The International Affairs Office of the U.S. Department of Education listed 24 frequently awarded research doctorates titles accepted by the National Science Foundation (NSF) as representing degrees equivalent in research content to the Ph.D in 2008. As of the 2014 Survey of Earned Doctorates this had been reduced to 18 after some were judged to be professional rather than research; most Ed.D. degrees were also considered to be professional and removed from the survey but some are still considered research degrees and it remains the second most popular research doctorate after the Ph.D. (albeit with 1.1% of awards compared to 98.1% for the Ph.D.).
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Research Doctorates
The terminal Doctorate (graduate) degrees requiring defense of a Dissertation, based off historic convention, listed in 2008 (noted if 2014 list removed them) are:
Professional Doctorates
In addition to the research doctorate, the US has many professional degrees (previously, first-professional degrees) which are titled as doctor's degrees and classified as "doctors degree - professional practice". These do not have the "advanced work beyond the master's level, including the preparation and defense of a dissertation based on original research, or the planning and execution of an original project demonstrating substantial artistic or scholarly achievement" of the research doctorate, but do require a total time to degree (including prior study at bachelor's level) of at least six years, and must provide "the knowledge and skills for the recognition, credential, or license required for professional practice". There are also some programs leading to awards titled as doctorates that meet neither the definition of the research doctorate nor those of the professional doctorate. These are classified as "doctor's degree - other".