The Class of 2013 will receive 560 diplomas during Indiana University East’s 42nd Commencement Ceremony at 6 p.m. on Friday, May 10, at the Richmond High School Tiernan Center. Of the degrees being conferred, 532 are bachelor’s degrees and 28 master’s degrees.

The Commencement Ceremony will welcome friends and families of graduates from near and far.

IU East’s online degree completion programs are a popular option for students in the region as well as across the United States and beyond. The online degree completion programs offer the high quality of an Indiana University degree and the flexibility to fit studying around work and family schedules.

The attraction of the online degree completion programs brings a growing number of these students to Richmond, Ind., each year to visit the campus and to attend the Commencement Ceremony. Of the total number of graduates, there are 42 Indiana counties represented, 21 states and five countries. IU East hosted a luncheon for the online students attending Commencement to welcome those traveling from a distance.

The Class of 2013 has many characteristics. A brief glance at the statistics and figures provides a look at the graduates joining over 6,000 IU East alumni.

• Indiana Resident: 437
• Non-Resident: 116
• Male: 150
• Female: 403
• The oldest student graduating is 77, the youngest is 20.
• The most numerous degree to be granted is the B.S. in Business Administration (145).
• The second most frequent degree to be granted is the B.S. in Nursing (98).
• Forty-seven percent are first generation students.

If sorting graduates by age, those who are 23 and younger compose 13.6 percent. Graduates ages 23-29 represent 40.1 percent of the class while those 30 and over compose 46.3 percent.

The ceremony will be broadcast via live stream video at iue.edu/live. The website also includes live commencement updates and commentary via Twitter and Facebook. Richmond residents can also watch the ceremony live on WCTV Channel 20.

As part of the ceremony, IU East will award a Distinguished Alumni Award to Robert A. Coons, Senior Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Ind. Over the past year, Coons served Rose-Hulman as the interim president. Coons received his associate degree from IU East. A list of past award recipients is available online.

Britany Swallow of Richmond, Ind., will address fellow classmates during the ceremony as the student speaker. Swallow will receive a Bachelor of Social Work and was selected to address the 2013 class after auditioning for the honor. Swallow was president of the Student Government Association (SGA).

Kelly Coffman of West Alexandria, Ohio, is the recipient of the Naomi Osborne Award, an honor given to the graduate with the highest grade point average, and will lead the graduating class during the alumni induction ceremony. Coffman will receive a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education.

For more information, visit iue.edu/commencement.