Numbers of Doctorates Awarded in the United States Declined in 2010

This is not good:

Numbers of Doctorates Awarded in the United States Declined in 2010

http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/028925.html

Numbers of Doctorates Awarded in the United States Declined in 2010

by Mark K. Fiegener, November 2011, National Science Foundation.

• “U.S. academic institutions awarded 48,069 research doctorates in 2010, down
  from 49,554 awards in 2009 and the first decline in doctorates awarded since
  2002. The 2010 decline was magnified by the recent reclassification of many
  Doctor of Education (EdD) degree programs from the research doctorate to the
  professional doctorate category, and consequently the discontinuation of data
  collection from the reclassified degree programs by the Survey of Earned
  Doctorates (SED). The reclassification resulted in a substantially lower number
  of doctorates awarded in education than would have been the case had the
  graduates of the reclassified EdD degree programs participated in the 2010 SED
  (see “Data Sources and Limitations” for details). The total number of doctorates
  awarded in fields other than education also declined from 2009 to 2010, but by a
  much smaller amount than the decline in number of education doctorates.”

Stephen