Virginia State Council Of Higher Education, VA
Home MenuReport of 2017-18 Degree Completion and Other Awards
In 2017-18, Virginia public and private nonprofit institutions awarded a total of 119,980 degrees and certificates, the largest ever and an increase of 1,053 awards over the previous year.
The growth of awards is an important measurement of progress toward The Virginia Plan for Higher Education’s objective to be the best-educated state by 2030 and the goal of Top Jobs 21 legislation to award 100,000 additional in-state degrees by 2025.
ALL AWARDS 2017-18
Of the 119,980 awards, 72% were from public institutions (45% from four-year and 27% from two-year). Three in four awards were for undergraduates as certificates, bachelor's or associate degrees.
AWARDS BY INSTITUTION TYPE
OF THE 54,947 BACHELOR’S DEGREES AWARDED IN 2017-18:
This record number of degrees in STEM-H fields may indicate increasing interest in those careers.
NEW ECONOMY WORKFORCE GRANT RESULTS (2017-18)
TOTAL AWARDS
100,000 MORE UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES
In addition to the best-educated state objective, the General Assembly’s Top Jobs 21 legislation set a goal to award 100,000 additional in-state undergraduate degrees by 2025. However, two years of declining degree awards now leave the Commonwealth short of the goal by approximately 20,000 degrees if no further increases occur. Additional declines would worsen this shortfall.