KENT — Kent State University awarded more than 5,500 degrees during its spring commencement ceremony.

The degrees included 1,445 accompanying institutional honors, 1,919 associate degrees, 2,657 bachelor’s degrees, 803 master’s degrees, 141 doctoral degrees,and four educational specialist degrees.

Local students receiving degrees were Gabrielle Jutte, Maria Stein, bachelor of arts from the College of Communications and Information, summa cum laude; and Cassandra Dulworth, Sidney, bachelor of science from the College of the Arts, cum laude.

Kent State University is Northeast Ohio’s leading public research university with more than 41,000 students and graduates more students than any other public university in Northeast Ohio. The university congratulates the class of 2015 and welcomes them into its illustrious family of over 222,000 alumni worldwide.

An economic impact study showed that Kent State alumni in Northeast Ohio generated $1.6 billion annually in higher workforce earnings and increased productivity for employers that hire them. Kent State has become an engine for economic, cultural and workforce development – locally and internationally.

The university is ranked among the nation’s 74 public high-research universities and among the top 76 in community engagement by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Kent State University, one of the nation’s largest regional campus systems and Ohio’s third largest public university, continues to do what matters.