News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NR-05-26-23-commencement
May 26, 2023

54th Commencement Celebration Planned

College of the Canyons will honor its 2023 graduating class during the college’s 54th annual commencement celebration, which will include a morning and evening ceremony. 

The events will begin promptly at 8:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Friday, June 2, in the college’s Honor Grove, located on the Valencia campus.

“This year, the college will be conferring more than 3,400 degrees,” said College of the Canyons Chancellor Dr. Dianne G. Van Hook. “As Chancellor, there is no other day I look forward to the most throughout the school year than Commencement. It is a momentous occasion for our graduates who have worked tirelessly to reach their graduation goal, despite facing various challenges and setbacks along the way, to make their dreams a reality. Their perseverance, determination, and vision are inspiring to us all. I wish to extend my sincerest congratulations to the College of the Canyons Class of 2023.”

The class of 2023 has 2,206 students who petitioned for graduation. 

This class represents 108 majors, with business administration for transfer (303) ranking as the leading field of study among graduates, followed by liberal arts and sciences CSU social and behavioral sciences (293), liberal arts and sciences CSU health sciences emphasis (238), psychology for transfer (238), liberal arts and sciences IGETC CSU social and behavioral sciences (221), and accounting (159). 

There are also 881 students graduating with two or more degrees.

The class of 2023 is approximately 59.3 percent female (1,308), 40.2 percent male (886) and 0.5 percent declined to state (12). 

Academically, there are 914 students graduating with honors — which requires a 3.5 GPA or higher — and 91 students with perfect 4.0 GPAs, which grants them the status of valedictorians at the college. The average GPA of the class of 2023 is 3.30.

The average age of a COC graduate is 24. The oldest student in the class is 72-year-old graduate Virginia Marie Giritlian. In total, there are six graduates over the age of 60. 

In addition, the youngest graduate in the class is 16-year-old Cory R. Chen. 

Notably, there are also 35 veteran graduates in the college’s class of 2023. 

There are 41 graduates from the school’s Mathematics, Engineering and Science Achievement (MESA) program. 

Additionally, 56.4 percent of this year’s graduates have completed at least one course at the college’s Canyon Country campus, which first opened in 2007.

This year’s graduating class also includes more than 115 COC student-athletes, with a combined GPA of 3.1, who will be earning an associate degree and/or transferring to a four-year school in the fall. 

Graduates from the class of 2023 will be heading to four-year schools including: UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz, UC Riverside, UC San Diego, USC, CSU Chico, CSU Dominguez Hills, CSU Fresno, CSU Humboldt, CSU Long Beach, CSU Los Angeles, CSU Northridge, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly Pomona, San Diego State University, CSU Channel Islands, Florida International University, Southern Utah University, Virginia Tech University, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, University of Nevada, Reno, Montana State University, Seattle University, Washington, University of Hawaii, Manoa, Life Pacific University, and Texas A&M University – Texarkana.

The scene of many graduations and other college ceremonies and events, the COC Honor Grove is located in the center of campus and will be outfitted with a stage for the presentation of diplomas and certificates, as well as seating for the graduates and the proud families and friends who will be in attendance. 

Ticketholders should plan to arrive to campus no later than 8:15 a.m. and 5:45 p.m., as parking lots are expected to be congested and guest seating will be limited.

 

Commencement Statistics