Matriculation - United States

United States

In the United States, universities and colleges that have a formal matriculation ceremony include: Albion College, Anna Maria College, Asbury University, Assumption College, Belmont Abbey College, Boston College, Carnegie Mellon University, Culver-Stockton College, Dartmouth College, Duquesne University, Hamline University, Harvard University, Kalamazoo College, Kenyon College, Lyndon State College, Lyon College, Marietta College, McKendree University, Mount Holyoke College, Mount Union College, Randolph-Macon College, Rice University, Saint Leo University, Trinity College, Tufts University, The University of Saint Mary (Kansas) University of Wisconsin–Baraboo/Sauk County, Virginia Military Institute, and Walsh University. At other universities and colleges, "matriculation" can refer to mere enrollment or registration as a student at a university or college by a student intending to earn a degree, an event which involves only paperwork and is often handled by mail or online. A university might make a distinction between "matriculated students," who are actually accumulating credits toward a degree, and a relative few "non-matriculated students" who may be "auditing" courses or taking classes without receiving credits.

Some medical schools highlight matriculation with a white coat ceremony. For example, UAB School of Medicine does so.

In Super Bowl IV, American football coach Hank Stram wore a microphone on the sidelines as part of the television broadcast, and was caught telling his Kansas City Chiefs, "Just keep matriculatin' the ball down the field, boys," referring to the process of moving the football toward a score. Since that time, and especially after Stram's death in 2005, sports commentators have used the phrase "matriculate the ball down the field" in this sense. However, this use of the word is unrelated to any other known use of the word.