The disclosure relates to a steam stripping process for producing purified polyimides, e.g., polyetherimide homopolymers and polyetherimide copolymers. The process can include contacting an initial polyimide with steam to remove a volatile species from the initial polyimide to produce a purified polyimide. The purified polyimide can have a weight average molecular weight of from 5,000 to 80,000 Daltons. The weight average molecular weight of the purified polyimide can be greater than or equal to 90% of the weight average molecular weight of the initial polyimide. The purified polyimide can have less than 44 ppm of a volatile species, having a molecular weight of less than 250 Daltons. The polyimide can have less than 10 ppm of a metal cation.