🅵🆄🅽 🅵🅰︎🅲🆃 🅵🆁🅸🅳🅰︎🆈 : Yale Awards First Ph.D in United States At Commencement in 1861, Yale University awarded three Ph.D. degrees, not only the first ever awarded at Yale, but also the first in the United States. The University of Pennsylvania followed in 1870; Harvard, in 1872; and Princeton, in 1879. The Yale graduate programs continued to grow, although they would not be named a separate graduate school until 1892. ‎𐫱𐫱𐫱𐫱𐫱𐫱𐫱𐫱𐫱𐫱𐫱𐫱𐫱𐫱𐫱𐫱𐫱𐫱𐫱𐫱 In 1876 Edward Alexander Bouchet (Yale College Class of 1874) was the first African American to earn a Ph.D. in the United States. His degree was the sixth doctorate in physics ever awarded in that field in the U.S. ‎𐫱𐫱𐫱𐫱𐫱𐫱𐫱𐫱𐫱𐫱𐫱𐫱𐫱𐫱𐫱𐫱𐫱𐫱𐫱𐫱 In 1892, women were admitted into the Graduate School as students in full standing, and in 1894, Elizabeth Deering Hanscom and six others were the first seven women to earn a Yale Ph.D. Deering and her fellow women Ph.D. graduates went on to enjoy long and di...