Commencement

Cooper Union's Spring 2016 Commencement will be held on Tuesday, May 24, 2016. Further details will be released during the Spring 2016 semester. In the meantime, please read through the information listed below.

Denise Young Smith has been announced as the 2016 Commencement Speaker.

A list of recent commencement speakers is available here.

President's Citations Announced for 2016 Commencement

For those attending commencement, please see our seperate pages for directions, hotel accommodations (including discounted rates), dining reservations and parking. 

For a schedule please see the schedule page.

For more information please read the frequently asked questions page.

For background please see the commencement traditions page.

Please check back on this site for updates and new information.

  • Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.

  • “My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”

  • From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.

  • Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.