Rutgers Commencement Facts 2021
An estimated 19,543 graduates received degrees, certificates and diplomas from Rutgers this year (13,329 from Rutgers University-New Brunswick and Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences; 4,234 from Rutgers University-Newark, and 1,980 from Rutgers University-Camden). They include approximately 12,825 baccalaureate degrees, 4,742 master’s degrees, 1,861 doctorates (including professional doctorates), 113 professional certificates and associate degrees, 1 specialist in education and 1 artistic diploma. Since its founding in 1766, Rutgers has awarded 636,795 academic degrees (excluding the 2021 estimated total).
Rutgers University-New Brunswick and Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences Virtual Commencement, Sunday, May 16, 2 p.m.
Award-winning author and former U.S. Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey addressed graduates at the 255th anniversary commencement of Rutgers University-New Brunswick and Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences on May 16, 2021. She received an honorary doctor of letters degree.
Scientist and politician Rush D. Holt Jr. received an honorary doctor of laws degree. Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist, Laurie Garrett received an honorary doctor of science degree. Comics writer, essayist and journalist G. Willow Wilson received an honorary doctor of letters degree at the ceremony.
This is the first commencement presided over by President Jonathan Holloway, whose tenure as Rutgers’ 21st president began on July 1, 2020.
Rutgers University-Newark Virtual Commencement, Sunday, May 16, 6 p.m.
Wendell Pierce – actor, author, radio personality and humanitarian – will deliver remarks at Rutgers University-Newark’s virtual commencement ceremony and will also receive an honorary doctor of fine arts degree. Pierce is a NAACP Image Award winner renowned for his roles on HBO’s The Wire and Tremé, the landmark 2014 film Selma, and currently on the Amazon television series Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan.
An honorary doctor of laws degree from Rutgers-Newark will also be conferred upon MacArthur “Genius Grant” winner Robert Parris Moses, a civil rights hero who organized the 1964 Mississippi “Freedom Summer” project. An honorary doctor of fine arts also will be conferred on rap music pioneer and radio personality Angela “Angie” Martinez, who was the May 2020 commencement speaker at Rutgers-Newark.
Rutgers University-Camden Virtual Commencement Ceremonies, May 26-June 4, 2021
Rutgers University-Camden will hold virtual graduation ceremonies for the Class of 2021 on various dates from May 26, 2021, to June 4, 2021. Rutgers-Camden will bestow honorary degrees to Judith Persichilli, commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Health, and Nikole Hannah-Jones, architect and lead author of The New York Times’ landmark 1619 Project, at an in-person ceremony rescheduled for the fall.
Estimated numbers of graduates are from the Office of the University Registrar.
