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Thousands graduate from IU this weekend

WFIU | By Aubrey Wright
Published May 6, 2026 at 3:58 PM EDT
A graduate faces away from the camera. Her cap is decorated with IU's trident logo in white and red rhinestones.
Indiana University
Indiana University will award more than 21,000 degrees across the state this spring.

More than 21,000 students will receive degrees at Indiana University’s annual spring commencement ceremonies around the state.

At IU Bloomington, the university will award more than 11,500 degrees. The number tops last spring’s record-breaking commencement ceremony.

The IU Bloomington graduate ceremony will be at 3 p.m. Friday at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. On Saturday, the undergraduate commencement ceremony will be at 8 p.m. at Memorial Stadium.

About 70 percent of IU Bloomington students graduate on time, the highest rate for Indiana four-year colleges, according to data from the Commission for Higher Education.

The university has more than almost 805,000 alumni around the world.

President and CEO of the Pacers Mel Raines will speak at the IU Bloomington ceremony Saturday. Raines, an IU Bloomington graduate, oversees all business operations for the Indiana Pacers and the Indiana Fever basketball teams.

Bernice Pescosolido, founding director of the IU Irsay Institute, will deliver the graduate commencement message. The Irsay Institute was founded after a $3 million gift from the Irsay family, owners of the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts. It focuses on mental health and social sciences research. Pescosolido is also a distinguished professor of Sociology in the College of Arts and Sciences.
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Aubrey Wright
Aubrey Wright is a multimedia Report For America corps member covering higher education for Indiana Public Media. As a Report For America journalist, her coverage focuses on equity in post-high school education in Indiana. Aubrey is from central Ohio, and she graduated from Ohio State University with a degree in Journalism.
See stories by Aubrey Wright
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