This year, at Adelphi's 129th commencement, 1,244 undergraduate degrees were awarded to the Class of 2025. The graduates, ranging in age from 17 to 56, are remarkable in many ways.
During his Commencement speech, Senior Class President and Newman Civic Fellow Joe Sawma told Adelphi’s Class of 2025, “Don’t knock on doors. Kick them down.”
Observing this graduating class, it’s clear they are poised to make a significant impact across many fields, at every stage of their careers.
Students From Long Island—and Far Beyond
Although many in the undergraduate Class of 2025 come from Long Island, New York, this year’s graduates actually came to Adelphi from 32 states, including the District of Columbia. Students from New Jersey, California, Connecticut and Pennsylvania were the largest out-of-state contingents to join Adelphi’s local New Yorkers.
Perhaps most surprising is the number of international students who graduated from Adelphi this year. In fact, students from 26 countries were represented—including Sawma, who joined Adelphi from Lebanon. High rankings for the University’s academic programs, a distinguished 129-year history and close proximity to New York City draw students each year from across the globe.
Studies show that American students who share classes with international students become more culturally competent, have increased global awareness and are better prepared for an interconnected world. This isn’t just a benefit; it’s an important foundation for every Adelphi student’s future success.
Increasing Access to an Adelphi Education
As part of its Momentum 2 strategic plan, Adelphi has pledged to widen access, welcome more nontraditional students and increase online learning. The Class of 2025 clearly demonstrates how this goal is being achieved.
Academic honors were bestowed on undergraduate students from across the University: 1,176 earned bachelor’s degrees, 29 earned associate degrees and four earned certificates. What is especially remarkable is their age span: The youngest is just 17, and four members of the Class of 2025 are more than 5o years old, receiving degrees in liberal arts and nursing.
Ten undergraduate programs are now fully or largely online, allowing professionals, working adults and parent scholars to earn their degrees more easily at Adelphi and improve their career earnings.
Most Popular Undergraduate Majors
As a nursing and public health educational powerhouse, with rising U.S. News & World Report rankings year after year, it is not surprising that nearly one-quarter of the undergraduate degree recipients were in nursing: 305 students earned their nursing degrees this year at Adelphi, also named one of the Niche 2025 Best Colleges for Nursing in America.
Psychology was the next-most-popular degree, with 109 graduates. U.S. News & World Report has ranked Adelphi’s Gordon F. Derner School of Psychology a 2025 Best Undergraduate Psychology Program. As a school that offers all levels of scholarship in psychology—bachelor’s and master’s degrees to doctoral and postdoctoral programs—many students choose to continue their study of psychology at Adelphi. Graduate Student Council President Melissa Garber ’24, MA ’25, chose to do just that this year, advising her fellow graduates to “trust in the connections you have made here, and use them to fuel your courage to take on new challenges.”
Two STEM-designated programs took the third and fourth spots for most popular degree this year: biology, a popular major for premedical and preprofessional students, celebrated 61 graduates. Computer science, with tracks in cybersecurity or software engineering, had 55 graduates—representing a surge in interest in this future-facing degree.
A new program launching in the Fall of 2025—a bachelor’s degree in artificial intelligence (AI)—will help students learn to design, build and improve artificial intelligence. This degree comes at an opportune time: Companies are short on this talent and half of the highest-paid skills in technology are AI-specific, according to a study by CNBC.
Other degrees were earned in the arts, business, education and social work.
A Valuable Undergraduate Degree
Graduates of the Class of 2025 earned degrees that have greatly increased in value thanks to Adelphi’s growing national reputation. The average annual salary of our baccalaureate graduates is more than $82,000, 32 percent higher than the national average.
Forbes, which bases its rankings on schools that produce successful, high-earning and influential graduates from all economic backgrounds, ranked Adelphi University highest on Long Island, as did the Wall Street Journal, which noted Adelphi’s reputation as a university that fosters student success.
“Our rankings improvements in Forbes and The Wall Street Journal are an inspiring reminder that Adelphi’s Momentum 2 strategic plan is built around supporting the most important measure of excellence—our students and their lifelong success,” said Adelphi President Christine M. Riordan.