Online students represent 35 percent of ODU’s 2,830 total Spring 2025 graduates, which includes online students from 36 states and 10 countries.
Caleb Lane ’25 didn’t plan to be a librarian.
But after spending time working in the marketing branch of the Suffolk Public Library system, his passion found its spark.
“I think I liked the library part of it more than I liked the marketing part,” said Lane, who will graduate with a master’s in library and information studies.
Caleb Lane fell for the community aspect of working in the library. He found that libraries weren’t just places for books, but community anchors and welcoming spaces where anyone could seek knowledge, connection and support. Librarians can make an everyday impact, helping someone apply for a job online or guiding a child toward something that would spark their imagination.
“Instead of being book forward, it’s resource forward and offers spaces for people looking for spaces,” Lane said.
Lane will be one of 983 online students to graduate through ODUGlobal in Spring 2025. The commencement class represents 35% of ODU’s 2,830 total Spring Commencement 2025 class, which includes students from 41 states and 44 countries.
As ODU celebrates its latest class of graduates through ODUGlobal, here’s an overall look at the graduating class of online students for Spring 2025 by the numbers.
983 – Total number of online graduates
34.7 – Percentage of the overall graduating class who are online students
19.4 – The percent increase in size of the graduating class from Spring 2024 to 2025
10 – Nations represented among graduates
36 – States represented in Spring Commencement
3.49 – Average GPA for graduates
33.1 – Average age of graduate this semester
17 – Age of the youngest graduate
64 – Age of the oldest graduate
570 – Total number of undergraduate students
316 – Military-affiliated graduates
57 – Active-duty military members
210 – Online graduates from the College of Education, the largest group of any of ODU’s colleges
94 – The total number of cybersecurity graduates between undergraduate and graduate programs
67 – Graduates with bachelor’s degrees in psychology, the most popular major among undergraduates
64 – Nursing master’s degree graduates, the most popular program among graduate students
24 – PhD candidates in this graduating class
