A record number of students will graduate from Oregon State University this weekend.
Nearly 7,400 graduates will walk the virtual stage Saturday morning during an online ceremony. The speaker will be former OSU President Ed Ray.
This will be the second year in a row that the traditional commencement event won’t be held, due to the pandemic. But on Friday, the university is offering graduates from both this year and last year the chance to walk in a processional through the campus and into Reser Stadium, where they’ll hear brief remarks from OSU leaders and have their pictures taken.
The processional and brief ceremony at the stadium will be open to graduates only, meaning friends and family will be unable to attend.
The university offered the following list of facts and figures about this year's graduating class:
- Of the 7,690 degrees that will be awarded, 6,210 will go to students receiving bachelor’s degrees; 1,037, master’s degrees; 264, doctor of philosophy degrees; 81, doctor of pharmacy degrees; 70, doctor of veterinary medicine degrees; and 8, doctor of education.
- OSU’s 2021 graduates represent all of Oregon’s 36 counties, 50 states and 73 countries.
- Students of color represent 24.7% of this year’s graduating class.
- The oldest graduate is 79 years old; the youngest is 19 years old; the average age is 25.
- The graduating class includes 177 veterans of U.S. military service.
- A record total of 1,384 Oregon State students completed requirements in 43 degree programs this year through Ecampus, the university’s top-ranked online education provider. The graduates hail from 47 states and 15 countries.
- The degrees to be awarded include 216 to undergraduate students (including three who were double majors) and 55 to graduate students from OSU-Cascades in Bend.
- OSU’s Honors College is graduating 230 students.
- The graduating class includes 1,390 students who are the first in their family to earn a college degree; 4,226 Oregon residents; and 3,164 non-resident students of which 983 are international students.
