Required Steps to Graduate
All students who wish to graduate (i.e., receive a diploma) must complete Step 1.
Master’s degree candidates who wish to graduate and participate in a graduation ceremony must complete Steps 1–6.
Bachelor’s degree candidates who wish to graduate and participate in a graduation ceremony must complete Steps 1–7.
Steps
- Submit your intent to graduate
- Register to participate in your ceremony (beginning March 16, 2026)
- Order and download tickets (March 16 through April 12, 2026)
- Record your ceremony name pronunciation (beginning March 16, 2026)
- Purchase your cap and gown (online in Fall 2025; in-person beginning in April 2026)
- Complete the First Destination Survey (1 month before the end of your last term)
- Undergraduates only: Attend the Diploma Ceremony Information Session (on May 4, 2026)
Submit your intent to graduate
When you submit an Intent to Graduate, you are asking the Registrar’s Office to validate your plan to complete your academic requirements and receive a diploma. The review process takes 5 to 7 business days, after which you will receive an email from the Registrar’s Office confirming your plan or alerting you to issues. Once your Intent to Graduate is confirmed, you will be added to the Class of 2026 email distribution list and receive information from the Commencement Office.
If you need to change your graduation term, you must submit a new Intent to Graduate form because your plan to graduate will have changed.
Register to participate in your ceremony
After your Intent to Graduate is confirmed, on or after March 16, 2026 you will receive an email from the Commencement Office inviting you to Register to Participate in your ceremonies.
- If you select “No” when you register your participation, automated email reminders for that ceremony will end.
- If you select “Yes” when you register your participation, you will receive a second email with a link to order and download your electronic guest tickets.
- Note: it can take as long as 15 minutes for your tickets to become available once you have registered.
Order and download tickets
You must Register to Participate in the ceremony (Step 2) to be eligible to order tickets.
Record your ceremony name pronunciation
At the Graduate Hooding Ceremonies and Undergraduate Diploma Ceremonies, graduating students will have their ceremony name read live as they cross the stage and we want to make sure we pronounce it correctly!
Beginning March 16, 2026, participating graduates will receive an email titled "Ceremony Name Pronunciation!" with a link to record their ceremony name. Recordings made fewer than seven (7) days before the ceremony may not be heard.
- Your ceremony name is the name that will be read at the ceremony and printed in the program.
- By default your ceremony name is the same as the diploma name you submitted on your Intent to Graduate, but it can be different.
- Once your Intent to Graduate is confirmed, you can change your ceremony name until four (4) weeks before the ceremony using our online form.
Purchase your cap and gown
Official Emerson caps and gowns are required for students participating in a graduation ceremony and may be purchased online or in-person.
Complete the First Destination Survey
The First Destination Survey (FDS) tracks and celebrates the successes of our graduates, honoring their achievements while enhancing the college’s reputation. It also supports students seeking opportunities. Your survey will open one (1) month before the end of your last term.
Attend your Diploma Ceremony Information Session (Undergraduates only)
Student Affairs will hold a mandatory Diploma Ceremony Information Session for undergraduates only on Monday May 4, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. in the Cutler Majestic Theatre. If you are a December 2025 graduate or a Spring 2026 ELA student who will not be attending Senior Week in Boston and wish to be excused from the information session, please submit your waiver request (authentication required).