University of Cincinnati
08/03/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 08/03/2026 18:17
Summer grads ready for life’s next chapter
Summer grads ready for life's next chapter
UC will celebrate accomplishments of 2,125 graduates in two ceremonies at Fifth Third Arena
8 minute read August 3, 2026 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn Share on Reddit Print Story Like
The University of Cincinnati will recognize 2,125 graduates at summer commencement Friday on campus at Fifth Third Arena.
While the summer numbers are not a record, they follow a record spring graduating class this year and a record-setting 7,500 new students due to arrive in this fall's incoming class.
The class of 2026 had a year to remember with the opening of the renovated Old Chem and the ribbon-cutting for the new Sheakley Indoor Practice Facility. And they watched the demolition of the long-familiar part of the campus skyline Crosley Tower to make room for the new STEM Academic Facility.
UC will recognize summer grads beginning with the master's and undergraduate ceremony at 9 a.m. followed by the doctoral hooding ceremony at 2 p.m.
Tickets are required. Doors open to guests 90 minutes before each ceremony. No purses or bags except clear plastic ones are allowed in the stadium or arena.
The ceremony will be streamed live.
UC will celebrate summer commencement with two ceremonies at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. at Fifth Third Arena. Photo/Andrew HIgley/UC
About the summer class of 2026
UC will confer 2,136 degrees upon the 2,125 graduates, according to preliminary numbers from UC's Office of Institutional Research. Some students earn multiple degrees.
UC will award 289 associate degrees; 787 bachelor's degrees; 917 master's degrees and 142 doctoral degrees along with one professional certificate.
One in four summer graduates is a first-generation college student. And 73 students in the summer class of 2026 are graduates of Cincinnati Public Schools. About 5% of grads are U.S. veterans or dependents of veterans.
The summer class of 2026 features students from 54 countries as far away as Australia and Zimbabwe and 45 states.
The youngest grad, earning a bachelor's degree, is 18. The oldest, earning a master's, is 66. And six graduates also have birthdays on Friday.
The past year was one for the record books for many UC students and alumni.
The UC Dance Team won gold in the ICU World Championship. UC College of Engineering and Applied Science students won first place in the National Association of Home Builders' student competition in Orlando, Florida. Lindner College of Business graduate Christopher Bak won his third gold medal in the World Rowing Championships last fall.
UC alum Coby Bryant helped the Seattle Seahawks win the Super Bowl in February. He was UC's 20th Super Bowl champion. Computer science major Sujan Feist became the reigning speed-cubing champion with a new world-record time last December.
UC Lindner College of Business graduate Sofia Parisotto Ferrigolo, pictured in Iceland, got to explore the world through the UC Honors Program and Lindner Honors PLUS. Photo/Provided
Lindner grad, world traveler
UC helped double-major Sofia Parisotto Ferrigolo launch her career in consulting and business analytics with her bachelor's degree from the Carl H. Lindner College of Business
Parisotto Ferrigolo picked UC for its renowned cooperative education program, which allows students to earn experience and money working for employers in their chosen field. She also took advantage of opportunities as an honors student to pursue her passion for travel.
Parisotto Ferrigolo will give the undergraduate student address at commencement.
"From the moment I came here, I felt right at home," she said. "UC's greatest strength is its people. Even after graduation, alumni are so connected. We don't just celebrate each other's success; we help create it."
Lindner College of Business graduate Sofia Parisotto Ferrigolo plans to move to Miami, Florida, to work for McKinsey and Co., one of her UC co-op employers. Photo/Provided
UC helped Parisotto Ferrigolo realize her dream to visit all seven continents before graduation. A native of Brazil, Ferrigolo was on an expedition ship with dodgy internet in the Southern Ocean off Antarctica when she learned she had been accepted to UC.
She speaks four languages and embarked on her first solo trip abroad at age 15.
Through UC Honors and Lindner Honors-PLUS, Parisotto Ferrigolo got a chance to visit or study in Mexico, Canada, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Iceland and Australia. She also returned to Brazil as a UC student to take part in sustainability sessions at the United Nations Conference of Parties through the nonprofit Global Choices.
To date, she has traveled to 46 countries and counting.
"My parents instilled in me the desire to go out and explore the world, to meet people with different perspectives and lived experiences from ours," she said.
Now Parisotto Ferrigolo is getting ready to move to Miami, Florida, to start her new role as a business analyst for one of her co-op employers, McKinsey & Company.
In the meantime, she dreams of other places she hopes to visit: trekking to see mountain gorillas in Rwanda or seeing the northern lights in Finland and maybe running into some of the other 370,000 Bearcats along the way.
"It's been a privilege to be part of this community," she said. "I can't wait to see it from the other side as an alumna."
UC graduate Arvish Pandey earned a master's degree in business administration through UC's ACCEND program which allows students to earn both bachelor's and master's degrees simultaneously. Photo/Provided
UC's co-op advantage
Master's student Arvish Pandey will be walking at UC's commencement for the second time in as many years. He earned a bachelor of science degree in computer science last year from UC's College of Engineering and Applied Science.
Now he will graduate with a master's degree in business administration from UC's Carl H. Lindner College of Business. UC's ACCEND program allows students to pursue bachelor's and master's degrees simultaneously, saving on average a year of time.
"We had a lot of in-class discussions where you could take sides on issues. It was pretty fun," he said.
Arvish Pandey, pictured with a statue of the Bearcat mascot, plans to work in business analytics. Photo/Provided
At Lindner, he was surrounded by nontraditional students who were already established in their careers who were pursuing graduate degrees.
"I was the youngest student in class, so it was intimidating but fun. By then I had spent three years in engineering so my brain was wired to think like an engineer," Pandey said. "My classmates would point out things I might miss because they had a different perspective."
Pandey has an entrepreneurial spirit. He traveled abroad to Italy to study business innovation as a UC Global Scholar. He is pursuing a career that combines his experience in business technology and risk analytics with his interests in artificial intelligence and machine learning.
As an undergraduate, he took part in UC's cooperative education program, working rotations with employers such as architecture and engineering company SHP and Motz Engineering.
"UC co-op is an S-tier program," Pandey said. "You get work experience to think far into the future to see where you want to go. That's really important."
Like many of his peers around the world, Pandey missed a proper high school graduation because of the COVID pandemic. So he's excited to celebrate the pomp and circumstance of another UC commencement in person at Fifth Third Arena.
To celebrate graduation, he wants to take a roadtrip with friends to New York.
"Thanks to my professors and co-op advisers, I never felt alone at UC. I never felt my plans and backup plans were delusional. They always had faith in me," he said.
Featured image at top: UC will celebrate summer commencement with two ceremonies Friday at Fifth Third Arena. Photo/Andrew Higley/UC
A favorite backdrop for graduation pics has returned to campus this year. The Bearcat statue on West University Avenue is a good place for family and group photos. Photo/Jenna Adkins-Manuel/UC Marketing + Brand
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University of Cincinnati published this content on August 03, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on August 04, 2026 at 00:17 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]