SOURCE: Board of Regents
REGENTS REPORT
South Dakota Higher Education: Good Investment. Great Future. NO. 59, 01/03/97
Degrees Conferred
Degrees Conferred at All-time High
Degrees conferred can provide useful information about the university system. The
number of degrees conferred indicates the number of students finishing their degrees and
the disciplines in which degrees are conferred are indicators of future employment
interests and opportunities sought by South Dakota's young people. In fiscal year 1996
degrees conferred by the university system reached an all-time high.
DEGREES CONFERRED - THE LAST TEN YEARS
The number of degrees conferred at South Dakota's public universities has increased about
13.8% in the last decade. The following graph shows the number of all degrees conferred
from FY 1986 to FY 1996. This includes 1 year/associate's, bachelor's. master's, doctoral,
post-doctoral, and first professional degrees.
Degrees Conferred: FY86-96 All Degrees -
South Dakota Public Universities
SOURCE: Board of Regents
ACADEMIC DISCIPLINES WITH DEGREE TRENDS
Some changes have occurred over the last ten years with respect
to most popular disciplines for degrees conferred. However, education, engineering,
business management, health related, and social sciences degrees still are among the top
five most common degrees conferred. Below are two tables showing the top ten degrees
conferred in FY96 and FY86. The table includes bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees.
| Top Ten Disciplines - FY96 | Top Ten Disciplines - FY86 | ||||||
Discipline |
Number of Degrees | Percentage of Total | Discipline |
Number of Degrees | Percentage of Total | ||
| 1 | Education | 845 | 18% | 1 | Education | 965 | 24% |
| 2 | Health Professions & Related Sciences | 565 | 12% | 2 | Business Management | 659 | 16% |
| 3 | Engineering | 490 | 11% | 3 | Engineering | 645 | 16% |
| 4 | Business Management | 483 | 11% | 4 | Social Sciences | 323 | 8% |
| 5 | Social Sciences | 340 | 7% | 5 | Health Sciences | 225 | 6% |
| 6 | Psychology | 295 | 6% | 6 | Agricultural Sciences | 142 | 3% |
| 7 | Life Sciences | 215 | 5% | 7 | Allied Health | 113 | 3% |
| 8 | Letters | 155 | 3% | 8 | Life Sciences | 109 | 3% |
| 9 | Agricultural Sciences | 131 | 3% | 9 | Communication | 102 | 3% |
| 10 | Parks & Recreation | 116 | 3% | 10 | Computer & Information Science | 102 | 3% |
| Note: Does not include 1 Year, Associate's or First Professional Degrees | |||||||
| SOURCE: Board of Regents | |||||||
TYPES OF DEGREES CONFERRED
Nearly 71% of the degrees conferred by South Dakota's public universities
in FY96 were bachelor's degrees.
Degrees Conferred by Type: FY86-FY96
SOURCE: Board of Regents
CONCLUSION
In the last decade South Dakota's public universities have seen
substantial growth in the number of degrees conferred. Degrees conferred information
provides useful insight regarding student interests and how that might interact with the
state's future economy.