Missouri State University will confer 1,505 degrees to students at its fall 2021 commencement. Two ceremonies will be held at 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Dec. 17 at JQH Arena.

First ceremony

Students graduating from the College of Business and College of Education will participate in the first ceremony.

Clay Goddard, former director of the Springfield-Greene County Health Department, will serve as the commencement speaker at the 10 a.m. ceremony.

Goddard will receive the Government Excellence Award from Missouri State.

Second ceremony

Students graduating from McQueary College of Health and Human Services, Reynolds College of Arts and Letters, Darr College of Agriculture, College of Natural and Applied Sciences, College of Humanities and Public Affairs and interdisciplinary academic programs will participate in the second ceremony.

Missouri State will recognize the Reynolds family, longtime friends and supporters of the university, with the Bronze Bear Award at the 1:30 p.m. ceremony.

About the graduates

Missouri State will confer 1,095 bachelor’s degrees, 393 master’s degrees, 16 doctorate degrees and one specialist degree.

Past the standard expectations, the university will recognize 20 students for their work with a more rigorous curriculum in Missouri State’s Honors College.

The university will also recognize students who will graduate with a grade point average (GPA) of 3.5 or higher:

• 77 students will graduate summa cum laude (with GPAs between 3.9-4.0 on a 4.0 scale).
• 78 students will graduate magna cum laude (with GPAs between 3.75-3.89).
• 185 students will graduate cum laude (with GPAs between 3.5-3.74).

Learn more about commencement