State university system awards record number of degrees

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ATLANTA – The University System of Georgia awarded an all-time high 74,446 degrees during the last fiscal year, up 2.1% over fiscal 2021.

“By preparing students for good jobs and helping create the jobs of the future, Georgia’s public colleges and universities are a great value for students and a major contributor to our state’s economy,” system Chancellor Sonny Perdue said Tuesday.

“The record in degrees awarded only confirms that the hard work being done across the university system is having an impact on the success of both our students and Georgia.”

The number of degrees awarded since the university system joined the Complete College America program in 2011 has grown by 36%, far outpacing the 7.1% increase in enrollment during that period.

The university system has undertaken many initiatives during the last decade to boost graduation rates, including the Momentum Year program, which gets first-year students off to a fast start by ensuring they pursue an aggressive course schedule.

The system also has made a point of quickly alerting student advisors when their charges’ performance is lagging and provided “degree roadmaps” to prevent students from wasting time and money on courses that don’t count toward their degree.

Last month, the system launched the website Georgia Degrees Pay to show the value of a degree.

Graduates from the class of 2021 will earn more than $1 million more during their lifetimes than they would have if they didn’t go to college and earn a bachelor’s degree, according to a recent analysis. Graduate and professional degrees lift those average earnings even higher.

The new website provides a variety of data on the university system’s 26 institutions to allow comparisons of costs to attend, majors and fields of study, and average career earnings.