Oakwood University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) and the Department of Education of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists to award the associate, baccalaureate, and master's degrees. The first master's degree offered by the University was the Master of Pastoral Studies Degree (January 2008). The first graduate students were conferred degrees on May 9, 2009. Oakwood also conferred its first honorary doctorate on May 9, 2009, to Wintley Phipps, internationally renowned musician and the 2009 Commencement speaker. Oakwood University has been a member institution of the United Negro College Fund since 1964.