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> Assessment > 2006 Degrees Awarded History

2005-2006 Degrees Awarded History

Introduction

The number and type of degree awarded at Mountain State University (MSU) is defined by those degrees that have been approved by the Board of Trustees and the North Central Association (NCA).  Degrees awarded to students are recorded after the degree requirements have been certified as being completed.  The reporting period for each academic year has been defined as June 1 through May 31 and is reported to the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission (WVHEPC) on or before June 15 of each year.

The number and type of degrees offered by MSU has changed dramatically over the last five years.  As the University adds higher degrees in the future, the degrees awarded will also change.  Since the changes in degrees awarded has changed so much, it was deemed that information earlier than seven years would not be relevant to this analysis.  Information reported here begins with the 1999-2000 academic year and indicates how the number of degrees by type has changed over the last seven years.  All types have been on an upward trend with minor fluctuations through 2004-2005 with the exception of master's degrees which fell by 25% form the 2003-2004 to 204-2005 and then rebounded in 2005-2006.

The overall growth in total degrees awarded has increased by 38.4% over the 2004-2005 academic year. Associate degree were up by 19.5% while bachelor's degrees increased by 47.6%. Master's degrees increased by 36.4% while the post-baccalaureate certificate fell by 100%. The number of certificates remained constant.

The goal of this analysis was to identify the top ten degrees awarded for the last seven years.  The data indicated that there were some major changes within the last several years with the addition of new degrees such as the Bachelor’s in Organizational Leadership (BSOL) and the Master’s in Strategic Leadership (MSSL).  Therefore, additional analysis has been compiled for three years, two years and one year. 

Analysis

The top ten degrees were determined strictly based on the number of certified degrees awarded within the academic year.  It is interesting to note that over the last seven years, the top ten degrees have contributed from 69% to 72.8% of the total degrees awarded.

In 1999-2000 there were a total of 336 degrees awarded with the top degree being a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration (BSBA) and accounting for 17.5% of the total degrees for that academic year.  Other degrees helped contribute to the total degrees awarded but it wasn’t until the 2002-2003 academic year that the numbers shifted dramatically toward the new degrees that were offered.

The seven year comparison shows that the bachelor's in Organizational Leadership came in at number one with 13.8% of the total degrees awarded.  Surprisingly, the master's in Strategic Leadership came in at number two with 11.7% even though degrees have been issued for only the last four years.  The bachelor's in Nursing (BSN) moved up one spot from last year and came in at number three with 9.92% of the total degrees awarded. The bachelor's in Business Administration (BSBA) fell one spot and came in at number four with 7.8%.  The BA/BS in Interdisciplinary Studies stayed at number five with 7.0% of the total degrees awarded. The bachelor's in Administration of Criminal Justice moved up two spot to come in at number six with 4.7% of the total degrees awarded. The AS in Business Administration fell one spot to come in at number seven with 4.4% and the bachelor's in Physician Assistant also fell one spot to come in at number eight with 3.7%.  The AA/AS in General Studies stayed at number nine with 3.3%. The bachelor's in Social Work made it into the top ten with 2.8% knocking he associate's in Occupational Therapy Assistant out of the top ten.

The three year comparison shows that the Master’s in Strategic Leadership (MSSL) took the number one spot with 16.2% while the bachelor’s degree in Organizational Leadership (BSOL) fell to number two with 15.3% of the total degrees awarded.  The bachelor’s in Nursing (BSN) remained in the number three position with 11.2%. The bachelor’s in Administration of Criminal Justice (ADCJ) moved up two spots to number 4 with 6.9% of the total degrees awarded. The BA/BS in Interdisciplinary Studies fell one spot to number 5 with 6.0% and the BS in Business Administration also fell one spot to number six with 5.3%. The AA/AS in General Studies moved up one spot to take the seventh position with 3.7% of the total degrees awarded. The master's in Physician Assistant broke into the top ten coming in at number eight with 3.0% while the associate’s in science in Business Administration fell two positions to come in at number 9 with 2.5%. The bachelor’s in Social Work (BSW) fell one position to come in at number ten with 2.5% of the total degrees awarded.

In the two year comparison, the BSOL moved to the number one position with 16.5% of the total degrees awarded while the MSSL program fell to the number two spot with 13.7%. The BSN remained at number three with 12.2% followed by ADCJ moving up one spot to number four with 7.9%. The BSBA moved up one spot to number five with 4.9% while the BA/BS in Interdisciplinary Studies fell two spots with 4.3%. An AA/AS in General Studies remained in the number seven spot with 3.5% of the total degrees awarded. The master’s in Physician Assistant moved up one spot to eighth with 3.4%. Finally, the associate’s degree in Respiratory Care and the bachelor's in Medical Science tied for the ninth/tenth positions with 2.4% of the total degrees awarded.

In the 2005-2006 academic year, the BSN moved up two spots to the number one position with 15.1% of the total degrees awarded. The BSOL fell one position to number two with 14.8% and the MSSL also fell one position to number three with 14.7%. The ADCJ remained in the fourth position with 8.3%. The BSBA moved up one spot to number five with 4.58%. The AA/AS in General Studies and the BA/BS in Interdisciplinary Studies tied for the sixth/seventh positions with 3.7% of the total degrees awarded. The master’s in Physician Assistant fell one position to come in at number eight with 2.9%. The associate's in Diagnostic Medical Sonography and the bachelor's in Social Work both broke into the top ten displacing the associate's in Respiratory Care and the bachelor's in Medical Science. DMS/AS ranked number nine with 2.5% while the BSW ranked tenth with 2.4%.

In looking at the top ten program contributing the most graduates, special recognition should be given to the BSN program which increased the number of graduates by 158% from 59 in 2004-2005 to 152 in 2005-2006. Other programs showing dramatic increases were MSSL which increased by 64% (from 90 graduates to 148) and the ADCJ program which increased by 57% (from 137 graduates to 149). Percentage increases put the AS in Diagnostic Medical Sonography at the top with a 400% increase (from 5 graduates to 25) and the BSW program with a 200% increase (from 8 graduates to 24). Please review the detail information presented in the following links.