matriculate

American  

[muh-trik-yuh-leyt, muh-trik-yuh-lit] / məˈtrɪk yəˌleɪt, məˈtrɪk yə lɪt /

verb (used with object)

matriculated, matriculating

1. to enroll in a college or university as a candidate for a degree.

2. to register (a coat of arms), used especially in Scottish heraldry.

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verb (used without object)

matriculated, matriculating

1. to be matriculated.

noun

1. a person who has been matriculated.

matriculate British  

verb

1. to enrol or be enrolled in an institution, esp a college or university

2. (intr) to attain the academic standard required for a course at such an institution

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noun

1. Also called: matriculant.  a person who has matriculated

Other Word Forms

• matriculation
  noun
• matriculator
  noun
• rematriculate
  verb
• unmatriculated
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of matriculate

1480–90 for earlier sense; < Medieval Latin mātrīculātus (person) listed (for some specific duty), equivalent to mātrīcul ( a ) list ( see matriculant) + -ātus -ate ¹

Explanation

When you matriculate at your local university, that means that you’ve enrolled there as a student. If you hope to matriculate at a certain school, it means you want to be a student there. The verb matriculate is often confused the verb graduate — which means a student has completed a course of study. Instead, use matriculate to describe the act of enrolling as a student at a university and save graduate for the day you hurl your tasseled cap at the sky. There is also a noun form of matriculate: a matriculate is someone who has enrolled as a student.

Example Sentences

More than half of high-school grads matriculate to college, even though only 35% of 12th graders score proficient in reading and 22% in math on the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 8, 2026

While it will take a little time for the students to matriculate through college and into the workforce, this plan will be a significant contributor to solving the controller shortage problem.

From Salon • Oct. 18, 2025

I need it to matriculate into the master's programme I was accepted into at Columbia.

From BBC • May 4, 2024

At the Miller Career and Transition Center in Reseda, he sampled biscotti from the bakery, where students with moderate to severe disabilities can matriculate after completing the 12th grade.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 18, 2022

This might or might not be true, but I tend to think it is, as Cloke almost certainly did not distinguish himself wherever it was that he happened to matriculate.

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt