The dissertation is broken, many scholars agree. Rethinking the academic centerpiece of a graduate education is an obvious place to start if, as many people believe, Ph.D. programs are in a state of crisis. Universities face urgent calls to reduce the time it takes to complete degrees, reduce attrition, and do more to prepare doctoral candidates for nonacademic careers, as students face rising debt and increased competition for a shrinking number of tenure-track jobs. Sentiment is growing to move beyond the traditional, book-length monograph to something that might actually help graduate students in their careers. Scholars cite numerous reasons why they believe that the dissertation is outdated and should no longer be a one-size-fits-all model for Ph.D. students.