‘Favorite time of year': Nebraska colleges see record number of graduates

Amy Goodburn said her favorite memories of graduation time are the years she got to hand her sons their diplomas from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Goodburn, who is senior associate vice chancellor and dean of undergraduate education at UNL, will watch as another class, which is seeing a record number of graduates, celebrates that milestone on May 9.

“This will be my 58th graduation for UNL, because there's three a year, and I've been doing this for many, many years,” Goodburn said.

Both the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Southeast Community College are seeing record graduates this May, with more than 3,800 for UNL and 1,325 for SCC. At UNL, Goodburn said the record number comes from work over the past decade, including a focus on academic advising, cross-campus collaboration, data and experiential learning.

“We've really tried to create a culture of collaboration across our campus so that we are proactively outreaching to students whenever we identify that they might have a need, or need a support or resource or tutoring or counseling, and our units are really working together, instead of in silos, to really create that success network for students,” Goodburn said.

Goodburn pointed to a new AI chatbot called Cornelius that is another way the university can connect with students who need help. She gave examples of students telling Cornelius about a family member dying or financial concerns that the university was able to step in and make sure that student was getting the help they needed.

For Southeast Community College, Mike Pegram, associate vice president of student enrollment, said the high graduation numbers match up with the growth in enrollment over the past few years.

“We've added residence halls and just new infrastructure,” Pegram said. “We've also added a number of new programs of study and credentials that students can now pursue. We're growing and expanding, and we're offering more to students than ever before.”

Pegram said the community colleges are able to answer the need for a skilled workforce.

“We're able to turn out graduates and industries that are in demand to serve our community, to help the population to grow, the infrastructure to grow,” Pegram said.

Along with having a record number of graduates, Tamy Burnett, an associate head marshal with the Marshal Corps that plans UNL graduation ceremonies, said that more than 90% of the students graduating are planning to attend the ceremony. Typically, that number falls between 80% and 85%.

“I think it very much reflects the fact that there is value in earning a higher education degree, and there's a lot of people who recognize that and want the mobility that that offers in terms of socially and economically,” Burnett said. “They appreciate not just all of those kinds of benefits, but the act of learning and embracing that.”

Despite challenges facing higher education, Goodburn said the high number of graduates shows how people value postsecondary degrees.

“I always say our students are our best sales people for the value of higher education,” Goodburn said. “We have amazing students. They go on to amazing careers, and being able to showcase their successes is my rebuttal to the idea that higher education is not valuable or that students shouldn't consider higher education.”

SCC held its graduation Tuesday. The celebration included students from Beatrice, Lincoln and Milford, as well as dual credit students.

“What's really fun about it is you see the students walk across the stage, you see the look on their face, and there's just so much joy in that moment,” Pegram said. “It's really just a privilege to be part of something like that, and just to know that that student is leaving their institution, and they're prepared to do some really great and awesome things.”

UNL’s ceremonies are on Friday and Saturday. Burnett, who is also the director of operations for the honors program at UNL, said she feels immense pride watching graduates cross the stage.

“It's my favorite time of year,” Burnett said. “There's so much excitement and joy for students to see them reach this accomplishment.”