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Programs of Study
Programs of Study

Graduate education at the University of Michigan is a shared enterprise. Rackham Graduate School works together with faculty in the schools and colleges of the university to provide more than 180 graduate degree programs and to sustain a dynamic intellectual climate within which graduate students thrive.
Admissions
Admissions

Rackham Graduate School and individual graduate programs work as a team to manage the application review process. As an applicant, you will be interacting with both Rackham and your program office.
Funding
Funding

The University of Michigan provides many sources of financial assistance to help students meet educational and living expenses. Whether you are a prospective student, a current student, a master’s or doctoral student, we want to make sure you know about the funding available for your graduate education.
Navigating Your Degree
Navigating Your Degree

From your first registration through the final stages of the degree process, we’re here to help every step of the way.
Professional Development
Professional Development

Rackham offers opportunities, funding, and resources that prepare graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to access the wide range of careers available to them, and to pursue interdisciplinary learning and community building related to professional interests.
Student Experience
Student Experience

Resources to support the diverse backgrounds and experiences that compose our Rackham community.
About
About

Students are enrolled in Rackham degree programs (doctoral, master’s, dual degree, and certificate) taught and advised by faculty in graduate programs in nearly every school and college across the Ann Arbor campus. Rackham graduate programs are also located on the Dearborn and Flint campuses, where they are administered separately.

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Michigan Doctoral Experience Study (MDES)
Findings and Insights
Developing Academic Identity: Insights from the Michigan Doctoral Experience Study

Developing Academic Identity: Insights from the Michigan Doctoral Experience Study

May 2019 | Inaugural Rackham Faculty Symposium
John A. Gonzalez, Allyson Flaster

This presentation was part of the Rackham Faculty Symposium, a series of faculty conversations for advancing research-based innovations in graduate education. Based on data from who responded to both Wave 1 and 2 surveys MDES surveys (N=598), the study examined students’ well-being, career expectations, and academic self-beliefs across different disciplines. Key findings reveal that doctoral students generally enter programs with good mental health, high self-efficacy, high intrinsic motivation, and strong disciplinary identity. However, the first year of doctoral study is associated with small but significant declines in most of these areas. Students’ certainty about pursuing tenure-track positions declined in all disciplines, but the drop was most pronounced in the humanities and the arts. One notable improvement from Year 1 to Year 2 was in students’ perceptions of their disciplinary knowledge. We outlined next steps including formal testing of their conceptual model, examining sources of variation, and extending the study into early career stages while partnering with faculty to better understand the graduate student experience.