There’s a time for joy, A time for tears, A time we’ll treasure through the years. We’ll remember always Graduation day.”

As is so often the case, the Beach Boys said it best. This June, we look at graduation by the numbers:

3.4 Million American kindergarten pupils graduating this year.

3.6 Million American eighth-graders graduating this year.

30 Percent of American eighth-graders graduating this year who can read at the  eighth-grade level.

50 Percent of their parents who can read at the eighth-grade level.

1 Rank of “Pomp and Circumstance, no. 1,” as a choice for a graduation ceremony march, even though Edward Elgar wrote four other very nice ones.

12 As in 12th century, when graduation ceremonies first happened (in Italy).

16 As in 16th century, when mortarboards first appeared (in Scotland).

9.95 Cost (in dollars) of a “Kindergrad” gown and mortarboard for kindergarten and preschool commencement ceremonies.

4 More years to save for your graduating eighth-grader’s college tuition.

38,539 Projected annual tuition (in dollars) at a private college or university in four years.

12 More years to save for your graduating kindergartener’s college tuition.

54,227 Projected annual tuition (in dollars) at a private college or university in 12 years.

3 Number of veggie burgers the average Burger King sells in a day. This has nothing to do with graduation, but you need something to take your mind off the tuition. Zay N. Smith

Error parsing XSLT file: \xslt\article-detail.xslt