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Graduation Policies

Declaration of Candidacy for a Degree

To graduate, a student must declare his/her intention to graduate and show the approval of the program director or college dean by completing a declaration of candidacy form and turning it in to the Office of the Registrar. The declaration of candidacy form is available in the Office of the Registrar or online under advising forms on the Office of the Registrar website. This form MUST be received six months prior to the expected graduation date. If a student's declaration of candidacy form does not accurately reflect the degree earned, the institution reserves the right to declare a student a candidate for a degree under one of the following two circumstances:

  1. A student applied for degree candidacy but failed to meet all degree requirements listed on the declaration of candidacy form. The institution reserves the right to adjust a student's declaration of candidacy form and award a degree for the degree earned six months after a student's last enrollment. Therefore, dropping any unearned degrees from the student's declaration of candidacy form and awarding a degree based on at least one completed degree.
  2. A student who has not applied for graduation but has satisfied all degree requirements may be awarded the degree one year after a student's last enrollment. Therefore, the institution reserves the right to declare a student a candidate for a degree and award the earned degree even if the student has failed to declare candidacy.

A grade point average of 3.0 in courses applied toward a degree program must be earned in order to graduate. No courses used toward graduation requirements can be completed with a grade of "D+" or lower.

Commencement Ceremony

The University of Findlay holds a graduate and an undergraduate commencement ceremony each year during the Spring as noted within the Academic Calendar.

In order to be permitted to participate in a commencement ceremony, a student must complete a graduation application and indicate their intention to participate. Upon receipt of the graduation application, the Office of the Registrar will automatically assign a student to the appropriate commencement ceremony as defined by the following eligibility requirements.

Students will be automatically eligible to participate in the Spring ceremony if they have completed all degree requirements during the preceding Fall, Winter, Spring, or are in the process of completing degree requirements in the subsequent Summer term (i.e. within the academic year).

A student may participate in a commencement ceremony other than the one they are automatically assigned to if the student meets one of the following conditions:

  • The student is registered for no more than two courses to complete all degree requirements in the subsequent Fall term and sends notification to the Office of the Registrar indicating the intention to participate in the preceding Spring ceremony.
  • The student submits an appeal to the Student Academic Standards Committee requesting permission to participate in a commencement ceremony different from the one automatically assigned to the student. If the student’s appeal is approved, a $50 commencement change fee will be applied to the student’s account.

Degree Conferral Date

The University of Findlay confers degrees three times each year, December, May, and August. The degree date is posted after successful completion of all degree requirements. Participation in a commencement ceremony is independent of degree conferral.

The December degree conferral date is given to those students completing their degree requirements by the end of the fall semester.

The May degree conferral date is given to those students completing their degree requirements during the winter or winter weekend term, the spring semester, or the spring weekend term.

The August degree conferral date is given to those students completing their graduation requirements during the summer semester or the summer weekend term.

Students who do not complete graduation requirements by the date for which they applied MUST re-file a graduation application. An application is not automatically considered for the next graduation conferral date.