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> Assessment > 2007 Degrees Awarded History

2006-2007 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 eight 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 eight 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 2004-2005 and then rebounded in the last two years.

The overall growth in total degrees awarded has increased by 7.5%% over the 2005-2006 academic year. Associate degree fell by 15.8% while bachelor's degrees increased by 16.2%. Master's degrees increased by 6.2% while the post-master's certificate remained constant at 0. The number of undergraduate certificates fell by 100% dropping from 1 to 0.

The goal of this analysis was to identify the top ten degrees awarded for the last eight 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 four years, 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 eight years, the top ten degrees have contributed from 65.7% to 75.9% 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 that accounted 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. Total degrees awarded have increased by 321% over the last eight years to 1,080 degrees awarded in 2006-2007.

The eight year comparison shows that the bachelor's in Organizational Leadership came in at number one with 14.2% of the total degrees awarded.  The bachelor's in Nursing moved up one spot from last year and came in at number two with 660 degrees or 12.9% of the total degrees awarded. Surprisingly, the master's in Strategic Leadership fell one spot and came in at number three with 401 degrees or 7.87% of total degrees awarded even though degrees have been issued for only the last five years.  The bachelor's in Business Administration remained in fourth position with 358 degrees awarded or 7.0% of the total degrees awarded.  The bachelor's in Interdisciplinary Studies stayed at number five with 7.0% of the total degrees awarded. The bachelor's in Administration of Criminal Justice remained in sixth position with 5.1% of the total degrees awarded. The associate in Business Administration remained in seventh spot with 3.7% and the associate in General Studies moved up to the eight position with 3.2% of the total degrees awarded. The bachelor's in Physician Assistant dropped one spot to number nine with 2.9%.  The bachelor's in Social Work fell out of the top ten and the associate in Occupational Therapy Assistant moved back into the top ten with 2.5% of the total degrees awarded for the last eight years.

The major contributors change a little when we look at the last four years. The master's in Strategic Leadership is the major contributor with 546 degrees or 15.5% of the total degrees awarded. The bachelor's in Organizational Leadership came in second with 15.3% followed by the bachelor's in Nursing with 15.1% of the total degrees awarded. The bachelor's in Administration of Criminal Justice holds the fourth spot with 6.8% while the bachelor's in Interdisciplinary Studies came in at number five with 5.4% of the total degrees awarded. The bachelor's in Business Administration came in at number six with 4.9% while the associate in General Studies came in at number seven with 3.5% of the total degrees awarded. The master's in Physician Assistant came in at number eight with 3.1% while the bachelor's in Medical Science came in at number nine with 2.5% of the total degrees awarded. Rounding out the top ten is the bachelor's in Social Work with 2.2% of the total degrees awarded.

The three year comparison shows that the bachelor's in Nursing moved back into the top spot with 470 degrees or 16.7% of the total degrees awarded. The bachelor’s degree in Organizational Leadership remained in the number two spot with 16.1% while the master's in Strategic Leadership fell to the third spot with 13.8% of the total degrees awarded.  The bachelor’s in Administration of Criminal Justice remained in the number four spot with 7.3% of the total degrees awarded. The bachelor's in Business Administration moved up to the number five spot with 4.6% while the bachelor's in Interdisciplinary Studies fell one spot to number six with 4.1% of the total degrees awarded. The master's in Physician Assistant move up one spot to number seven with 3.3% while the associate in General Studies fell one spot to number eight with 3.2% of the total degrees awarded. The bachelor's in Medical Science (number nine) and the associate in Occupational Therapy Assistant (number ten) both broke into the top ten with 3.1% and 2.2% respectively. Both the associate in Business Administration and the bachelor’s in Social Work fell out of the top ten.

In the two year comparison, the bachelor's in Nursing moved up two spots to number one with 19.7% of the total degrees awarded. The bachelor in Organizational Leadership fell one spot to number two with 15.1% while the master's in Strategic Leadership fell to number three with 14.2% of the total degrees awarded. The bachelor's in Administration of Criminal Justice remained in the number four spot with 7.3% and the bachelor's in Business Administration remained in the fifth spot with 4.3% of the total degrees awarded. The bachelor's in Interdisciplinary Studies remained in the sixth spot with 3.8% and the associate in General Studies remained in seventh spot with 3.3% of the total degrees awarded. The master's in Physician Assistant remained at number eight with 3.1% of the total degrees awarded. The bachelor's in Medical Science remained in the number nine spot with 2.9% while the associate in Diagnostic Medical Sonography moved up into the tenth spot with 2.2% of the total degrees awarded. The associate in Respiratory Care fell out of the top ten.

In the 2006-2007 academic year, the BSN remained in the number one position with 259 degrees or 24.0% of the total degrees awarded. The bachelor's in Organizational Leadership remained in the number two spot with 14.4% and the master's in Strategic Leadership remained in the number three position with 13.8% of the total degrees awarded. The bachelor's in Administration of Criminal Justice remained in the fourth spot with 6.5% while the bachelor's in Medical Science moved back into the top ten at number five with 4.4% of the total degrees awarded. The bachelor's in Interdisciplinary Studies moved up into the sixth position with 3.9% and the master's in Physician Assistant moved up to the number seven position with 3.3% of the total degrees awarded. The associate in General Studies fell two spots to number eight with 2.9% while the bachelor's in Business Administration fell four spots to number nine with 2.9% of the total degrees awarded. The associate in Occupational Therapy Assistant moved into the top ten at tenth with 2.2% of the total degrees awarded. The associate's in Diagnostic Medical Sonography and the bachelor's in Social Work both fell out of the top ten.

In looking at the top ten program contributing the most graduates, special recognition should be given to the bachelor's in Nursing program which increased the number of graduates by 70% from 152 in 2005-2006 to 259 in 2006-2007. Other programs showing dramatic increases were the bachelor's in Medical Science which increased by 261% (from 13 graduates to 47) and the master's in Nursing which increased by 250% (from 4 graduates to 14).  Please review the detail information presented in the following links.