San Diego College of Continuing Education (SDCCE) will award 7,299 diplomas and vocational certificates during a joint Commencement Ceremony with San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) on June 15, 2022, from 5-7 p.m. in Balboa Park at the Spreckles Organ Pavilion.

The return of an in-person ceremony is a huge win for SDCCE adult students, who are among the most vulnerable populations. The college will recognize students who have earned a career training certificate or a high school diploma/equivalency, and San Diego Promise scholarship recipients.

“This milestone achievement symbolizes resilience. For many of our students, SDCCE provided a first opportunity to pursue higher education and workforce training, or in some cases a second chance,” said Kay Faulconer Boger, Ed.D., Interim President at SDCCE. “We are very proud of our graduates and look forward to celebrating them alongside their families and friends.”

SDCCE is one of the state's largest providers of free workforce training — half of the 30,000 students served annually is made up of immigrants, refugees, and English language learners.

Single mother Selene Ruffin, 37, will be SDCCE’s student speaker. “I am beyond excited to be a part of this year’s commencement. It has been a long journey, but I am finally able to say I graduated,” said Ruffin, who is dually enrolled at SDCCE to earn a high school diploma/equivalency while she studies at San Diego City College.

“My experience at SDCCE has been rewarding. I learned more about core subjects now than I did while being in traditional school,” she said. “To anyone who believes that they cannot accomplish finishing their diploma keep pushing through and have faith in the journey and in yourself.” This fall, Ruffin will continue pursuing an associate degree in digital music technology with a minor in art at San Diego City College.

Many graduates also received scholarships and awards made possible through the SDCCE Foundation. Fundraising is supported through donors, administrators, faculty, staff, and community partnerships.

“The gift of higher education and workforce training is invaluable. Through the generosity of our donors, our students now have greater access to pursue their next steps and to build better futures for themselves and their families,” said Laurie Coskey, Ed.D., Executive Director of the SDCCE Foundation.

Among the scholarships and awards winners are Chancellor’s Scholarship recipient Noemi Garcia, Matthew La Caze Scholarship recipient Selene Ruffin, Faulconer Family Scholarship recipient Tania Melendez, and Hal L. Coskey Memorial Award recipients include Apprenticeship Readiness Students Echo Fenner and Jeniffer Mendiola.

Students benefiting from the San Diego Promise Scholarship two years of tuition toward San Diego City, Mesa and Miramar colleges include Ekaterina Serova, Cristian Yobel Ramirez Gaspar, Marina Kleshneva, Tania Fraga, Chika Starks, Merhawit Gebrekidan, Panya Paul Lim, Anatolii Kleshnev, Elizamara Bernabe, Natalie Grado, Zhuting Mao, Erendira Hernandez Castro, Luis Valenzuela Ciapara, and Erika Barajas. SDCCE is the only adult education organization in the state with a Promise program that allows adult students who have returned to the classroom as adults 18+ to achieve a high school diploma/equivalency or workforce training and transition to college. Many other programs only offer the scholarship to recent high school graduates.