A look at the newest group of Husky alums by the numbers
(Sydney Herdle/UConn Photo)
If you took a tour around the UConn Storrs bookstore on the first day that caps, gowns, and tassels became available to this year's graduating class, and if while there you asked a couple dozen seniors what their favorite UConn experience has been, or what will always make them think about UConn, you'd probably hear a common theme.
School spirit.
Community.
Husky dogs.
And basketball.
A lot of basketball.
Because whether they did or did not follow basketball before coming to UConn - and a lot of them didn't - it's hard not to fall in love with the game when you've lived through four consecutive years of national championship runs in the Basketball Capital of the World.
The 2026 graduating class - which includes 5,929 undergraduates, 2,165 graduate students, 68 Doctor of Pharmacy Professional Program students, and 40 Ratcliffe Hicks graduates - had the unique experience of cheering their men's and women's basketball teams as they brought home three championships in their four years.
Within the Class of 2026 that cheered on their fellow Huskies were 4,346 in-state students and 1,626 from locales outside of the state - the furthest traveling about 9,300 away from home in Indonesia to study at UConn.
This year's youngest graduating student is 19 years old, and the oldest is 70 years young. The class boasts 47 sets of twins and triplets within its ranks, and 97 students - 40 undergrads and 57 grad students - are U.S. military veterans.
Among UConn's 2026 graduates, 1,948 can wear the distinctive green cords on their regalia that celebrate their accomplishment as first-generation students - often the first in their families to have an educational experience beyond high school.
The Class of 2026 can't be remembered just for accomplishments on the court, though - their academic successes might not happen in primetime, but they're no less impressive than an NCAA trophy.
The class includes 471 members of UConn's Honors Program, 17 University Scholars, and 20 McNair Scholars.
The University's Education Abroad program included 777 members of the Class of 2026, least anyone doubt the global reach of UConn students.
Class members received Fulbright Awards, GAANN Fellowships, the prestigious Gilman and Goldwater Scholarships, NASA FINESST Fellowships, the NIH Kirschstein National Research Service Award, NSF Graduate Research Fellowships, the Phi Beta Kappa Key Into Public Service Award, and USDA National Needs Fellowships, amongst other state and national awards, recognitions, academic opportunities, and honors.
This March, UConn School of Medicine celebrated the placement of more than 100 new graduating doctors in diverse residencies ranging from anesthesiology to otolaryngology to primary care. Of this year's graduating medical students, 40% are staying in Connecticut and 57% in New England, continuing the school's legacy as a critical pipeline for much-needed health care providers in the state and region.
When you take that turn through the bookstore, and talk to this year's graduating seniors, you'll also hear about their friends - how important they've been to their UConn experience.
And about their mentors - the faculty, staff, and alumni who have helped guide them along their way.
And about the clubs and organizations they joined - how important those connections and shared interests were.
But mostly what you'll hear is the joy of a class that found community in their time here, that revels in their Husky pride, that bleeds as blue as any, and that's ready to take everything that their time at UConn has given them as they embark into the world to make an impact.
And both on and off the basketball court, we just can't wait to see what they do.
