OSU has in-person graduation celebration on Friday and virtual graduation Saturday

CORVALLIS – Oregon State University will graduate a record 7,391 students during a virtual commencement event at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, June 12.

An in-person graduation celebration will take place the day before from 12:30 to 3 p.m. The event will include an informal processional of graduates, departing from the Memorial Union and Valley Library quads and ending at Reser Stadium, where graduates will hear brief remarks from OSU leaders.

Face masks will be required at the in-person event. As family and friends will be unable to attend the stadium event, graduates will be able to have their photo taken at booths set up in the stadium to share later with others.

The 7,391 graduating students will receive 7,690 degrees during the virtual event. (There will be 271 students receiving two degrees and four who will receive three degrees.)

A virtual commencement address will be given by Edward J. Ray, who led a transformation at Oregon State during 17 years of service as the university’s president. Ray served as OSU president through June 30, 2020 and is now president emeritus. He was scheduled to give the commencement address last year, but the ceremony was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some facts and figures about OSU’s class of 2021:

• 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.