Nationally Ranked for Graduates Who Earn PhDs
According to the National Science Foundation survey.
Serious About Science
Surveys conducted by the National Science Foundation* reveal that Purchase ranks in the top ten among public liberal arts colleges for the percentage of graduates who earn PhDs in their fields.
Purchase ranks…
- #5 in Political Science
- #7 in Biology and Biomedical Sciences
- #8 in Psychology
- #8 in Mathematics
- #8 in Foreign Languages
- #9 in Computer Sciences
Because Purchase does not have graduate programs in the sciences, our students take on responsibilities in our labs that are left to graduate students at other colleges and universities.
The Senior Project Difference
Every student at Purchase, regardless of major or GPA, completes a senior project. In the sciences, students work one-on-one with a professor their entire senior year on devising an original research experiment or inquiry, an experience reserved for graduate students at larger colleges and universities.
“Our rankings come from the type of preparation we provide for grad school.
“Our senior project gives students a taste of what grad school is like, so by the time they enter a graduate program, they are not only prepared, but they know how to succeed and flourish because they’ve already done it at Purchase.”
—Meagan Curtis, Director of the School of Natural and Social Sciences
Professional Symposia
Students showcase their results in a professional-style symposium on campus every spring, and some even travel to regional and national conferences. In many of those cases, our undergraduates are mostly among graduate students and faculty.
Students recently presented research at the Northeast Natural History Conference in Springfield, MA.
Senior Maura Vander Putten co-authored a talk with Professor George Kraemer following grant-funded research on invasive species conducted last summer.
Senior Robyn Graygor presented her senior project on the use of logjams by wildlife in the Blind Brook Forest. (Check out the trail cam video of river otters right here on campus!)
Senior Indi Richardson presented a poster on the differences in fall phenology (when trees lose their leaves) between native and invasive maples.
Finally, Junior Modesto Fontanez III presented a poster on a spotted lanternfly bird foraging experiment conducted during last fall’s Wildlife Ecology class.
*The National Science Foundation Survey of Earned Doctorates for the past five years data are available, 2017–2021).