Commencement Frequently Asked Questions

• Japan - April 6, 2024 - New Sanno Hotel – Tokyo, Japan at 11:00am
• Okinawa - April 13, 2024 - Yomitan Cultural Center (Otori Hall) – Okinawa at 2:00pm
• Korea - April 20, 2024 - Morning Calm Center – Camp Humphreys, Korea at 11:00am
• Guam - May 4, 2024 Hilton Guam Resort & Spa (Tumon Bay), Guam at 11:00am

Typically, summer graduates participate in the next year's ceremony. However, if you would like to participate early, please e-mail your request to the Commencement Team.

Associate, bachelor’s, and master’s degree candidates will receive an e-mail invitation to RSVP online by first week of March. The e-mail invitations will contain a link to our online commencement registration system. Please follow the instructions in the invitation email to RSVP for your local ceremony.

If you are a Stateside graduate or enrolled in any graduate program other than the Master of Science in Business Administration (MBA) or Master of Science in Transformational Leadership, you are in a Stateside program and will need to contact commencement-asia@umgc.edu to participate in Asia’s Spring Commencement. Additionally, you will need to complete your application for graduation on or before March 1, 2023 to ensure you receive an invitation to the spring ceremony and are included in the program for the ceremony.

The commencement ceremonies in Tokyo require pre-registration and clearance for non-SOFA guests to attend since the ceremonies are located on a military base. To add your guests to the list, please contact commencement-asia@umgc.edu.

UMGC cannot grant access to non-SOFA students in Korea. Students planning to bring non-SOFA guests to the Korea Commencement Ceremony will need to contact Camp Humphreys about their visitors’ policy.

The Okinawa and Guam and ceremonies will be held off base and do not require passes or pre-screening for guests.

Regalia is required to participate in the ceremonies and must be purchased through Oak Hall in advance of the ceremony. Please note that there are different deadlines for each location and the deadline is approximately one month prior to the ceremony.  Regalia will not be available for purchase at the ceremony. Please notify the UMGC Asia Office of Student Services, at studentservices-asia@umgc.edu if you have not received your regalia at least one week prior to the ceremony.

No. You will receive a congratulatory letter from UMGC's President inside of your diploma cover when you cross the stage. Diplomas are mailed about six to eight weeks after each conferral date; for example, if your MBA was awarded in September, your diploma should  arrive by November. Please update your mailing address at MyUMGC to ensure smooth delivery of your diploma.

Yes, there is a list of stoles graduates can wear as part of their official regalia on the Oak Hall website with the graduation regalia. The choices vary for active duty or veterans of the armed forces. Students can also wear stoles of gratitude and their official honor society stoles, which should be available to order through the honor society.

Academic honors are based on your cumulative GPA at UMGC while pursuing a bachelor’s degree^*. You must have earned at least 30 credits at UMGC in courses for which a letter grade and quality points were assigned. For honors to be conferred with a second bachelor’s degree, you must have a total of 30 new UMGC credits and the requisite GPA.  UMGC will provide cords to students who have earned honors.

• Cum Laude = 3.800 to 3.900
• Magna Cum Laude = 3.901 to 3.999
• Summa Cum Laude = 4.0

White cords represent Cum Laude, blue cords represent Magna Cum Laude, and gold cords represent Summa Cum Laude.

*Associate’s and master’s degrees are not eligible for academic honors awarded by UMGC.

Yes. Students who belong to an honor society can wear the organization’s stole or cords regardless of degree level. However, associate’s and master’s degree students are not eligible for UMGC academic honors (i.e., cum laude).

Please contact the Office of Student Services in UMGC Asia. The Office of Student Services or Graduate Programs will confirm your graduation status. Once your graduation status has been confirmed, and the Office of Commencement Services has been notified, they will send you detailed information about the Adelphi commencement.

Please email your request to participate in commencement to commencement-asia@umgc.edu.

For more information and to activate your free membership, visit the UMGC Alumni Association.