Online students represent 30% of ODU’s total Spring 2025 graduates, with an average GPA of 3.51 and an average age of 33.
Nick Mann ’26 was a high schooler sitting in a hotel conference room when his future announced itself.
He'd been listening to service academy recruiters make their pitches one by one. The United States Merchant Marine Academy went last. They talked about what made them different: the education, career flexibility and that graduates weren't locked into military service afterward. Mann didn’t expect to feel a connection to the Merchant Marines, but the question ‘Why not?’ kept popping into his head.
That openness to an unconventional path carried him through 15 years of sailing military vessels across three continents and volunteering for active Army duty to build a resume he couldn't get any other way. On May 15, Mann will earn his master's degree in maritime trade and supply chain management through ODU Global.
“Finishing this degree feels like a great accomplishment that took hard work and dedication,” Mann said. “I’m very proud of finishing this part of my journey.”
Mann will be one of 978 online students to graduate through ODUGlobal in May 2026. The commencement class represents 30% of ODU’s 3,215 total Spring Commencement 2026 class, which includes students from 44 states and 50 countries from five continents.
As ODU celebrates its latest class of graduates through ODUGlobal, here’s an overall look at the graduating class of online students for Spring 2026 by the numbers.
978 – Total number of online graduates
9 – Nations represented among graduates (Canada, Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, India, Jamaica, Netherlands, South Korea, Ukraine)
36 – States represented in Fall Commencement
3.51 – Average GPA for graduates
33.2 – Average age of graduates this semester
20 – Age of the youngest graduate
68 – Age of the oldest graduate
570 – Total number of undergraduate students
287 – Military-affiliated graduates
60 – Active-duty military members
236 – Online graduates from the College of Education, the largest group of any of ODU’s colleges
70 – The total number of psychology bachelor’s degrees awarded, the most among undergraduate majors
82 – Graduates with master’s degrees in nursing, the most among graduates
74 – Number of cybersecurity graduates; 43 with bachelor’s and 31 with master’s
44 – PhD candidates in this graduating class
