MAGNITUDE OF THE PROBLEM
According to National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) in the year 2000 approximately 2.7 million adults were enrolled in graduate school. The majority (58%) was enrolled in Master’s degree programs. Another 13% were enrolled in Ph.D. programs. The current graduate enrollment has already surpassed the NCES projections of 1.9 million students for 2010.
NCES found that in 2000 slightly over a half million (581,921 ) graduate degrees were awarded. The majority (79%) of degrees awarded went to Master’s degree students and 7% were awarded to Ph.D. candidates. NCES does not provide statistics on graduate students who have given up or dropped out.
Today a serious and growing problem exists among graduate level students
trying to complete their Master’s Thesis and Ph.D. Dissertation
(T/D). The problem 
revolves
around the lack of support both inside and outside the university,
and a lack of knowledge of the completion process. An almost epidemic
number of graduate students (approximately 90% of 2 million students
registered in T/D programs) languish in
a frustrated “All
But Done” or “All But Dissertation
or Thesis” phase because they just cannot figure out how to get
through the unstructured portion of their T/D program. Being able to
navigate the unstructured portion of graduate school is not based on
the student’s intelligence but rather their lack of knowledge
of the process. This apprentice-like process is like a maze for most
graduate students in all disciplines. Many students are casualties
of having entered the maze without a plan on how to get out. The implications
to American business and our future economy are significant.