• Over the past 10 years, the number of bachelors degrees has increased by about 350 to about 6,500 annually.

• Over the same time period, the number of awards associated with those degrees (major and certificates) has increased by about 1,400, to about 9,600 annually.

• The overall ratio of majors and certificates to degrees has increased from 1.33 in 2003 to 1.49 in 2012; most of that growth is associated with certificates.

• The percent of degree recipients with a single award has decreased from 72% to 62% in the past 10 years; the percent completing two or more majors/ certificates has increased from 28% to 38%.

• L&S has seen the largest gain in the number of majors and certificates per degree in the past ten years; L&S awarded nearly 1,000 more majors and certificates in 2012 than in 2003, compared to around 100 more degrees.

• Question – Does this increase in the awards associated with degrees add real quality to the undergraduate experience? Is the value sufficient to offset the substantial additional workload for academic and student support services?

Trends in Majors/Certificates Associated with Undergraduate

Degrees

Sara LazenbyJocelyn Milner

Academic Planning and Institutional Research

• Over the past 10 years, the number of bachelors degrees has increased by about 350 to about 6500 annually.

• Over the same time period, the number of awards associated with those degrees (major and certificates) has increased by about 1400, to about 9600 annually.

• The overall ratio of majors and certificates to degrees has increased from 1.33 in 2003 to 1.49 in 2012.

• The ratio of certificates to degrees has doubled since 2003.

2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-120

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

1.4

1.6

1.24 1.25 1.25 1.27 1.26 1.27 1.28 1.28 1.28 1.310.09 0.11 0.11 0.12 0.12 0.12 0.15 0.16 0.18 0.18

Ratio of Majors and Certificates to Degrees, 2003-2012Majors Certificates

Ratio of Degrees/Certificates to Degree

2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-124000

5000

6000

7000

8000

9000

10000

Trends in Number of Majors/Certificates and DegreesDegrees Majors + Certificates

Num

ber o

f Aw

ards

1 2 3 4 or More 5 or More0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

72%

25%

3% 0%

62%

31%

6%1%

Number of Majors and Certificates per Bachelor's Degree Recipient, 2003 and 2012 Degree Recipients

2003 2012

Number of Majors/Certificates per Degree

Perc

ent o

f Deg

ree

Recip

ient

s

• The percent of degree recipients with a single award has decreased from 72% to 62% in the past 10 years; the percent completing two or more majors/ certificates has increased from 28% to 38%.

• The percent of students with three majors has doubled in the past ten years (from 3% to 6%); this is an increase from 235 to 489 major/certificate awards.

Distribution of Awards Per Degree

DRAFT

CALS

Business

Education

Engineering

Human Ecology

L&S

0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000

542

942

567

859

369

4,596

912

1,154

480

854

342

5,524

Number of Majors and Cer-tificates attached to De-

grees

2012 2003

CALS

Business

Education

Engineering

Human Ecology

L&S

Overall

0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8

1.23

1.51

1.15

1.18

1.06

1.40

1.33

1.25

1.58

1.22

1.29

1.20

1.62

1.49

Ratio of Majors and Cer-tificates per Degree

2012 2003

• L&S has seen the largest gain in the number of majors and certificates per degree in the past ten years.

• L&S awarded nearly 1,000 more majors and certificates in 2012 than in 2003, compared to 100 more degrees.

• L&S and Business have above-average ratio of majors and certificates per degree.

School/College Patterns

Bachelor’s degrees awarded in Nursing, Pharmacy, and the School of Medicine and Public Health are included in the overall ratio.

1 2 3 4 or More0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

65%

31%

4%

0%

52%

36%

10%2%

Number of Majors and Certificates per Degree, Letters & Science

2003 2012

Number of Majors/Certificates per Degree

Perc

ent o

f Deg

ree

Recip

ient

s

• The percent of L&S degrees carrying two or more majors/certificates has increased from 35% to 48%.

• L&S awarded nearly 1,000 more majors and certificates in 2012 than in 2003 despite only awarding about 100 more degrees.

• The percent of L&S degrees carrying three majors/certificates has more than doubled in the past ten years from 4% to 10% of degrees.

• The percent of L&S degrees carrying 4 or more majors/certificates has increased from 0.12% in 2003 to 2% in 2012.

Distribution of Awards per Degree – L&S