Harvard Will Not Reduce 2025 Commencement Tickets for Seniors and Families

Harvard will not reduce the number of allotted commencement tickets for the College’s Class of 2025 — despite some concerns from students that the number of tickets would be lowered due to the historically large class size.

Each graduating senior is given four guest tickets for Commencement. The decision to keep the allotted number of tickets the same for the Class of 2025 means that next May’s Commencement ceremonies will likely have higher attendance than usual. The College previously reduced the number of allotted tickets to three in 2022, when they held a combined make-up commencement for the Classes of 2020 and 2021.

John L. Prince IV ’13, the staff liaison to the Class of 2025 Class Committee, confirmed that there are no plans to reduce the number of tickets to College seniors in an emailed statement on Thursday.

The College matriculated 1,965 students to the Class of 2025 — a departure from the average class size of around 1,600 students — due to the record-high number of students who deferred their enrollment to the Class of 2025 in 2020 amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to the Harvard Alumni Association, tickets will not be required for the ceremonies at the 12 undergraduate Houses — where the undergraduates receive their diplomas — following the main Commencement ceremony, but will be required for the accompanying lunch.

After spring 2025 final exams conclude, the College’s graduates will partake in a two-week slate of senior-oriented ceremonies. Senior Week extends from May 19 to 24, featuring social programming for students, followed by Commencement Week — which features events for seniors and their families and guests — leading up to the ceremony on Thursday, May 29.

—Staff writer Michelle N. Amponsah can be reached at michelle.amponsah@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @mnamponsah.

—Staff writer Joyce E. Kim can be reached at joyce.kim@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X at @joycekim324.