WGU ALUMNI: COMMENCEMENT
Celebrate Your Accomplishments at a WGU Commencement Weekend
A Message from the WGU Commencement Office
The WGU Commencement Office is pleased to announce the final commencement dates and locations for all 2025 commencement weekends.
The full list of upcoming commencement dates and locations for 2025 is listed here. Make sure to review the updated commencement participation guidelines.
How to Register for Commencement
1. Are you eligible?
- Are you a graduate?
- Has your Graduation Application been submitted to the Student Records department?
- Or do you have one final course left, such as capstone, final certification, with the exception of direct hours for field experience or student teaching? If yes, please follow the directions below.
2. Review upcoming ceremonies.
3. Navigate to the city of your choice and read through the details. Remember to scroll to the bottom of the page to view deadlines for ordering your cap and gown.
4. Click the blue button on the city page that says “RSVP Now”
Final Course Instructions
Please email us at commencement@wgu.edu when you are enrolled in your final course, and we would be happy to confirm your eligibility.
2025 Commencement Weekends
May 10, 2025 - Spring Virtual
June 6-7, 2025 - Louisville
July 18-19, 2025 - Seattle
August 22-23, 2025 - Boston
September 26-27, 2025 - Chicago
October 11, 2025 - Fall Virtual
November 14-15, 2025 - Atlanta
Learn more about attending a commencement near you.
Get answers to the most common grad and alumni questions.
Learn about the ceremony protocol and rules.
See information about previous commencements.
Virtual Graduate Video Tutorial
Learn about submitting your video for virtual commencement.
Learn about what to wear on your big day.
View photos from your commencement.
Learn about philanthropy cords for graduation.
View the commencement ceremonies on YouTube.
Updated Commencement Participation Guidelines
Stay in the Know
1. Visit this link to opt in to receive commencement updates.
2. Refer to this WGU Commencement page for the latest and most accurate information.
Questions?
Please bookmark wgu.edu/commencement and wgu.edu/virtual and email commencement@wgu.edu with questions.
Order Commencement Items
Know Before You Go
We want your commencement day to be special!
Commencement Weekend is a memorable experience for graduates and their loved ones to celebrate their academic achievement. We want our graduates to experience a joyful ceremony that recognizes their hard work and the sacrifices they have made to get to this point. WGU believes mutually respectful participation by graduates and their guests is the best way to set the stage. In preparation for commencement, WGU has outlined this protocol. By adhering to the following protocol, you and your guests will ensure a positive experience for all.
Academic Attire for Graduates
All graduating students wear approved academic attire that includes a cap, gown, and tassel. Master’s degree graduates will need a hood specific to their degree. The official regalia color is NAVY, which can be purchased from our regalia vendor, Balfour. To order, please visit the Balfour Website.
We encourage you to wear comfortable, yet professional, dress attire under your gown rather than casual clothing.
WGU graduates affiliated with an academic honor society may wear society pins, honor cords, or sashes on their gowns. You may also choose to wear leis.
Graduates are permitted to wear sashes or decorate their cap consistent with the WGU Commencement Decorum Policy. You may be asked to remove cap decorations or sashes determined to violate WGU’s Commencement Decorum Policy.
Graduates who indicate active duty military or veteran status on their ceremony RSVP form will receive military honor cords at graduate check-in.
See the videos below for more information on how to wear your bachelor's or master's cap and gown.
Commencement Etiquette
To promote a respectful, comfortable, and enjoyable experience for graduates and their guests, all attendees are asked to observe the following guidelines.
- Place your cell phone on vibrate or silent during the ceremony.
- Participate in the recessional. Do not leave until the entire ceremony has ended.
- Keep all cheering respectful and avoid disruptive outbursts to allow the families and guests of other graduates to hear their graduates’ names when read.
Commencement Decorum Policy
Please be advised any graduate or guest acting in a disruptive or disrespectful manner, as determined by WGU in its sole discretion, at WGU commencements may either not be allowed in the ceremony venue or may be escorted from the venue.
Take into consideration the following if decorating your cap or wearing a sash for commencement: WGU does not allow content on caps or sashes that is considered, in WGU’s sole discretion, obscene, vulgar, defamatory, hateful, inappropriate, profane or that might disregard another’s copyright or third-party rights. All decorations must lie flat on the cap.
Philanthropy Cord Information
Help Future Students Cross the Finish Line
The WGU Philanthropy Cord is a blue and gold cord for graduates to wear with their cap and gown on commencement day. The Philanthropy Cord is not only a physical symbol of a graduate’s commitment to WGU, it more importantly supports a legacy that will last for future generations of WGU.
Graduates can receive a Philanthropy Cord to wear with their cap and gown by making a gift to WGU’s Fellow Night Owl Scholarship. With a $25 donation or more, grads can pay it forward to help current WGU students facing financial hardship cross the finish line to graduation. Make a donation today!
All WGU Philanthropy Cord donations support WGU’s Fellow Night Owl Scholarship, a fund established to help current WGU students facing financial hardship. We are asking for $25 in honor of WGU’s 25th anniversary!
To learn more about WGU Advancement, please visit wgu.edu/give.
WGU Philanthropy Cord FAQs
The WGU Philanthropy Cord is a blue and gold cord for graduates to wear with their cap and gown at Commencement. The Philanthropy Cord is not only a physical symbol of a graduate’s commitment to WGU, but also more importantly supports a philanthropic legacy that will last for future generations of WGU students.
Graduates can receive a Philanthropy Cord by making a gift of $25 or more to WGU’s Fellow Night Owl Scholarship, a fund established to help current WGU students facing financial hardship cross the finish line to graduation. To donate, graduates can text “WGUCord” to 41-444 or visit this link.
All WGU Philanthropy Cord donations support WGU’s Fellow Night Owl Scholarship, a fund established to help current WGU students facing financial hardship cross the finish line to graduation.
For in-person commencements, you may choose to have your Philanthropy Cord mailed to you or picked up at Commencement by visiting the WGU Advancement table at the Alumni Celebration or during graduate check-in the morning of Commencement.
For virtual commencements, Philanthropy Cords will be mailed prior to the ceremony date.
WGU Advancement is the official fundraising arm at WGU dedicated to attracting, allocating, and putting dollars to work so more students have access to an affordable, quality education. WGU Advancement’s operation is the next step in WGU’s ever-growing obsession with students’ success, and a way for the increasing number of WGU graduates, donors, and partners to pay it forward.
Thank you for your generous support! You can donate to the Fellow Night Owl Scholarship by texting “WGUGrad” to 41-444 or by visiting this link.
Philanthropy Cords
If you make a gift of $25 or more, you can receive a philanthropy cord.
Brag a Little!
Share your accomplishment with family and friends!
After your degree has been completed and the commencement paperwork has been submitted and approved, you will get your confetti! The confetti is a coveted step in the WGU student journey. You can access your confetti by logging into the student portal after your application for graduation is approved. Confetti may take up to four weeks to appear in your account.
To share your confetti, use the following steps:
1. Screenshot your confetti (like the mockup shown).
2. Share the image on social media!
Tag when you brag! Use #WGUgrad in your social post.
