GoKawiilU.S. doctoral programs in electrical engineering form the foundation of technological advancement, training the brightest minds in the world to research, develop, and design next-generation electronics, software, electrical infrastructure, and other high-tech products and systems. Elite institutions have long served as launchpads for the engineers behind tomorrow’s technology.
Now that foundation is under strain.
With U.S. universities increasingly entangled in political battles under the second Trump administration, uncertainty is beginning to ripple through doctoral admissions for electrical engineering programs. While some departments are reducing the number of spots available in anticipation of potential federal funding cuts, others are seeing their applicant pools shrink, particularly among international students, who make up a significant portion of their programs.
In 2024 alone, U.S. universities awarded more than 2,000 doctorates in electrical and computer engineering, according to data from the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics. The number of computing Ph.D.s grew significantly in the 2010s, according to data from the National Academies, but there is still high demand for those with advanced degrees across academia, government, and industry. Now, some universities point to warning signs of waning enrollment.
Though not all engineers have Ph.D.s, if enrollment continues to shrink, fewer doctoral students could mean fewer engineers developing cutting-edge technology and training the next generation, potentially exacerbating existing labor shortages as global competition for tech talent intensifies.
Federal funding cuts affect admissions
Public universities in particular are feeling the strain because they rely heavily on federal grants to support doctoral students.
The University of California, Los Angeles, for instance, must fund Ph.D. students for the duration of a degree—typically five years. In August 2025, the U.S. government pulled more than US $580 million in federal grants over allegations that the university failed to adequately address antisemitism on campus during student protests. A federal judge has since ordered the funding to be restored, but faculty began to worry that research support could be clawed back without notice, says Subramanian Iyer, distinguished professor at UC Los Angeles’s department of electrical and computer engineering.
According to Iyer, departments across UC Los Angeles, including engineering, plan to scale back Ph.D. admissions this year. “The fear is that at some point, all this government money will be taken away,” Iyer says. “Lowering the admissions rate is just a way to prepare for that reality.”
In response to a request for comment, a spokesperson for the U.S. National Science Foundation—a major source of federal research funding at UC Los Angeles and elsewhere—said, “NSF recognizes the essential role doctoral trainees play in the nation’s engineering and STEM enterprise” and noted several of the foundation’s awards and programs that support graduate research.
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