Undergraduate Persistence
and Completion

Over 3.7 million undergraduate credentials were awarded in 2016. Of these, approximately 1.7 million were sub-baccalaureate credentials—1 million were associate degrees, over 675,000 were short-term certificates, and over 10,600 were long-term certificates. The number of bachelor’s degrees earned was 2 million. White students earned the largest share of sub-baccalaureate credentials and bachelor’s degrees awarded in 2016, followed by Hispanic or Latino and Black or African American students.