Graduation
Upon successful completion of their studies graduate students apply to graduate. This process is split into two distinct points - conferral of the degree (approval by Senate) and the optional convocation (ceremony). Conferral happens four times a year - September, November, February, and May. Convocation at UBC occurs twice a year - May and November - with May being the much larger session lasting several days.
We currently have data from 1990 onwards, with data last retrieved January 13, 2017. The information provided here is presented using the conferral dates.
| Conferral Year | Masters | Doctoral | Total |
| 1990 | 931 | 196 | 1,127 |
| 1991 | 985 | 216 | 1,201 |
| 1992 | 993 | 217 | 1,210 |
| 1993 | 1,114 | 260 | 1,374 |
| 1994 | 1,167 | 276 | 1,443 |
| 1995 | 1,159 | 336 | 1,495 |
| 1996 | 1,143 | 309 | 1,452 |
| 1997 | 1,110 | 331 | 1,441 |
| 1998 | 1,130 | 324 | 1,454 |
| 1999 | 1,201 | 338 | 1,539 |
| 2000 | 1,294 | 342 | 1,636 |
| 2001 | 1,268 | 329 | 1,597 |
| 2002 | 1,431 | 312 | 1,743 |
| 2003 | 1,575 | 328 | 1,905 |
| 2004 | 1,622 | 336 | 1,958 |
| 2005 | 1,639 | 328 | 1,967 |
| 2006 | 1,860 | 343 | 2,203 |
| 2007 | 1,689 | 376 | 2,065 |
| 2008 | 1,745 | 434 | 2,179 |
| 2009 | 1,934 | 461 | 2,395 |
| 2010 | 2,020 | 517 | 2,537 |
| 2011 | 2,103 | 482 | 2,585 |
| 2012 | 2,344 | 527 | 2,871 |
| 2013 | 2,336 | 508 | 2,844 |
| 2014 | 2,275 | 533 | 2,808 |
| 2015 | 2,422 | 570 | 2,992 |
| 2016 | 2,304 | 554 | 2,858 |
Data for Degrees Awarded 1990 - 2016 (File - Excel 2013 format - 1,770KB)
Between 1990 and 2016 the number of conferred degrees has risen from 1,127 in 1990 to 2,858 in 2016 which translates to a 154% increase in 27 years of conferring graduate level degrees at UBC. Within that time span 42,796 master's and 10,083 doctoral degrees have been conferred - that's 52,879 degrees in total. The numbers for both master's and doctoral conferred degrees have risen over the years, with 1,585 more master's degrees conferred in 2016 than in 1990 (a 147% increase) and 373 more doctoral degrees conferred during the same period (a 183% increase).
