Diagnosis: Most State Professional Degrees are in Medicine

• Joe Wertz
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  Joe Wertz was a reporter and managing editor for StateImpact Oklahoma from 2011-2019. He reported on energy and environment issues for national NPR audiences and other national outlets. He previously worked as a managing editor, assistant editor and staff reporter at several major Oklahoma newspapers and studied journalism at the University of Central Oklahoma.

Source: State Regents for Higher Education

In Oklahoma, most first professional degrees granted by state colleges and universities are in the medical field.

This state trains a lot of pharmacists: 200 in 2008-2009, while medical doctors and future lawyers are just about tied for the No. 2 slot, the most recent data from the state Regents for Higher Education show.

Third place is nearly a tie, too. Eighty-three veterinary medicine degrees were granted in ’08-’09 and 82 osteopathic medicine degrees.

Well over half of all first professional degrees were granted by the University of Oklahoma Health Science Center. OU’s College of Law, the state’s law school, came in second, and awarded 160 law-related degrees that year.

Top 10 First Professional Degrees Granted by State Universities

Source: State Regents for Higher Education