“The colleges in the San Diego Community College District are the leading providers of higher education and workforce training in the region, and 1 in 4 of our Class of 2025 graduates are first-generation college students, underscoring our critical role in uplifting communities through low- and no-cost pathways to improved socioeconomic outcomes,” said SDCCD Chancellor Gregory Smith.
The 3,838 graduates at the for-credit City, Mesa and Miramar colleges are earning a total of 4,557 associate degrees and 1,457 shorter-term certificates, according to preliminary data compiled by the SDCCD’s Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Research. Nineteen students are earning bachelor’s degrees from Mesa College’s Health Information Management Program, which was among the first community college baccalaureate programs in the state. The noncredit, adult-serving College of Continuing Education will be celebrating 5,643 students earning 10,688 vocational program certificates and 73 high school diplomas.
Demonstrating the range of learners who turn to SDCCD, the average age of students in this year’s graduating class is 27 years old, with the youngest graduate a 16-year old standout student earning multiple degrees at Mesa College and older graduates well into their mid-70s. Other highlights: Abigail Thrush, an East Village Middle College High School student who is also enrolled at City College, is earning five associate degrees (while maintaining a 4.0 GPA) and will be transferring to UC Santa Barbara this fall. And for the first time, seven incarcerated individuals at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar’s Naval Consolidated Brig will be graduating with a Certificate of Achievement in Entrepreneurship through Miramar College’s Rising Scholars program, though they will not be participating at Miramar College’s formal commencement ceremony.
Schedule for SDCCD commencements, listed in chronological order:
- San Diego Miramar College commencement is set to begin at 10 a.m. Friday, May 16, at Compass Point on the Miramar College campus, 10440 Black Mountain Road, 92126.
- San Diego City College commencement is set to begin at 5 p.m. Thursday, May 22, at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park, 2125 Pan American E Road, 92101.
- San Diego Mesa College commencement is set to begin at 2 p.m. Friday, May 30, at Merrill Douglas Stadium on the Mesa College campus, 7250 Mesa College Drive.
- San Diego College of Continuing Education commencement is set to begin at 5 p.m. Friday, June 6, at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park, 2125 Pan American E Road, 92101.