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Georgia Southern recognized as top 100 degree producer for diverse students

Feb 15, 2023

2 min

Georgia Southern University has ranked in the top providers nationally for degrees conferred to diverse students among higher education institutions.



For several years, Diverse Issues In Higher Education has produced the Top 100 Degree Producers rankings of the institutions that confer the most degrees to diverse students. The data was reported at the end of 2022 for the previous year of 2020-2021.


Georgia Southern ranked highly in the following categories:


  • #2 for international (temporary resident) students receiving doctoral degrees in public health
  • #3 for African American and total minority students receiving doctoral degrees in public health
  • #5 for African American students receiving bachelor’s degrees in the physical sciences
  • #6 for African American students receiving bachelor’s degrees in communications disorder sciences
  • #6 for African American students receiving bachelor’s degrees in parks and recreation


“We are proud to be ranked in the top 20 in a variety of disciplines and categories,” said Dominique A. Quarles, Ph.D., associate vice president for inclusive excellence and chief diversity officer. "Along with our designations as a First-gen Forward Institution and Military Friendly School, this highlights the University’s success in providing education to students in our diverse state and region, and it reaffirms the importance of inclusion as a value at Georgia Southern.”


The number of combined bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees awarded increased by over 55,000 degrees from 2019-2021 to 2021-2022 for diverse students nationwide.


Underrepresented students of color received 35% of the combined degrees. The data comes from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data system survey known as IPEDS, which are collected by the U.S. Department of Education.



Georgia Southern detailed diversity rankings:


Rank  Category                 Degree Level                 Discipline


#2      Temporary                  Resident Doctorate        Public Health

#3      African American        Doctorate                       Public Health

#3      Total Minority              Doctorate                       Public Health

#5      African American        Bachelor’s                      Physical Sciences

#6      African American        Bachelor’s                      Communication Disorders Sciences

#6      African American        Bachelor’s                     Parks, Recreation, Leisure

#8      African American        Bachelor’s                     Engineering

#9      African American        Bachelor’s                     Marketing

#10    African American        Bachelor’s                     Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Sciences

#13    African American        Bachelor’s                     Finance

#13    African American        Master’s                        Parks, Recreation, Leisure

#14    African American        Bachelor’s                     Family And Consumer Sciences

#14    Two or More Races    Bachelor’s                    Communication Disorders

#15    African American        Bachelor’s                    Education

#19   African American         Bachelor’s                    All Disciplines Combined


View the Top 100 Diverse Report Here


Diverse Top 100


For more information about the Top 100 Diverse Report or to speak with Dominique A. Quarles — simply reach out to Georgia Southern Director of Communications Jennifer Wise at jwise@georgiasouthern.edu to arrange an interview today.

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