Effective 10/01/09, for graduate students who have been supported by NIH training awards (D43, TU2, T32, T37, T90, U2R, and U52/TL1), institutions must annually report the following information:

• The percentage of students admitted for study who successfully obtain a doctoral degree
• The average time for such students between the beginning of graduate study and the receipt of a doctoral degree

This data permits an evaluation of the success of each program in achieving the training objectives of the prior award period(s) for up to 10 years.

When submitting a renewal or non-competing continuation, use the revised Table 12A of the PHS 2590 in order to provide the above Program Statistics. In the final two lines of the table, report

1. The percentage of trainees entering 10 years ago that received Ph.D.’s or equivalent research doctoral degrees
2. The average time to degree for all trainees completing Ph.D.’s in the last ten years, calculated to one decimal place (e.g. 5.5 years)

In calculating these program statistics, students transferring to medical school or other doctoral-level professional programs should be included in the entering class, but not considered to have earned a Ph.D. equivalent degree. for ease of computation, individuals transferring to or from Ph.D. programs in similar fields at other institutions should be excluded from both the entering and graduating cohorts in calculating completion and time to degree.

Time to degree should be calculated as the period from enrollment in a doctoral degree program at the reporting institution to the conferral of a Ph.D. or equivalent research doctoral degree, less any officially approved leaves of absence. If a student earns a master’s degree from the reporting institution prior to and in conjunction with fulfilling the requirements for the research doctoral degree, or an additional doctoral degree as part of a dual-degree program (e.g. M.D./Ph.D., D.D.S./Ph.D.), time to degree should be calculated from entry into the first program.

A very helpful sample table with detailed directions can be found at the following address:
Here

The link to the full announcement can be found here