UH Fall 2025 Graduation: 4,000+ Graduates Ready for Liftoff

The countdown to commencement is on!

Students in the University of Houston’s Class of 2025 are trading in their textbooks for tassels and will soon be cleared for launch, degrees in hand.

“There are so many compelling student success stories to close out 2025, but we’re also looking forward to hearing what our graduates do next,” said Diane Chase, UH senior vice president for academic affairs and provost. “This class of Cougars is resilient and ready for new opportunities! I know they are emerging from our institution as both leaders and change makers.”

More than 4,000 Coogs from nine colleges will earn degrees during commencement ceremonies this week, including 3,414 bachelor’s degrees, 613 master’s degrees, 108 doctoral degrees and 27 professional degrees.

The C. T. Bauer College of Business has the most graduates this fall with 1,057 followed closely by the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences with 1,020. Cullen College of Engineering has 902 graduates and the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics has 501.

This fall’s class features more than 1,500 honors graduates — 638 cum laude, 567 magna cum laude and 301 summa cum laude. The oldest graduate is 65-year-old Andrew Cantu who will earn his Master of Science in management and leadership from Bauer College. The youngest graduate is 19-year-old Jacqueline Bulnes who will receive a Bachelor of Business Administration in marketing from Bauer College.

The first ceremonies are at 9 a.m. on Thurs., Dec. 18, when Cullen College of Engineering graduates walk the stage at the Fertitta Center and graduates at the Andy and Barbara Gessner College of Nursing walk at the Cullen Performance Hall. A complete schedule of events can be found on the commencement website. All of the ceremonies will be livestreamed.

UH graduate Valeria Guzman

UH graduate Sydney Camet

UH graduate Arianna Moscot

By the Numbers:

4,162 Graduates

1,506 Graduating with Honors

Most Graduates: C.T. Bauer College of Business (1,057)

Graduation Photo Spots

The Centennial Construction Project has temporarily rendered some of our students’ favorite photo locations inaccessible, but there are still several great photo locations around campus.

Cougar Statues at the RAD

Visit the iconic statues at their temporary home outside the RAD Center while Centennial Plaza is under construction.

TDECU Stadium

Located outside the south corner of TDECU Stadium, the large cougar statue is a classic spot to show your UH pride.

Butler Plaza

The familiar plaza outside the MD Anderson library lies directly in the heart of the UH campus.

Overcoming the Odds

Students Share Their Success Stories

Andrea Martinez Lozoya, College of Education

UH fall 2025 graduate Andrea Martinez Lozoya discovered her passion for bilingual education early in life. Her family moved from San Luis Potosi, Mexico, to Houston when she was 8 years old, and she quickly had to adjust not only to a new country but also a new language. Her teachers played a crucial role in helping her bridge that gap.

“I was lucky to have teachers who really went out of their way to support and encourage me,” Martinez said. “That experience has stayed with me, because it showed me how much having just one caring educator can mean to a child who might feel like they don't have anyone else in their corner.”

A first-generation college student, Martinez chose UH for its strong reputation in teacher preparation and its commitment to serving diverse communities.

“I knew I wanted to give back to the community that supported me and become the kind of teacher who understands her students’ experiences,” she said. “UH’s education program felt like the perfect place to help me grow into that educator.”
Andrea Martinez Lozoya, UH College of Education

Her family’s sacrifices and her own passion for teaching motivated her to excel. Throughout Martinez’s time at UH, she balanced a full-time job with demanding coursework, ultimately graduating this December with a 4.0 GPA from the College of Education.

She hopes to enter the workforce quickly after graduation, drawing on both her lived experience and hands-on training she received at UH. Her goal is to serve as a bilingual educator and expand educational opportunities for multilingual students. Eventually, she’d love to continue her studies and become a college professor of bilingual education — leading the next generation of educators.

“I came in knowing I had a passion for education, but my professors at UH really ingrained in me just how much of a difference I could make,” Martinez said. “I was also fortunate to be part of a really supportive cohort of peers, which made the experience even more meaningful.”

Andrea Martinez Lozoya will graduate with her B.A. in Education from UH.

Bilqees Fatima is graduating with a Doctor of Pharmacy from the UH College of Pharmacy.

Bilqees Fatima, College of Pharmacy

For Bilqees Fatima, a defining family experience set her on the path to becoming the first pharmacist—and soon the first Ph.D.—in her family. As a teenager in Pakistan, she cared for an aunt with late-stage breast cancer that eventually metastasized to her brain.

“I hoped and wondered if a cure could be found for my aunt,” Fatima said.

“Witnessing her pain gave me a first-hand understanding of the devastating impact of cancer and deepened my conviction that a health care career was the right path for me.”
Bilqees Fatima, UH College of Pharmacy graduate

Fatima earned her Doctor of Pharmacy with the goal of helping patients, but her interests shifted during her clinical rotations.

“Your interests evolve over time," she said. "I became very aligned with making a larger impact through the research track."

That shift led her to pursue an M.S. in Pharmaceutics, where she studied antibiotic resistance—an urgent issue in Pakistan.

“The choice of antibiotic treatment didn’t always follow guidelines and was associated with poorer outcomes,” she noted.

Drawn to the intersection of pharmacy, research and public health, Fatima chose the UH College of Pharmacy for its mentorship and strong research environment. Under advisor Susan Abughosh, Ph.D., she now investigates medication adherence among atrial fibrillation patients using direct oral anticoagulants, analyzing Texas Medicare Advantage data to identify barriers faced by high-risk, low-income patients.

Now Fatima hopes to broaden her work through studies across diverse health databases.

“With the rapidly evolving pharmaceutical landscape, I’m keen on exploring the safety and effectiveness of treatments for chronic conditions, especially in oncology,” she said.

Nicholas Tijerina, College of Engineering

Don’t tell Nicholas Tijerina what he can’t do.

After a stray bullet left him partially paralyzed, Nicholas defied the odds by walking across the stage at his high school graduation. Since then, he graduated college, completed an Air Force Research Laboratory internship and won a national wheelchair tennis championship for his beloved University of Houston.

Now you can add a master’s degree in aerospace engineering to his extraordinary list of accomplishments.

Being in a wheelchair made Tijerina feel like an outcast and a stranger. But when he arrived at UH with ambition and uncertainty, he found more than opportunity—he found belonging.

“I was able to find a community that accepted me for who I was and allowed me to flourish in ways I never thought was possible. I would not be the man I am today if I had not gone to the University of Houston.”
Nicholas Tijerina, Cullen College of Engineering graduate

As graduation marks another milestone, Tijerina is looking ahead. He plans to work in aerospace engineering while fabricating a prototype based on his thesis and eventually launch his own company.

At the same time, he will continue training and competing internationally in wheelchair tennis, chasing a Paralympics dream with the same intensity and determination he's brough to everything else in his life.

“These next steps are the scariest and most exciting, but as the saying goes, 'no risk, full push’,” he said. “For better or worse, all these interactions compounded to help me get to where I am today.”

Nicholas Tijerina will receive his master's in aerospace engineering.

uh graduate nicholas tijerina with wheelchair tennis team

UH graduate Nicholas Tijerina (left) with his teammate and coach after winning the wheelchair tennis national championship.