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
Degrees Conferred 2008
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 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 2003-08: Six-Year Trends
Degrees Conferred by Gender
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
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