Graduation
Getting ready to graduate
Congratulations, graduate, below is a list of steps to help you with the process of preparing to graduate and answer any questions you might have.
If you have questions related to University Commencement of participating in graduation ceremonies, please contact University Ceremonies at commence@asu.edu.
If you have questions about receiving your diploma, please contact the graduation office at graduation@asu.edu.
Confirm that you are ready to graduate
Undergraduate Students
Review your degree audit (DARS) to ensure that you will be meeting degree requirements by your conferral date. You may request a degree audit via MyASU. Any issues or concerns should be directed to your academic advisor or department (the graduation office cannot make changes to your audit).
Graduate Students
Review your iPOS via My ASU and contact your committee chair or department if you have questions about your eligibility to graduate.
Verify your name
Your name will appear on your diploma and in the commencement book as it is recorded in ASU’s Student System. Any name changes must be made through the Outgoing Transcripts Section of University Registrar Services. This includes lower/upper case corrections. Special characters may be noted on the Diploma Name form.
Check your address
Diplomas are mailed to the address on file with the university. If this address is incorrect, your diploma may not find you. It is your responsibility to keep your address updated. The posting of degrees begins shortly after the conferral date and generally diplomas arrive 4-6 weeks after the conferral date.
Get your graduation regalia
You will receive your diploma case at your college convocation, but here is what you need to get:
- Academic Regalia (Cap and Gown). Visit the Sun Devil Campus Stores for information about purchasing regalia for commencement activities.
- Undergraduate Honor Cords. Undergraduate students who have completed at least 56 semester hours of resident credit at ASU qualify for graduation with academic recognition based on the GPA requirements below:
- Cum Laude (3.40 - 3.59 GPA)
- Magna Cum Laude (3.60 - 3.79 GPA)
- Summa Cum Laude (3.80 - 4.00 GPA)
For on-campus students, honor cords are awarded based on your current GPA at the time of your request and can be picked up at any University Registrar Services location.
For ASU Online students, honor cords are awarded based on your current GPA at the graduation application deadline, and they will be automatically mailed to eligible students.
Honors designation will be reflected on all eligible graduates’ diplomas and reflect their final cumulative ASU GPA.
Celebrate your achievement
Visit graduation.asu.edu for a complete schedule of commencement activities and further information about various college and cultural convocations.
Ceremonies held at Grady Gammage Auditorium will require a ticket. Ceremonies held at Wells Fargo Arena or other venues currently do not require tickets. Please check with the dean’s office of your college for details.
No. Diplomas are printed and mailed by an outside vendor to the diploma address listed on your profile page on My ASU.
Students will RSVP from a link on their My ASU page - go to My Programs and select the Graduation tab. You must apply to graduate and pay the application fee first. You will receive a confirmation via email after successfully submitting your response.
The majority of degrees are posted within 10-14 days of the degree conferral date.
This is the date recorded on your transcript signifying when your degree was officially recognized. All requirements must be met by this date. Dates are published in the University's Academic Calendar.
There is a summer conferral date, but no ceremonies are held in the summer. Summer graduates will be recognized in the Fall commencement book and can choose to participate in either spring or fall ceremonies. Contact your college convocation coordinator for further information.
A graduating student is someone who has met all graduation requirements, whereas “walking” means a student who is participating in ceremonies but is not graduating yet. Diplomas are mailed and not given to students at either commencement or convocation. Students typically participate in the ceremonies that correspond to their graduation semester and students wishing to "walk" in a different ceremony should contact their college convocation coordinator for additional information.
Generally, diplomas arrive 6-8 weeks after the degree conferral date. You will get an email notification when your diploma has been mailed; for most, diplomas arrive about 2 weeks from this date. More information regarding diplomas can be found on our diploma page
ASU hosts a number of graduation ceremonies each fall and spring semester. See University Ceremonies for details.
The graduation application notifies our office that it is time to evaluate your record to see if we can award your degree.
This could be a different answer for every person that asks, but each semester there is a considerable amount of end-of-term processing that must occur before degrees can be posted. To ensure that your degree gets posted as soon as possible, please review your DARS or iPOS and work with your advisor to make sure all requirements are marked as complete. The majority of degrees are posted within 10-14 days of the degree conferral date.
It's common for universities to have a fee associated with graduation. The graduation fee pays for items such as the diploma, diploma case, honor cords, postage, mailers, etc.