Six-year PhD completions decline when a higher percentage of students have NIH funding.

<p>PhD completions rate calculated as the ratio of biomedical sciences research doctorates awarded (SED/DRF data, see <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0082759#pone-0082759-g003" target="_blank">Figure 3</a>) to the number of first-time full-time graduate students enrolling in PhD-granting biomedical sciences programs six years prior (GSS data, see <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0082759#pone-0082759-g004" target="_blank">Figure 4</a>). Percent NIH funded is the share of full-time U.S. biomedical sciences graduate students with any NIH support (research assistants, trainees, fellows, and other mechanisms), also from GSS, for the following year, representing the alternative to PhD students completing their degree and going on the job market.