From the Dean: College level data, part 2

Recently I shared some data about our students; this week I am sharing data about the credit hours we are generating from our students and those across campus. Some data are from fiscal year 2024 (ended June 30, 2024) and others are from calendar year 2024.

Despite the fact that our enrollment numbers are down at the graduate and undergraduate levels, our credit hour production is up, largely due to minors and certificates that serve students outside our College as well as thoughtful course scheduling. Undergraduate credit hour production is up 5% over calendar year 2023 while graduate credit hour production is up 6% over calendar year 2023. The data are presented both numerically and graphically below.

Credit hour production 2019-2024 (calendar years)

I am grateful to the faculty and administrators who have designed, launched, and taught minors and certificates. I also appreciate the work of faculty and department heads in strategically scheduling classes and watching enrollments carefully.

We are also seeing growth in experiential learning spaces, such as research and service learning courses. From FY22 (post-pandemic) to FY24 we have seen a 63% increase in credit hours in R suffix courses, which are CURO-approved research courses for undergraduates, and we are on track to see another increase this year. Similarly, we have seen a 97% increase in credit hours generated by service learning courses from FY22 to FY24.

Credit hours from courses with R and S suffix

In addition, we offer seven study away programs and have over 700 active MOUs with school districts, clinics, medical offices, sports teams, and community organizations where our students gain experiential learning opportunities.

We have increased our summer credit hours with an increase of 5% over summer 2022 and a five-year increase of 8%.

We continue to closely monitor programs that have low enrollment or are low producing in terms of students completing the program while we are also looking for new opportunities that meet student and workforce demand. For example, we are seeing increased demand for online master’s degrees that serve professionals who are working full-time, and we are in the process of seeing approval for our first online Ph.D. program (in learning, design, and technology).

We are also partnering with the Gwinnett County School System to offer an M.A.T. in elementary education on the Gwinnett Campus to meet the needs of their provisionally certified teachers as well as launching a residency-based M.A.T. program for middle grades science teachers in Clarke and other nearby counties. I appreciate the innovative thinking that is leading to these new delivery modes and curricular opportunities.