Lane Community College set to celebrate 1,383 graduates Saturday in Eugene

Lane Community College will bring 1,383 graduates to the stage Saturday morning in Eugene, turning its 61st commencement into a wide snapshot of the county’s workforce pipeline. The ceremony is set for 10 a.m. in the LCC Gymnasium, Building 5, on the Main Campus, and the college says guests will not need tickets.

The scale reaches well beyond a single class crossing a stage. Lane says this year’s graduates earned 2,104 associate degrees and certificate awards, along with 55 GEDs, reflecting students on paths into jobs, technical careers and four-year colleges. Roughly three out of five graduates are first-generation students, and 46% are age 25 or older, a sign that many are balancing school with work, family and a career change rather than following a straight line from high school to college.

The 2026 class also shows how far Lane’s reach extends. Graduates came from 18 countries, from Australia to Uzbekistan, and the youngest is 17 while the oldest is 69. More than half qualify for federal financial aid. Lane’s demographic profile says 64.9% of the class is white, non-Latino, compared with 78.7% in Lane County, underscoring that the college serves a student body broader and younger, older and more economically diverse than the county at large.

Among the students stepping into the spotlight is Amanda Fallon, the vice president of student government and a first-generation student. Fallon says graduation feels like another step forward on a path she is building for herself, and the college says she plans to continue at Portland State University, where she will study anthropology and art history. Her route reflects Lane’s transfer role, with students using the community college as an affordable bridge to a bachelor’s degree.

Another graduate, Nathan Hale, shows the college’s career-technical side. He is earning an Associate in Multimedia Design and Production with a focus in animation. Hale says Lane helped him find structure and focus after struggling in university, an example of how the college can reset a student’s trajectory and feed regional employers in creative and technical fields.

Lane says it serves more than 17,000 students a year at six locations across Lane County and online. Students and alumni from all 50 states and 79 countries generate more than $816.2 million in annual local economic impact and support more than 9,700 local jobs. Founded on Oct. 19, 1964, after Lane County voters approved the college, Lane held its first classes in 1965 and opened the main campus in stages after a 1966 construction bond passed. Saturday’s commencement is another measure of how deeply the college has become woven into the county’s economy and educational ladder.