After being postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the university is pleased to announce that Saturday, August 7 is the date for celebrating this important milestone with the undergraduate and graduate classes of 2020. This message was sent to all members of the Class of 2020 on June 22, 2021.
The commencement ceremony will be held on Saturday morning beginning at 9:00 am, followed by a WPI Community Celebration BBQ. Tickets to attend the commencement ceremony and BBQ will be sent to the Class of 2020 students' WPI e-mail address on Tuesday, August 3.
For those who cannot attend in person, the ceremony will be live streamed on the day of the event. The video for this event will be displayed on Saturday, August 7, 2021 at 9 a.m. and can be accessed through the link below.
This page was updated on July 30, 2021.
This spring, WPI honored and celebrated the Class of 2021. Working within the state’s capacity guidelines and projections—and with the advice of WPI’s Coronavirus Emergency Response Team—we created a festive and celebratory way to acknowledge this important milestone. Instead of a large-scale ceremony, we held several smaller, more personal events, assembled by degree programs, departments, and schools, on May 19-22. This allowed us to accommodate two guests per student while following the required social distancing and capacity guidelines.
| Ceremony | Date | Video Link |
| Graduate Commencement Ceremony for the School of Arts & Sciences and the Foisie Business School | Wednesday, May 19 at 10 a.m. | Watch the ceremony |
| Graduate Commencement Ceremony for the School of Engineering | Wednesday, May 19, 2021 at 3 p.m. | Watch the ceremony |
| Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony for the School of Arts & Sciences and the Foisie Business School | Thursday, May 20 at 10 a.m. | Watch the ceremony |
| Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony for the School of Engineering Part 1 (Biomedical, Chemical, Civil & Environmental, Electrical & Computer) | Thursday, May 20 at 3 p.m. | Watch the ceremony |
| Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony for the School of Engineering for the following programs Part 2 (Aerospace, Mechanical, Robotics) | Friday, May 21 at 10 a.m. | Watch the ceremony |
| ROTC Commissioning Ceremony | Friday, May 21 at 3:00 p.m. | Watch the ceremony |
| Full Virtual Ceremony (for those students unable to attend their respective in person commencement ceremony) | Saturday, May 22, 2021 at 10:00 a.m. | Watch the ceremony |
Whether you are hosting a family celebration at home or enjoying a virtual graduation party with friends from afar, access one of these multimedia files to add to the festivities. Add your own special messages and photos by downloading this customizable PowerPoint Presentation—or simply click play for the video version!
WPI’s Commencement Ceremony dates back to 1871 when the university sent the 16 young men of its very first graduating class out into the world. On July 26, 1871, sixteen students took part at the first Commencement ceremony of the Worcester County Free Institute of Industrial Science. Commencement exercises were held in the Chapel at Boynton Hall.
