Almost 6,000 BYU students will get degrees and become alumni after the April 2016 graduation.
The 5,948 undergraduates, graduate and master degree students in the April 2016 graduating class represent 49 U.S. states, five territories and 59 foreign countries.
Average graduate age varies by academic degree type: 24.8 years old for bachelor’s degrees, 28.6 years old for master’s degrees, 30.2 years old for doctorate degrees and 25.4 years old for all graduates generally.
This go-around, 3233 men (56.3 percent) and 2505 women (43.7 percent) make up the graduating class.
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The oldest graduate is 81-year-old Octogenarian Lawrence Fuja, who first came to BYU in 1960 and is now graduating with a Bachelor of General Studies degree 56 years later.
“The results of obtaining this degree will be forthcoming for years to come, but I do know that I am a better person for having gone down this road and am so grateful for the support of my family, the instructors and staff of BGS, and all who have encouraged me along the way,” Fuja wrote for new.byu.edu.
Graduates from the College of Family, Home and Social Sciences, the Marriott School of Management and the College of Life Sciences constitute 54.9 percent of bachelor’s degrees awarded in both Dec. 2015 and April 2016.
The seven remaining colleges make up only 45.1 percent of undergraduates receiving degrees.
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Senior president of the Presidency of the Seventy Elder L. Whitney Clayton is scheduled to be the presiding authority and speaker during BYU’s Commencement Exercises on Thursday, April 21, at 4 p.m., in the Marriott Center. BYU President Kevin J Worthen will conduct the exercises.
Scholar, diplomat and expert on Chinese-American relations Ambassador Su Ge will receive an honorary Doctorate of International Leadership degree.
The student speaker for the commencement will be Alicia Stanton, who is graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in molecular biology and a minor in editing. Stanton grew up in Spring, Texas, and will continue employment with the LDS Church History Department after graduation.
