The Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP), a programme funded by the US National Science Foundation (NSF), has helped increase the number of underrepresented minorities receiving PhDs in science, according to an analysis by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

Although the most recent NSF data show no discernible increase in the overall number of minority PhDs, the AAAS analysis of 66 AGEP institutions found a 33.9% increase between 2001 and 2008, with a 50% increase in natural sciences and engineering. Report co-author Yolanda George, deputy director of the AAAS education and human resources programmes, credits institutions for focusing on academic support and paying greater attention to recruiting and tracking minorities.