East Carolina University Board of Trustees first authorized a master's degree program on August 22, 1929.[4] The degrees' were first awarded in 1933.[5] From 1929 to 1941, the school focused on education degrees, and first offered a non-teaching master's of science degree in 1941.[5]
The Graduate School of East Carolina University offers more than 100 graduate programs through its colleges and programs, including:[3]
Accounting
Anthropology
Audiology
Art
Biology
Biomedical Physics
Business Administration
Chemistry
Communication
Computer Science
Criminal Justice
English
History
Kinesiology
Mathematics
Music
Nutrition
Occupational Therapy
Physical Therapy
Physics
Public Health
Sociology
The Graduate School also runs the PhD program of the Integrated Coastal Program and most certificates for the University.[2] Certain programs are offered through online learning, while others are only offered on-campus.[3] The Graduate School offers over 89 certificates across all 7 colleges and the Brody School of Medicine. Most graduate certificates are entirely online, with only 13 offered entirely in person.[7]
As of Fall 2021, there were 5,558 graduate students, of which 550 were in the medical and dental schools.[6][13] 66% of graduate's were female, 26.6% belong to underrepresented minority groups, and 1.3% are international students.[13][14] Of all graduate students, 24% of students pursue degrees in healthcare, 21% in business, and 15% in education.[13] In the 2019-2020 academic year, 65.3% of graduates took all classes online, 20.3% took no classes online, and 14.4% took classes in a hybrid setting.