A college degree, whether it be associates, bachelors, or masters is something many people are proud of.
But hundreds of people who have attended Delta College have never accepted what they earned.
When Delta College officials started going through enrollment records since 2013 to find out how many people earned degrees but never claimed it, they were surprised.
"It is a lot of people," says Emily Clement of Delta College,
In fact, 700 former Delta College students are getting letters this week saying they have earned an Associates of General Studies degree, but have never claimed it.
Clement says there could be a variety of reasons why the degrees have gone unclaimed.
"It could be because they were in a different program and they didn't realize they actually earned the associates in general studies, they transferred to a university, they moved out of state, they moved out of town," she says.
Delta College joined the Degrees When Due national initiative, designed to help states improve degree completion. Clement says people are getting the letters and calling Delta.
"What do I have to do, do I have to do something else it's like, no these are automatically going to be awarded unless you don't want this," says Clement.
Bureau of Labor Statistics show people have better prospects for job and earnings than those who have taken college courses but haven't received a degree.
"That's crazy that somebody would put the effort through and go through all this and never accept their reward," says Eddie Switek.
The Delta College student from Bay City will earn two associates degrees at Delta.
"So if somebody says hey, we have a third associates for you, you would take it wouldn't you," he was asked.
"Absolutely, why not there is more room on the wall," he laughs.