Average Cost of a Doctorate Degree [2023]: Ph.D., Psy.D. & More

Report Highlights. The average cost of a Doctorate degree is $133,340.

A Doctorate of Education may cost an average of $62,780.
The average cost of a Doctorate of Philosophy or Ph.D. is $81,900.
The average loan debt for a Doctorate degree is $80,590.

Cost Varies

On average it takes 4 to 8 years for an individual to complete their doctorate degree. The overall cost of a Doctorate degree can depend on several factors; the type of school, the kind of doctorate degree, the length of the program, and also the amount of financial assistance available. There is more grant aid available in general for a doctorate degree compared to a master’s degree.

A Doctorate in Philosophy from a traditional 8-year Ph.D. program at the University of Florida may cost $321,957.
A Doctorate in Philosophy from a traditional 8-year Ph.D. program at New York University may cost $552,192.
The University of Southern California: School of Education estimates that their online Doctoral degree in Education would take only 3 years and cost up to $111,999.
St. Thomas University estimates that their online Doctoral degree in Education would take up to 3.3 years full-time and cost up to $50,000.
The average cost of a Doctorate from a public university is $72,990.
The average cost of a Doctorate from a private university is $101,810.
71% of Doctoral students received financial aid in 2012 according to the Urban Institute.
38% of Master’s degree students received financial aid in 2012 according to the Urban Institute.
Institutional grants for a Doctorate in Philosophy average $10,560 annually.
Institutional grants for a Master’s in Business Administration average $3,290 annually.
The average grant aid for a Doctoral degree is $16,502 annually.
The average grant aid for a Master’s degree is $7,094 annually.

Residency Cost Differences
University	In-State Annual Tuition	Out-of-State Annual Tuition
Rutgers University	$28,370	$43,003
University of Kansas	$14,124	$32,451
Mississippi State University	$9,815	$26,580
University of Massachusetts Amherst	$46,970	$65,285
University of Colorado Boulder	$10,845-$27,315	$17,235-$19,335

Doctorate of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

A Ph.D. is one of the longest if not the longest doctorate program in the country. A traditional Ph.D. takes 8 years to complete. The majority of Ph.D. students offset the cost of their degree with teaching assistantships. Ph.D.’s are a type of Doctorate, yet not all Doctorate degrees are Ph.D.’s. Often, a student must choose between earning a Ph.D. or a different Doctorate in their field of study.

The average cost of a Ph.D. is $81,900.
The average cost of a Ph.D. from 1999 to 2021 was $77,085.
In 2012, the average cost of a full year in a Ph.D. program was $21,400.
Of the $21,400, the net price for the student was $8,480.
Of the $21,400, roughly $10,560 was covered by grants.
21.4% of surveyed Ph.D. students offset the cost of their degree with teaching assistantships.

Average cost of a doctorate degree draft on Education Data Initiative

Doctorate of Education

The majority of Doctorate students in Education offset the price of their degree with their own resources. A prospective student must choose between pursuing a direct Doctorate in Education or a Ph.D. in Education. The Doctorate in Education is suited to professional practice and takes less time to complete. The Ph.D. in Education is suited to research and teaching, and it takes more time to complete.

The average cost of a Doctorate in Education is $62,780.
The average cost of a Doctorate in Education from 2003 to 2021 was $86,914.
47.2% of surveyed Doctorate students in Education offset the price of their degree with their resources.
A Ph.D. may take 7 to 8 years to complete.

Average cost of a doctorate degree draft 1 on Education Data Initiative

Doctorate of Psychology

The majority of Doctorate students in Psychology offset the price of their degree with teaching assistantships. The time commitment for a Doctorate in Psychology depends on what type of Psychology degree the individual is pursuing. A Ph.D. in Psychology tailors the student to researching and teaching, which takes more time to complete. A Psy.D. in Psychology tailors the student for direct clinical practice and takes less time to complete.

28.8% of surveyed Doctorate students in Psychology offset the price of their education with teaching assistantships.
A Ph.D. in Psychology takes 5 to 7 years to complete.
A Psy.D. in Psychology takes 4 to 5 years to complete.
Social Psychology degrees can take about 5 years to complete.
Child Psychology degrees can also take roughly 5 years.

Cost by Race

Asians and Black Americans tend to be the two races that end up with the largest amount of cumulative debt and average debt. The majority of grant aid comes from the institutions. Employers and private financial aid barely account for 20% of aid to each race.

Asian Doctoral students borrowed $16,838 annually on average for their Doctoral Programs.
Black Doctoral students averaged $17,479 a year in loans.
Hispanic Doctoral students borrow on average $20,246 annually.
White Doctoral students typically borrowed $18,087 a year.
Doctoral students from one or more races averaged $26,961 in loans per year.
80.6% of Black Doctoral students borrowed money to fund their education.
55.7% of White Doctoral students borrowed money to fund their education.
25.4% of Black Doctoral students received institutional financial aid.
56.1% of Asian Doctoral students received institutional financial aid.
Races are missing from the graph below because reporting standards were not met.

Average cost of a doctorate degree draft 2 on Education Data Initiative

Cost by Gender

A majority of both men and women try to offset the cost of their doctorate degrees with research assistantship and traineeship positions. While there are more male graduates with Doctoral degrees, women on average carry more debt than men.

38.7% of men find financial support working as a research assistant or a research trainee.
27.1% of women find financial support working as a research assistant or a research trainee.
16,780 male graduates surveyed possessed no student loan debt.
12,681 female graduates surveyed possessed no student loan debt.
874 male graduates surveyed owed more than $160,000 in student loan debt.
1,250 female graduates surveyed owed more than $160,000 in student loan debt.