George Mason University

05/11/2026 | News release | Distributed by Public on 05/12/2026 02:42

One quarter of George Mason's Class of 2026 identify as first generation

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George Mason University will honor more than 12,000 students graduating or earning certificates at Spring Commencement at 9:30 a.m. Thursday at EagleBank Arena on the Fairfax Campus.

The event will be livestreamed on George Mason's YouTube channel. Doors open at 8:15 a.m.

The graduates hail from 105 countries and 49 states, and 26% of bachelor's degree recipients identify as first-generation graduates.  

The guest speaker will be General David W. Allvin, the 23rd Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force. The student speaker is Saniya Darediya, who is graduating with a bachelor's degree in neuroscience.

Degree celebrations for 10 George Mason schools and colleges also will take place this week at EagleBank Arena and the Concert Hall and those too will be livestreamed.

Tickets are required for all guests at Commencement and degree celebration ceremonies.

The top five majors among the 7,127 undergraduates in the Class of 2026 are business; information technology; computer science; psychology; and criminology, law and society.

Science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) majors account for 34% of students earning bachelor's degrees and 37% of students earning advanced degrees, an indication of George Mason's leading role as a producer of tech talent.

For the 3,524 students earning master's degrees, the top five majors are computer science, data analytics engineering, special education, curriculum and instruction, and business administration.

The top majors for the 384 students earning doctoral degrees are education, psychology, computer science, economics, and biosciences.

The 2026 graduating class also includes 304 law school graduates.  

George Mason University published this content on May 11, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on May 12, 2026 at 08:42 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]