Drawing on the largest survey of doctoral students ever conducted, Three Magic Letters provides a compelling portrait of the graduate school experience and identifies key issues affecting the success and failure of doctoral students.

Michael T. Nettles and Catherine M. Millett surveyed more than nine thousand students from the top twenty-one doctorate-granting institutions in the United States. Their findings, based on rational analysis of a vast amount of descriptive data, shed light on multiple factors critical to the progression of the doctoral degree, particularly adequate institutional funding and engaged and accessible faculty mentors.

This comprehensive volume will provide faculty chairs, administrators, and students with information and evidence for assessing their policies, practices, and programs to improve the graduate school experience and the future of the Ph.D.