Graduation and Commencement Policies

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Graduation

Graduation is the process of verifying that the student has completed all of their degree requirements as published in the academic catalog. It is completed in the Registrar’s Office after final grades have been reported for the semester and processed. The Bachelor of Arts degree is conferred to students who have filled out an official online graduation application and who have met all degree requirements. There are two official annual conferral (degree posting) dates per year (May and December). The degree conferral date on the transcript will coincide with the last date of the term.

December Graduates

Seniors who plan to complete their degree by December of an academic year must be within 18 credit hours of degree completion. The student must submit a petition to the Registrar outlining a plan of completion with approval from their academic adviser prior to March 1 of the intended year of completion.

Note: financial aid may be impacted by a delay in graduation and every student’s financial situation is unique. Students considering delaying their graduation by one semester must meet with the director of financial aid to discuss their aid package making a decision to delay graduation.

Students completing credits for the Earlham degree by transferring work may transfer only up to a total of 16 credits, need to have met the residency requirement, and need to be in good academic standing as defined by the Academic Advisory Committee. Therefore, students on Probation or Final Probation cannot complete their degree by transfer work. Requests for exceptions to this policy may be submitted to the Office of Academic Affairs.

Graduation Application

Seniors who expect to graduate must file an application for graduation in the Registrar’s Office one full semester prior to the date of graduation. Emails and reminders will be sent from the Registrar’s Office to rising seniors. A one-time graduation fee of $100 will be charged to the student’s account for all students, regardless of whether they participate in the Commencement ceremony or not. The graduation fee helps cover the costs of graduation-related expenses including:

A manual graduation audit check (performed after the graduation application is complete and prior to final semester of enrollment; concerns are noted in DegreeWorks);
Purchase of your cap, gown and tassel (to be picked up at the Earlham bookstore);
Diploma covers presented at the ceremony;
Official diploma noting the degree earned and mailing fees;
Additional diploma with chosen first name if requested;
An official commencement program.

Once a student has graduated, the record is considered final. NO CHANGES of any kind may be made unless a clerical error has occurred.

Graduation Honors

College Honors are awarded to graduating seniors with cumulative grade point averages of 3.40 or higher.

Departmental Honors are awarded to students at the recommendation of the department, and only if they have met the following criteria:

Earned a 3.40 GPA in all graded courses during the junior and senior years.
Earned a 3.65 GPA in all upper-class courses within the major.
Passed the Senior Capstone Experience with distinction.
Earned honorable individual achievement in research study, creative performance, etc., as designated by the academic department or program.

The honors listed in the May commencement program will reflect the grade point average at the end of the previous fall semester. Final honors will be posted to the student transcript after the final semester grades are processed.

Commencement

Commencement refers to the ceremony celebrating the accomplishments of all our graduating students. Earlham College holds one annual ceremony in May. For information about the current year, visit the Commencement webpage.

Participating in Commencement does not automatically mean that a student has graduated. In order to graduate, a student must complete all requirements of their degree program and fill out an official online graduation application.

Participation in Commencement

While the majority of students participating in the ceremony will be spring graduates, some students participating in Commencement will have graduated during a previous term or will graduate during a future term.

Students who have not yet met the requirements to graduate will be permitted to participate or “walk” at Commencement only if the following conditions are met:

A minimum cumulative GPA of 2.00 (GPA are unrounded)
A minimum major GPA of 2.00
Students are within 18 credits of completing their degree and will complete their requirements by the following December (December graduates), OR Students in the 3+2 pre-engineering program have completed their requirements for their declared major at Earlham College and will be attending an engineering school the following fall semester.

Students may participate in Commencement only once for a single degree.

Diploma

Receiving the diploma

Students will receive a diploma cover and an insert at the May Commencement ceremony. Students not participating in the ceremony may pick up a diploma cover from the Registrar’s Office during the last week of the semester. The diploma, to be inserted in the diploma cover, will be mailed within one month after the Registrar’s Office has received the final grades and verified that students have completed all the requirements for their degree. Degrees will be posted within 10 days after Commencement and transcripts documenting graduation may then be requested. Students with outstanding requirements will receive their diploma after the term in which their requirements are completed. Note: Diplomas will be held until all financial obligations have been met.

Diplomas

Earlham College strives to support an open and inclusive environment and recognizes that students may choose to be identified with a name other than their legal name. While diplomas are most often considered to be ceremonial documents, they may also be used as a legal document for students who plan to live, study, or work outside the United States. To avoid potential issues during verification processes, the student’s legal name will be used on the diplomas and an additional diploma will be issued with the student’s chosen first name, at no cost, if requested in the graduation application.

In addition to the student’s name, the Earlham College diploma will note the degree earned (Bachelor of Arts), the date of degree conferral, and signatures from the Chair and the Secretary of the Trustees, the President, and the Clerk of the Faculty. Majors, concentrations, minors, and honors received will not be included on the diploma but will be listed on the official transcript. The degree conferral date on the diploma and on the transcript will coincide with the last date of the semester.

Diplomas Replacement

Earlham College is not responsible for submissions with incorrect names or typos. Students seeking to order a replacement diploma should contact the Registrar’s Office at registrar@earlham.edu for assistance. Replacement diplomas costs start at $50 per diploma and vary based on shipping fees.* Payments should be made by credit card through the link emailed to the student. If a diploma was damaged in the mail, the original diploma and mailer should be returned, and a replacement will be provided at no cost. To protect the integrity of a student’s academic records, only the graduate may request a replacement diploma.

*There is an additional express mail postage fee for international mailing. Please allow 4-6 weeks for processing after the request is received.