Nearly 3,800 graduates—including the youngest at 15 and the oldest at 80—celebrate academic success and community impact.
Front Range Community College will host two commencement ceremonies to honor its 2026 graduating class—awarding more than 5,000 degrees and certificates to almost 3,800 students.
Graduates will experience the culmination of our academic year with Wolf Pack pride and excitement as FRCC sends off its 2025-2026 graduates into their bright futures, ready to change the world for the better.
“Community college students are some of the most powerful forces for change in Colorado,” said FRCC President Colleen Simpson, EdD. “Our graduates are already shaping their families, workplaces and communities—and their success shows what’s possible when education meets people where they are.”
“In one graduating class, we have a 15-year-old and an 80-year-old crossing the same stage,” Simpson added. “That’s what access to education really looks like—and that’s the kind of community we’re building at FRCC.”
Breaking Down Barriers
For our graduates, this academic achievement showcases how FRCC is helping break down barriers for future generations. FRCC is an institution where all learners belong—and where every student gets the support they need to achieve and thrive. Close to half (44%) of FRCC students are the first in their family to go to college.
This year, the college will award 5,070 degrees and certificates to 3,753 graduates for the 2025-2026 academic year. This graduating class is as diverse as the subjects they have studied at FRCC:
- Youngest graduate: 15
- Oldest graduate: 80
- 38% students of color
- Graduates from 16 countries and 27 US states
- 64 students who are military veterans
- 25% eligible for federal Pell grants (students who display exceptional financial need)
Read several of our graduates’ stories below…
Roots Here Reach Anywhere
There is a particular kind of joy that comes when someone who once walked our hallways returns to tell us what those hallways gave them. This spring, we get to experience that joy twice.
Our 2026 commencement speakers are not simply accomplished professionals invited to offer wisdom from the outside. They are ours. They are FRCC alumni — people whose stories began in the same classrooms, with the same hopes and uncertainties, that define every student who walks through our doors today.
From Student to President: Dr. Abel Chávez
Dr. Abel Chávez began right here. Today, he leads Our Lady of the Lake University as its 10th president, an institution in San Antonio, Texas, and one of the early designated Hispanic-Serving Institutions in the country. The distance between where he started and where he stands is not despite his community college foundation. It is, in large part, because of it.
Dr. Chávez will address graduates at Denver Coliseum on May 9. His presence on that stage is itself the message: the community college path is not a detour. It is a launchpad. The college’s annual commencement ceremonies will be held on Saturday, May 9, 2026, and Thursday, May 14, 2026. Students eligible to participate in the graduation ceremony include those who have completed coursework over the 2025-2026 academic year.
A Gift Repaid in Full: Dr. David Davis
Dr. David Davis will tell you that his career in medicine didn’t begin in a hospital or a laboratory. It began at Front Range Community College, in a classroom where a professor saw something in him worth nurturing. That experience left such a mark that Dr. Davis — now a board-certified dermatologist and clinical professor at both the University of Iowa and the University of New Mexico — established a scholarship in that professor’s honor. Not as an obligation, but as a gift. Because he understood firsthand what the right mentor at the right moment can mean.
Dr. Davis will speak at Blue Arena in Loveland on May 14. When he takes that stage, he will carry with him the full arc of what FRCC can do: spark a life, grow a career, and generate generosity that reaches the next generation.
Commencement Ceremony Details:
Saturday, May 9
10:00 am
Denver Coliseum
4600 N. Humboldt St., Denver CO
Thursday, May 14, 2025
5:00 pm
Blue Arena
5290 Arena Cir., Loveland, CO
Meet This Year’s Outstanding Graduates
FRCC’s Class of 2026 is full of high-achieving students, many of whom have overcome significant challenges to succeed in college.
Early childhood education major Alicia Maldonado is graduating with her child, Giovanni Rubio; the mother-child duo will celebrate this once-in-a-lifetime graduation milestone—together. Both graduates say FRCC gave them more than just knowledge. It gave them confidence, encouragement and a chance to pursue something meaningful.
“I needed a place that was supportive and let me juggle my personal life,” Alicia says. “Being a mom, a student and having a full-time job, FRCC was the best option.”
Read more about Alicia and Gio, as well as some of their fellow 2026 graduates:
- At just 17 years old, Gildebardo Mendoza is graduating from college a week before he finishes high school.
- Get to know FRCC’s Coca-Cola Academic Team scholars.
- Meet the mother-child duo who are graduating together.
- See how first-generation student Quynh Anh Do navigated school in her second language while working full-time, in preparation to transfer to the University of Colorado Boulder.
- Hear how engineering student Alejandro Garcia is transferring to Colorado School of Mines to pursue a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering.
- Read how graduate Chris Sharp overcame health issues and addiction to complete his degree and is now transferring to the University of Northern Colorado to study psychology.
- Read student commencement speaker Alyssa Andrade’s story of resilience and perseverance on her path to becoming a flight nurse.
- Read student commencement speaker Vanessa Gonzales’ story of overcoming narcolepsy and other challenges to complete her licensed practical nursing certificate with a 4.0 GPA. (Coming soon!)
Join Us Virtually!
This year’s event will feature a video livestream for individuals who may not be able to attend in person, as well as live Spanish translation—and an event social media stream that will be displayed on the jumbotron at the arena. (Follow @FRCCedu or the hashtag #FRCCgrad.)
Video Livestream
Saturday, May 10 | Denver Coliseum livestream link
Thursday, May 13 | Blue Arena livestream link
En Español
Sabado, 10 de Mayo | En Español (Denver Coliseum)
Martes, 13 de Mayo | En Español (Blue Arena)
Ceremony Details
For more information, please visit: 2026 Commencement Ceremony | Front Range Community College.
