University of Massachusetts Global conferred 3,300-plus degrees, certificates in 2021-22

Photo Credit: Matt Gush for UMass Global

IRVINE, Calif. (Aug. 16, 2022) – University of Massachusetts Global conferred more than 3,300 degrees and certificates from July 1, 2021, through June 30, 2022. Nearly all instruction took place entirely online during this period. Each individual success that added up to this sum of newly-bestowed college credentials demonstrated the effectiveness of the university’s online programs, as well as the spirit of drive and motivation that characterizes UMass Global students.

“If you chase anything in life, chase the dream that gets you excited about living,” said David Earl Cobb IV, the student speaker for the Northern California Commencement in Sacramento. "Chase the dream that gives you hope, that gives you happiness, and dream of a better life."

Cobb earned an Education Specialist in School Psychology and Master of Arts in Educational Psychology. He was among the students who earned a total of 3,343 academic awards over the 12-month period.

The breakdown:

• 159 certificates.
• 1,357 undergraduate degrees.
• 1,827 graduate degrees.

This was the first year since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic that UMass Global hosted a series of live ceremonies up and down the West Coast to honor new graduates.

In addition to the June 11 Northern California Commencement, the university hosted Southern California Commencement on May 22 in Irvine, California, and Washington Commencement on July 15 in Port Townsend, Washington. UMass Global graduates with military ties to Joint Base Lewis-McChord outside Tacoma, Washington participated in a military ceremony held on June 3 near the Army and Air Force facility.

Although the university confers degrees and certificates year-round as students complete programs, the recent celebrations enabled graduates to gather with their loved ones for traditional ceremonies that, for many, took place at the end of an unconventional journey to a degree.

“Our stories aren’t over now,” said Kristen M. Grimes, one of the student speakers for Southern California Commencement.

“They are just beginning,” continued Grimes, who earned a Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership. “We have the power to change the world by transforming those around us.”

Grimes also noted during her address that she was a teen parent who put off her education to raise a family. Her first son, she said, earned a Master of Social Work from UMass Global and was among the graduates in the audience watching her speech.

Alumni like Cobb, Grimes, and Grimes’ son stand to benefit from employers’ increasingly favorable perceptions of online learning. Northeastern University’s Center for the Future of Higher Education and Talent Strategy reported this past December that 71% of C-suite leaders view online credentials as signifiers of an education that is as good as, or better than, one completed in a face-to-face setting.