In 2023-24, Virginia’s public and private nonprofit colleges and universities and ECPI University awarded 132,287 undergraduate and graduate degrees and certificates, which was 2,387 more than the prior year. This is the first year that ECPI data has been included in the annual completions report.

Key Findings:

• Of the 57,562 bachelor’s degree awarded, public four-year institutions conferred 38,529, which was 483 fewer than the previous year. Private nonprofit institutions and ECPI conferred 19,033 bachelor’s degrees, 483 more than the previous year.
  
  
• Virginia’s community colleges and Richard Bland College conferred 17,165 associate degrees, 155 more than in the previous year. (The public and private four-year institutions conferred an additional 2,390 associate degrees.)
  
  
• Together, the two-year institutions also produced 14,637 sub-baccalaureate certificates in 2023-24, an increase of 2,241 over the previous year. (The public and private four-years conferred 1,302.)
  
  
• Together, the public and private universities also produced 34,411 graduate and professional degrees (282 more than last year) and 4,820 post-graduate certificates in 2023-24.
  
  
• Degrees in STEM-H fields (science, technology, engineering, math and health professions) continued to grow. Public institutions awarded 29,416 STEM-H degrees, or 39.7% of all degrees – the highest number and percentage ever. Private nonprofit colleges and universities awarded 10,914 STEM-H degrees, slightly more than the previous year, or 27.3% of all degrees.
  
  
• The top programs for bachelor’s degrees at public institutions are psychology, biology, computer and information sciences, registered nursing, business /commerce and business administration. Computer and information sciences was the fastest growing program, moving from sixth place in 2021-22 to third in 2023-24.
  
  
• Psychology was the most frequently awarded bachelor’s degree for women attending public four-year institutions, while it was the eighth highest for men. Conversely, computer and information science was the most frequently awarded degree at public four-year institutions for men, but didn’t make the top 10 most frequently awarded degree for women.
  
  
• Virginia will not meet the goal set by the Top Jobs Act of 2021of a cumulative additional 100,000 degrees awarded by 2025 to in-state undergraduates at public institutions and a “comparable increase” in degree awards at private nonprofit institutions. Virginia will fall short by approximately 19,000 degrees at public institutions.
  
  
• The projected shortfall is predominantly the result of decreases in the annual award of associate degrees and a lack of growth in bachelor’s degrees since 2016-17. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the situation.
  
  
• Virginia does remain on pace to meet the statewide strategic plan, The Virginia Plan, goal of having 70% of working-age Virginians holding a degree or workforce credential by 2030. To date, 957,684 undergraduate credentials have been awarded since 2014-15 with a target goal of 1.5 million by 2030.

Read the full report.