0	1	3	4	1	2
Total	202	199	208	209	220	237	242	249	227

TABLE 5. College of Engineering Doctoral Enrollment (Fall Count).

	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996
Chemical	-	-	-	6	8	8	16	18	18
Civil/Env	-	-	-	-	2	2	3	2	2
Electrical	-	-	-	5	4	7	6	7	8
Geological	7	11	13	14	12	11	10	8	14
Mechanical	22	31	27	22	29	37	42	48	44
Metallurgy	23	22	22	25	22	24	26	17	11
Mining	-	-	-	8	10	11	9	6	6
PHD	23	21	21	28	22	30	32	31	27
Total	75	85	83	108	109	130	144	137	130

FIGURE 5. Graduate Degrees Granted by the College of Engineering.

Some of this growth is due to the University initiative (supported by the College) to attaining Carnegie Doctoral I status. Every department now has its own designated Ph.D. program, compared to only three such departmental programs in 1988. In addition, one new MS program in environmental engineering has been added. The number of MS and Ph.D. students enrolled per faculty is one measure of the strength of graduate programs; while this has been stable at the College level, it varies considerably between departments. The increase in graduate students closely relates to the increase in faculty.

The strength of the graduate program is directly linked to the availability of external funding. Current external research expenditures for the College exceed $10 million annually—an increase of 260% since 1988. Nevertheless, a threat to graduate programs is the potential decrease in Federal support for research. An effort is being mounted to increase the level of State and corporate research support. Success of initial efforts is exemplified by the increase in funding from industry and business from $1 million in 1994 to $1.4 million in 1995 and 1996.

About 72% of the graduate students are supported on fellowships and assistantships with about half the support coming from external sources (see Figure 6).

FIGURE 6. Distribution of Graduate Support, College of Engineering 1996/7.

The source of support varies from department to department. Some departments, such as Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, are able to support most of their graduate students with external funds while Electrical Engineering relies heavily on internal support. The graduate programs in some departments are also constrained by lack of space.

Another strength of the graduate programs is a healthy balance between domestic and foreign students in most, if not all, departments (about 40% of graduate students are international). A weakness, however, is that most domestic graduate students are drawn from MTU undergraduate programs. This weakness should diminish as Michigan Tech gains in national stature. There is a need for more recruiting and recruiting materials.

Diversity at the graduate level remains a problem. While 25% of the graduate students are women, less than 5% are minority students. A concerted effort is being made to recruit students from underrepresented ethnic groups. The College, especially the Department of Mechanical Engineering/Engineering Mechanics, is taking advantage of the need in industry to provide education for their employees by developing off-campus Ph.D. degree programs.

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