Degrees Conferred 2008: Enhancing and Expanding the Commonwealth’s Workforce Board of Higher...

Board of Higher Education Meeting | June 4, 2009

Degrees Conferred 2008

Degrees conferred in the Massachusetts Public Higher Education System (institution-level and segment-level) during the 2007-08 academic year

Degrees conferred by gender and race/ethnicity

Certificate, Associate, Bachelor, Master, Doctoral levels

Discipline Areas/Academic Fields

Focus on degrees conferred in STEM and Health fields

Six-year trend analysis

Report Contents


In FY2008, Massachusetts public institutions of higher education conferred more than 31,000 degrees and certificates.

Approximately half were conferred at the baccalaureate level. About 26% were associate degrees, 17% were graduate-level degrees and 10% were certificates.

The most common degrees were in the areas of Health, Education, Liberal Arts, Business, Psychology and Public Safety.

The overall number of degrees conferred has increased steadily over the past seven years.

Report Highlights


Degrees Conferred By Segment


Top 15 Degree and Certificate Fields


Top Fields for Associate Degrees


Top Fields for Bachelor Degrees


Top Fields for Master Degrees


Top Fields for Doctoral Degrees

Six-Year Trends

15%

12%

17%

Degrees Conferred 2003-08: Six-Year Trends

All Degrees Conferred

35.3%

38.1%

68.8%

Degrees Conferred 2003-08: Six-Year TrendsDegrees Conferred to Minority Students

Degrees Female % Increase

Male % Increase

Associate 14.4% 11.0%Bachelor 11.7% 17.6%

Master 13.1% 26.7%

13.2% 18.7%


Degrees Conferred by Gender

24%

Degrees Conferred 2003-08: Six-Year TrendsSTEM and Health Degrees Conferred

2.4%


STEM Degrees Conferred

STEM 2002 2007 % Growth

S-Science 895 1,170 30%

T-Technology 1,167 903 -23%

E-Engineering 1,502 1,550 3%

M-Mathematics 162 199 23%

30%23%

3%

23%

Degrees Conferred 2003-08: Six-Year TrendsSTEM Degrees Conferred By Field

17

50%

Degrees Conferred 2003-08: Six-Year TrendsHealth Professions and Related Clinical Sciences Degrees Conferred

55.8%


Nursing Degrees Conferred

Public and Private Institution Comparison

Nursing Degrees Conferred: Public and Private Institution Comparison

Nursing Associate Degrees


Nursing Bachelor Degrees


Nursing Master Degrees


Doctoral Nursing Degrees

Meeting the Commonwealth’s Needs

Workforce Development

According to CommCorp, approximately 60% of “critical occupations” in the Commonwealth require an associate degree or higher. Three of the top five “critical occupations” with the most vacancies

(as of 2Q 2008) were in the areas of Health, Business, and Education, which aligns with our top degree/certificate fields.

The Computer/Mathematical field had the fourth-most vacancies. We produce relatively few degrees in these fields and have not seen significant increases.

According to the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, job vacancies fell 40% between the 4Q of 2007 and the 4Q of 2008. However, longitudinal data show that health, business, and

education are consistently at or near the top of job vacancy rankings.

Meeting the Commonwealth’s Needs

Workforce Development

Department of Higher Education’s Fiscal Year 2008 Degrees Conferred Report: http://www.mass.edu/library/reports.asp

CommCorp analysis on critical vacancies: http://commcorp.org/researchandevaluation/vacancy-critical.html#topten

Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development Vacancy Reports: http://lmi2.detma.org/Lmi/LMIjobvacancy.asp

Sources

Degrees Conferred 2008: Enhancing and Expanding the Commonwealth’s Workforce Board of Higher...

Documents

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