This is really program dependent. The NSF actually publishes statistics on all kinds of aspects of degree programs. Life Sciences (which doesn't have the reput

This is really program dependent. The NSF actually publishes statistics on all kinds of aspects of degree programs. Life Sciences (which doesn't have the reputation as a super speedy science program) has a median time in PhD program of around 5.5 years. Obviously the distribution is going to be skewed, but some fields have had a push towards really reducing the time to graduation. I'm all for doing serious introspection before (and during!) a PhD, but the comment is way too short to set off many alarm bells for me. https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf21308/data-tables#group7 https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf21308/data-tables#group7