Overcoming coronavirus, Texas A&M has announced another record spring graduating class.
10,796 at all Aggie locations is 32 more from last spring.
In-person graduation ceremonies were postponed due to coronavirus.
As associate vice president Chad Wootton said during Monday’s update from the Brazos County health district, administrators thanked students for their transition to online classes following an extended spring break. That was credited for reducing the spread of the pandemic.
From Texas A&M:
Texas A&M University is expected to award a record 10,796 degrees as the Spring 2020 semester comes to a close this week. The totals include graduates from the main campus in College Station, educational sites around Texas, including professional programs such as the College of Dentistry in Dallas, the School of Law in Fort Worth, and branch campuses in Galveston and Doha, Qatar.
The totals surpass the May 2019 number of 10,767, which was also a record at the time.
Texas A&M President Michael K. Young applauded the graduates’ sacrifice and their fellow classmates’ efforts this spring, as students shifted to full-time, online learning. The transition is credited by university officials for slowing or stopping the exponential growth of the COVID-19 virus on the campuses of Texas A&M and the communities in which Texas A&M has a presence.
In-person graduation ceremonies have been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic response and its impacts. A special message will be sent to graduates who clear their degree audit. The message will include the formal conferring of degrees. Plans are still being considered for future ceremonial opportunities as public health guidance allows.
Some professional schools will be holding virtual ceremonies and others, such as the College of Pharmacy, are planning for alternate dates later this year. Texas A&M University at Qatar will recognize graduates with 95 degrees this term. Texas A&M University at Galveston will confer 259 degrees and the commissioning of 74 graduates with U.S. Navy commission and/or U.S. Coast Guard licenses.
In addition, more than 125 members of the Corps of Cadets are scheduled to receive their commissions as new officers in the U.S. Armed Forces via virtual ceremonies.
Across all its programs, Texas A&M will confer 238 doctoral degrees.
Expected degrees and professional certifications to be awarded include those from the College of Agriculture & Life Sciences (1,102); the College of Architecture (528); Mays Business School (1,636); the College of Dentistry (138); the College of Education & Human Development (1,072); the College of Engineering (2,359); and the College of Geosciences (205).
Also included are the Bush School of Government & Public Service (165); the School of Law (151); the College of Liberal Arts (1,520); the College of Medicine (192); the College of Nursing (130); the Irma Lerma Rangel College of Pharmacy (209); the School of Public Health (209); the College of Science (408); and the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (518).
All graduates are expected to have access to their official final transcripts immediately, with their diplomas arriving by mail in the next four to six weeks.