(Kingsville)—It was the end of the college era, but the beginning of a new career and a bright future as 637 students received degrees from Texas A&M University-Kingsville during two spring commencement ceremonies held Friday, May 5, in the Steinke Physical Education Center.
It was the second-largest graduating class in more than 30 years, nearly topping spring 2005, which set the record at 641. This also was the second-largest number of master’s degrees granted in 21 years, at 189. In 1985, 227 master’s degrees were granted.
The keynote speaker was Wendy Gramm, member of the Board of Regents of The Texas A&M University System.
Gramm is a Mercatus Distinguished Scholar of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University in Virginia. Before joining the Mercatus Center, she served as chair of the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission from 1988 to 1993. She was administrator for Information and Regulatory Affairs at the Office of Management and Budget prior to that. She was on the research staff of the Institute for Defense Analyses.
She started her economics career at Texas A&M University, where she taught for more than eight years. Gov. Rick Perry appointed her to the A&M System Board of Regents in 2001. She is chair of the Committee on Academic and Student Affairs and the Campus Art and Aesthetic Improvement Committee.
There were 435 bachelor’s degrees and 189 master’s degrees given. Thirteen graduates received doctoral degrees, including the first independent Ph.D. for the university. Two students received two degrees.
Among the bachelor’s graduates, 113 were from the Texas A&M University-Kingsville System Center-San Antonio.
The majority of the members of the spring class of 2006 were from Texas, with 530 from the Lone Star State. Ten were from other states and 97 were from other countries when they entered the university.
The most frequent county of origin was Bexar with 138 graduates, followed by Nueces with 65, Kleberg with 60, Hidalgo with 38 and Jim Wells with 36. More than half the class, 53 percent, was female. Fifty-six percent of the graduating students were minorities.
Of the bachelor’s graduates, more than 35 percent entered the university as first-time freshmen while the remaining graduates were transfer students. The average age of those receiving bachelor’s degrees was 26. The average age of a master’s graduate was 30 and the average of the doctoral students was 37. The oldest graduate was 57 and the youngest was 19.
Eight of the graduates were university employees earning four bachelor’s and four master’s degrees. Also among the graduates were 34 student athletes.
The Frank H. Dotterweich College of Engineering led the way, granting 178 degrees from all levels. It was followed by the College of Education, with 175 and the College of Arts and Sciences with 143. Rounding out the list, the College of Business Administration had 98 graduates and the College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Human Sciences had 45 graduates.
Of the 113 graduates from the System Center, all were from Texas when they entered the university. Over 69 percent were minority students and 73 percent were female. The average age was 32.
Ninety-eight of the graduates were from Bexar County followed by Atascosa
with four, Medina and Wilson with three each and Uvalde with two. 