Frequently Asked Questions

Commencement is the celebration ceremony that honors students who have graduated or are graduating. Our office coordinates Commencement celebrations and ceremonies only. 

*Please note: CSULB holds annual commencement ceremonies at the end of Spring semester for students who have completed or are set to complete their degree requirements. 

There is currently NO fall commencement ceremony. Summer and fall graduates can choose to walk in the commencement ceremony in May prior to or after their degree completion and must apply to graduate via MyStudentCenter during the spring semester of the year they are walking.

Graduation is dependent on completion of degree requirements. Participating in commencement in no way implies or ensures graduation, or the award of honors. Enrollment Services handles all matters related to GRADUATION, ELIGIBILITY, DEGREE CHECKS, DIPLOMA, CLASS CREDIT, GRADES, NAME & ADDRESS CHANGES, FERPA (Family Education Rights and Privacy Act), GRADUATION STATUS. 

If you have questions concerning degree progress or graduation itself, please contact Enrollment Services at es-registration@csulb.edu.

1. Open a web browser and go to  translate.google.com. 
2. In the text box on the left, type in the entire CSULB Commencement URL, /commencement (be sure to include the http://). 
3. In the text box on the right, choose the language you want to see the website in. 
4. Click on the highlighted URL in the box on the right.

It is university policy to send commencement communication to student email accounts. Student email addresses (@student.csulb.edu) remain active for 1 year after graduation. Use this link to look up your student email account.  For other information, such as forwarding your beach emails to another email account, visit this general website.

The Center for International Education handles visa requests for those living outside of the country that want to attend commencement. They can be reached at cie-student@csulb.edu.

You must apply to graduate through MYCSULB Student Center to be eligible to graduate:

Apply to Graduate - Undergraduate Students

Apply to Graduate - Graduate Students

Step by step instructions here. 

If you have questions on the application process, please email CSULB Enrollment Services at es-registration@csulb.edu.

You can check your Grad Status after applying by referring to the following instructions (PDF). Do NOT use the GRAD STATUS button in SSO as it is not working.

This fee helps cover the costs associated with the final preparation for graduation and the awarding of a student’s degree. 

The fee covers the following services:

• Commencement ceremonies
• Degree audit and evaluation
• Creating each student’s diploma
• Mailing each student’s diploma

Refunds are not given as the fee pays for services for graduation. At this time, there are no waivers for the Apply to Graduate fee.

Full dates, deadlines, and fee schedules can be found at the Enrollment Services page here

Please see the following PDF with instructions (PDF). Do not use the Grad Status button in SSO in the Commencement tile as it is NOT functional.

Please see application dates and ranges in the chart below and here:

Image

If you missed the deadline, you can still apply with a late fee charged in addition to the Apply to Graduate fee.

Full dates, deadlines, and fee schedules can be found on the Enrollment Services page here.

When Applying to Graduate, you should choose your last term. For example, if your last term before graduating is Fall 2023, you would choose Fall 2023 from the dropdown menu. You should NOT choose Spring 2023 as your graduating term if you are simply participating in the Spring 2023 ceremonies - the ceremony does not directly correlate with your graduation term.

If you apply after the deadline, your name will be listed in the online program and name scroll at the stadium as long as you have applied BEFORE April 6th. After that date, we cannot guarantee that it will be posted as the deadline was March 1st. Please also ensure you reach out to commencement@csulb.edu requesting to be added and include your name, ID, college & major, and we will also add you to future communications.

GPA honors are not recognized at the ceremony (GPAs are not calculated until your degree has been granted, several weeks after the end of the semester.) If you have graduated prior to the ceremony and know your final GPA, you can purchase an honor cord at the University Bookstore and note your honor level through personalized grad announcements (also available through the Bookstore). 

To inquire about honors within a major, contact your college coordinator.

The "legal name", also known as the graduate's primary name, is required to be used for official university business, such as transcripts, diplomas, and the graduate recognition program. Graduates can look up their primary name in the student center app on the CSULB single sign-on website.

If you wish to have a name different than your primary name listed on the graduate recognition program or personal grad slide please contact commencement@csulb.edu before the March 1st deadline. Please contact Enrollment Services at es-registration@csulb.edu for degree and diploma related changes.

If you wish to change your legal name within the University system, you must submit a Legal Name Change Request form with all required documentation to the Office of Enrollment Services (BH 101) for students or to Payroll (BH 353) for employees. If you're a current or former CSULB student, you can submit a Legal Name Change Request with appropriate supporting documentation. This form is available under the ‘Registration/Records Forms’ heading on the Forms webpage, /enrollment-services/forms. Current and former CSULB employees (including student employees) cannot use this form and should instead contact the Payroll Office at payroll@csulb.edu.

If you change your graduation term, you will NOT need to reapply to graduate nor pay the fee again if you already paid. 

If you are not receiving our communications, and are not on our grad list yet you applied by the March 1st deadline, you may have enabled a FERPA block (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) on your account, which prevents any of your information from being accessed by any departments, including email address, if you applied to graduate, etc. You can check for FERPA restrictions via your MyCSULB Student Center. Detailed instructions here. PLEASE check if this has been enabled then reach out to commencement@csulb.edu for further help.

FERPA does not affect your ability to graduate. Enabling FERPA restrictions simply means you have restricted the sharing of your personal information with anyone other than the parties you have given permission to. You will NOT receive emails from Commencement, nor will you be listed in the commencement Graduate Recognition Program due to the FERPA privacy restriction.

The University, including Commencement, can NOT answer questions about you from your family members. If parent/s, sibling/s, grandparent or any family member or friend reaches out to ask us about your ceremony, etc. we are unable to answer their questions in specifics to you (did my child apply or RSVP yet? What ceremony are they in? May I have tickets to their ceremony, Here’s a quote for my student’s slide, etc.) PLEASE direct friends and family to our website AND please inform them of your ceremony specifics.

MarchingOrder is an online platform that provides students with their GradPass (the pass to get into the ceremony) and allows students to customize their Grad Slides and record the pronunciation of their names.  

Students do not have to "sign up” for MarchingOrder. When you apply to graduate, your information is uploaded to the MarchingOrder database. When the MarchingOrder portal opened March 9 and closed April 9, you will receive an email with instructions on how to access MarchingOrder via CSULB SSO. You will not be able to access MarchingOrder before it has opened.  

IF you want to participate/attend your ceremony, login to MarchingOrder and check all the information is correct. You will be issued a GRAD PASS from MarchingOrder (April 24) and that is YOUR TICKET TO PARTICIPATE. You do NOT need a stadium ticket.

You can make sure you are included in MarchingOrder by applying to graduate by the March 1st deadline. If you applied late, please let us know so we can grant access: commencement@csulb.edu

Students can choose to opt out of MarchingOrder slide if they wish, however your Grad Pass is issued from MarchingOrder and that is your ticket into the ceremonies and stadium, not a guest ticket. If you wish to opt out of your MarchingOrder slide posted on the website, but still want to participate in the ceremony, please email us at commencement@csulb.edu with your student email and student ID so you are included in communications. 

MarchingOrder opened March 9 and CLOSED APRIL 9 at 11:59PM. Don't wait until April 9 to login as it may crash and there is no way to access MarchingOrder once it closes, regardless if it crashes.

Credential students do not need to apply to graduate. However, their access to RSVP and Tickets portal, along with MarchingOrder login, is sometimes later as we do not receive the complete list of credential students from the College of Education until late March. You will still have plenty of time to RSVP, redeem your tickets, and customize your name and slide in MarchingOrder before the closing deadline of portals. We ask you access as soon as your college lets you know when they have submitted the list to us (usually around March 23-25).

If you are a Fall 2022 graduate, you will be eligible to participate in the 2023 ceremonies. Currently, there is NO fall commencement ceremony

No. At this time, CSULB does not offer Fall ceremonies. If you are a Fall graduate, you have the option of attending the Spring ceremony before or after your last semester.

Please continue to check your student email and check the commencement website for details regarding the 2023 ceremony as we release them! Check out the page "What to Expect on Commencement Day". Look under the “Communications” tab if you feel you have missed any commencement emails.

Deadline has been extended and you can still RSVP and OBTAIN TICKETS for your ceremony until May 10! Although there will be room for you, your name will not appear on the name scroll before the ceremony, and you are not guaranteed twelve (12) guest tickets, or that they will be seated together. You also will not have a customized MarchingOrder Grad Slide.

If you missed the RSVP window, please email: commencement@csulb.edu for guidance and information.

Cultural graduation celebrations are hosted each spring by the Division of Student Affairs and student organizations. For more information, please visit the Cultural Graduation Celebrations website or contact the office of the Division of Student Affairs. We do not have information on the celebrations nor do we coordinate ticket sales, event set up, etc.

Please note, in keeping with U.S. ADA regulations, people with disabilities may use a dog that is trained to do work or perform tasks for the guest. The work or tasks performed by the service animal must be directly related to the guest's disability. As such, animals that solely provide emotional support or companionship to a guest will not be permitted inside the ballpark.

Angel Stadium only will allow Service Animals (dogs) and if you report that your animal is a Service Animal, they will ask the following questions for verification: 

1. Is this animal needed because of a disability? 
2. What duty or task does this animal perform (that is outside of the realm of emotional support)?  

Please note that admitted Service Animals must be under the control of the handler at all times, exhibit appropriate behavior, and be housebroken.

BMAC advises that you relieve your Service Animal prior to the ceremony, or if your animal needs to be relieved in the middle of the ceremony, your animal may use the Stadium planters outside in the parking lot. 

Please feel free to contact BMAC@csulb.edu if you have any questions.  

Per stadium policy, no posters, noisemakers, or confetti are allowed to be brought in. Faces on sticks are acceptable.

Please visit the Angel Stadium website for this information.

Please fill out the following form for Disability-Related Accommodations (link).

In addition, you can visit our Accessibility and Accommodation page for more information.

When you redeem your tickets, you do not have the option to choose ADA seating/accommodations online so please do NOT do that.

You will have to exchange your tickets in person on the day of your ceremony. Plan to arrive earlier to the stadium on the day of your ceremony and IN PERSON exchange some of your tickets at the ticket window. You are allowed to exchange one (1) ticket for the person who needs the accommodation + one (1) companion ticket. If more than one person needs accommodations, they can each have a ticket exchanged and each have one (1) companion ticket. So that is two (2) ADA tickets for each accommodation.

Please follow instructions in the linked instructions:

Ceremonies are calculated for a certain amount of grads based on the departments split, so we cannot go over the allowable maximum set and your name will be scrolled and on display ONLY at your assigned ceremony. Your name will not be switched to another ceremony and your guests will miss seeing your name displayed on the jumbotron displays.

If you miss the processional line up in the tunnel, you will be sent directly to graduate seating to join the other grads. That's why it is important to show up to the stadium and check-in 60-90 minutes early to ensure you are lined up with the correct department and/or with friends, and are ready to process (walk) into the stadium. 

Each graduate will receive twelve (12) FREE tickets. Extra tickets are not available for purchase. Children 3 years and older are required to have a ticket.

Tickets are not sold. Please note, if a fellow graduate offers you extra tickets, the commencement department cannot transfer tickets to you officially. AND we cannot change the ceremony nor the seats of the tickets. Students may use those tickets, however your guests will not be seated in the same area as yours and we are not able to accommodate switching seats. Children 3 and older are required to have a ticket.

If you received extra/additional tickets for your ceremony, those guests will be in a different section than the section of your original tickets you redeemed. The stadium is unable to accommodate switching of tickets to keep guests together. The sections were filled as students redeemed tickets, so the stadium is unable to change out tickets.

Last year, CSULB was proud to host 7 commencement ceremonies over the span of 3 days at Angel Stadium. Almost 79,000 friends and family attended the 2022 ceremonies!  

We also offered a livestream to broadcast ceremonies to viewers in over 40 different countries with over 46,000 total online views.  

See some of the highlights below:  

The CSULB Bookstore offers free portrait sessions with GradImages throughout the Spring semester! Please visit the the Bookstore's Grad Central page for more information on how to register, and take advantage of the 20% off pre-registration code available upon sign up. The last day to get your portraits done in time to use for your Grad Slide is April 3rd.