Texas A&M Corpus Christi held their summer graduation on Aug. 12. A record breaking 740 students received their diplomas.
President Dr. Kelly M. Miller spoke with 3NEWS and said that every year students have been raising the bar.
"This is the third year in a row that we've broken the record, not only for summer, but also for fall and spring. We've had about a 12% growth over the last four years in the number of students graduating. We're extremely proud and happy about that," Miller explained.
Dr. Miller credits the university's academic advising systems like the "Finish in Four" initiative and their "Starfish" program that alerts students if they are falling behind in a course and commends them on their progress.
"We've also increased our graduate enrollments by 50%, which also means there's a shorter time to degree. So, all these efforts have combined and we're hoping to just continue to break records," Miller said.
TAMU-CC Graduate, Alyssa Hinojosa spoke with 3News and shared her education journey. Hinojosa graduated from high school with her associate degree. During TAMU-CC's 2023 summer commencement ceremony, she received her degree in Communications with a focus in Public Relations.
"As soon as I was done, I went straight into college. I was not prepared to be doing back-to-back summer, fall and spring semesters, but I did it to be able to graduate within two years, so this is a pretty big day for me," said Hinojosa.
Most of the graduating class had their college experience affected by the pandemic.
Graduate Anamay Soto already started a family when she graduated from Del Mar in 2020. Balancing family life, on top of the pandemic and transferring to the university was a challenge that she learned to overcome.
Soto told 3NEWS, "Juggling everything and school was crazy. I thought of giving up so many times and I did not let that happen. I continued pursuing my passion, my goals and my priorities in life and now I'm here graduating with my bachelor's degree."
TAMU-CC will be starting their next semester this Fall on Aug. 28.
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