Pardee RAND Student Body Profile

Pardee RAND students in cohort '22

Diane Baldwin/RAND Corporation

Each year, approximately 23-25 new students enroll in Pardee RAND Graduate School. They come from around the world and from the most diverse of educational backgrounds.

Their academic credentials are very strong, but the Admissions Committee doesn't just go by the numbers. The Committee looks for creativity and the ability to think about issues in new ways. Pardee RAND seeks students with a combination of passion and discipline—the passion to change the world for the better, and the discipline to carry forth the new research that will be needed to do so.

Class Profile by Entering Cohort

  2022 2021 2020 2019 2018
Class Size 22
(17 Ph.D., 5 M.Phil.)
25 33 24 20
Average Age 29 31 30 28 30
Age Range 24-40 22-51 22-40 21-41 24-42
Average GRE Quantitative 162.9 160 161 162 163
Average GRE Verbal 162.0 162 163 160 163
Students with Advanced Degrees 73 % 76 % 70 % 72 % 86 %
Women 27 % 44 % 33 % 54 % 38 %
First-Generation College Student 27 % 24 % 18 % 9 % *
First-Generation Graduate Student 50 % 64 % 42 % 55 % *
International Students 41 % 36 % 9 % ** 33 % 28 %
Scholarship Recipients 100 % 100 % 100 % 100 % 100 %

* Data not collected for this cohort.

** Several admitted students were unable to obtain visas or travel because of COVID-19.

All Current Students

Undergraduate Field of Study

Economics and Business23 %
Social Sciences and Humanities33 %
Science19 %
Engineering16 %
Mathematics8 %
Other2 %

Academic Backgrounds in the Following Disciplines

  • Applied mathematics
  • Biostatistics
  • Business administration
  • Computer science
  • Conflict analysis & resolution
  • Civil engineering
  • Data analysis
  • Development administration / economics
  • Economics
  • Energy science, technology & policy
  • Engineering
  • Environmental economics & policy
  • Epidemiology & biostatistics
  • Finance
  • Global environmental health
  • Global health & population studies
  • Green technologies
  • Health informatics
  • Health policy & management
  • History
  • International education policy
  • International relations
  • Law
  • Logistics management
  • Management science
  • Medicine
  • National security & strategic studies
  • Neuroscience
  • Operations research
  • Philosophy
  • Physical chemistry
  • Political science
  • Predictive analytics
  • Psychology
  • Public administration / diplomacy / policy
  • Public health
  • Russian, East European, & Eurasian studies
  • Science & security
  • Social anthropology
  • Space operations
  • Strategic intelligence
  • Technology policy
  • Veterinary science

Countries of Origin

As of September 2022

  • Afghanistan
  • Brazil
  • China
  • Colombia
  • Costa Rica
  • Eswatini
  • India
  • Italy
  • Lebanon
  • Mexico
  • Nepal
  • Nigeria
  • Pakistan
  • Poland
  • Qatar
  • Republic of Korea
  • Singapore
  • Taiwan
  • Ukraine
  • United Kingdom
  • United States
  • Zimbabwe