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

The new study showed that’s part of it: One-third of the difference in attendance rates was because middle-class students were somewhat less likely to apply or matriculate.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 27, 2023

“After that Harvard says I have to matriculate or reapply. Unless Daddy buys them another building. I’m messing with you, Matthew. I got in on my own steam, I swear.”

From "Adrift" by Paul Griffin