In the hope of boosting degree completion rates, the US Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) in Washington DC is to examine attrition of minority students in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) programmes. The CGS will analyse data from 21 public and private universities for those entering programmes between 1992 and 2012. It aims to visit sites and interview students, faculty members and administrators to identify impediments to completion, and develop tools to remove them. Previous studies found that completion rates of minority students for STEM PhDs were significantly lower than those of non-minority students, notes Robert Sowell, vice-president for programmes and operations at CGS.