6/7/01

David M. Granger

AUBURN SETS RECORD WITH SPRING 2001 GRADUATING CLASS

AUBURN -- Auburn University's spring graduating class was the largest in the school's 145-year history, according to John Fletcher, interim assistant vice president for enrollment management services.

Auburn awarded 2,361 academic degrees at the culmination of spring semester, breaking the old record of 2,240 set in spring 2000.

Because of the size of the class, AU was forced to have two separate ceremonies on May 12 for graduates designated schools and colleges -- to accommodate the 22,000 who attended also a record for single-event attendance at Auburn's Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum.

Fletcher said spring terms historically produce more graduates and, with the change at AU from the quarter system to semesters, the record-breaking graduation was expected.

"Spring semester is, for most universities, going to be the term when the most degrees are awarded," he said. "Most students stay basically on a year-to-year schedule with the goal of graduating at the end of the spring. We expected that, with the change to semesters, our first spring graduation after that change would result in a record class."

Fletcher added that the change to the semester system would likely result in larger classes at AU as a whole.

"You've basically got one less graduation than you had with the quarter system, with a relatively stable number of students graduating each year," he said. "You've got to spread the number of students who would graduate in that fourth ceremony under the quarter system over the three that we have now."

And, Fletcher said, the record set in May is one that he doesn't anticipate standing for too long.

"Personally, I see our spring classes getting larger and larger every year," he said. "It's not going to surprise me if, down the road, we have a class of 3,000 graduates or more."

Since its founding as East Alabama Male College in 1856, AU has awarded more than 186,000 academic degrees at its main campus. Combined, AU and Auburn University at Montgomery have awarded more than 210,000 degrees.

AU-recordclass

CONTACT: Fletcher, 334-844-6420.