The successful graduation from all programmes of the Mediterranean College leads to the acquisition of the Degree, which is professionally equivalent to those of public higher educational institutes and is directly awarded by the partner state British university. The degree awarding process takes place in the official Graduation Awards Ceremony of the Mediterranean College, both in Athens and Thessaloniki, following the ritual of British Universities.
The Graduation Awards Ceremony of the Mediterranean College takes place in February-March of each year in a central events venue of Athens and Thessaloniki. The ceremony is organized by the Alumni Office and the exact date is announced two months earlier. Parents, relatives and friends of the graduates are all welcomed, while the event is honored by representatives of the political, economic and scientific life of the country.
Every graduation ceremony is an important day in the College life, celebrated in a festive and official atmosphere as it is a special moment in every student’s life marking the beginning of his/her professional development. For the students of the Mediterranean College this ceremony is the crown for all the efforts they made throughout their studies and the pleasant memories of their student life experience in the College, but also the starting point for a long successful career.
Representatives of the partner University, as well as distinguished personalities of the economic, political and social life of the country, honor the official Graduation Awards Ceremony of the Mediterranean College and give a speech. Official guests of the ceremony are also the parents, relatives and friends of the new degree holders.
Keynote speakers of recent Mediterranean College graduation ceremonies were:
- Alexandros Kostopoulos, Strategic Communication Consultant and Ispirer of “Repower Greece”
- Professor Giorgos Kasimatis, professor emeritus in Law, University of Athens
- Professor Nikos Markatos, professor emeritus in Chemical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), former NTUA dean
- Sotiris Chatzakis, art director of the National Theatre of Northern Greece
- Adonis Georgiadis, philologist – historian, parliamentarian
- Professor Vasilis Papazachos, professor emeritus in Geophysics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
- Dr. Stefanos Gialamas, president of the American Community Schools (ACS)
In the framework of the annual Graduation Awards Ceremony, the Mediterranean College gives honorary prizes to distinguished personalities of the business, academic, art and social world, as well as scholarships to the graduates that get excellent marks, praises to students who have been distinguished for their integrity and their participation in joint activities and honorary prizes to the lecturers of the Mediterranean College who stood out over the previous year.
Some of the personalities honored in recent graduation ceremonies of the Mediterranean College were:
- Dr. Stamatis Krimizis, academic, NASA space scientist
- Pavlos Efmorfidis, president of COCO MAT
- Konstantinos Giannopoulos, Founder and President of “The Smile of the Child”
- Dr. Stelios Kympouropoulos, resident physician in Psychiatry
- National women’s polo team, world champion
- Dr. Giorgos Doganis, president of the Department of Physical Education and Sport Science, AUTH
- Aris Grigoriadis, swimming champion
- Dr. Nikos Lygeros, mathematician, writer, poet, director, painter
- Maura Vagioni – Stasinopoulou, Founder and President of Fresh Line
- Dimitrios Korres, Architect
- Vana Komninou, High School student
Graduates, scholars and awarded students are informed on time by the Alumni Office on their participation in the ceremony and the exact procedure of that day. The graduation fee, which is included in the last year’s tuition fees, ensures the graduates’ participation in the ceremony and involves:
- The degree issue
- The commemorative gift
- The group commemorative photo in frame
- The Year Book
- The robe rent
- Welcome drink & treats
- Three (3) free invitations
