Mr Ward said he had loved animation since he was a child and decided when he was about 12 he was going to be an animator.
He liked the creativity, colour and the ability to make a cartoon by yourself, he said.
The graduation at Tunohopu Marae involved a welcoming, a pohiri , speeches from Animation College chief executive Adam Berry and guest artist Michel Mulipola, then the handing over of certificates and photos.
The ceremony finished with speeches from Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick and a student representative.
A lunch was then shared at the marae by those attending and a screen was set up to play some of the graduates' moving cartoons.
Mr Ward said 12 of the graduates would be paid apprentices at a new Rotorua business opening in February called Digital Base Camp.
It would be a third year of study, he said.
Graduate Sasha Rotherham said she was studying at Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology, then Waiariki Bay of Plenty Polytechnic, previously but felt like she did not belong there.
She then found the Animation College and found out it was coming to Rotorua.
It felt great to have graduated and it was an experience she recommended to others, she said.
"It's almost been two years. It was so stressful, the hours were insane, but there were great tutors to help us through."
She said she would do her third year of study as a paid apprentice and then was looking to move with her partner to Wellington to study 3D animation.
