Frequently asked questions Find answers to all your alumni questions.

 As a WGU graduate, this community is for you. Here, you will find:

• Alumni-specific perks
• Continuing education opportunities
• Ways to network and speak out
• Alumni news and events
• Every detail for Commencement Weekend

First - Congrats!
Second - Find more information about registration, date/time, and day-of details on the WGU Commencement page.
You can also call the WGU Alumni Relations team and ask for Commencement Weekend information: 385-428-2085.

Contact the Alumni Relations team. Email alumni@wgu.edu with your name, mailing address, phone number, the program you graduated in, and your graduation year. Per the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), graduates must verify personal identity information before we can release their Student ID number. 

Officially, you should read this. For your curiosity (and our bragging rights), we share a list of secondary universities who we know have accepted WGU grads.
Note: WGU graduates have self-reported being accepted to this list of universities for their continued education. Share yours if it's not represented!

We think that reading an explanation on competency-based learning and the grading system might help. Download an official Grading Explanation Letter here. 

Most school districts no longer require university placement files and have an online application process in place that allows applicants to upload their own files. However, WGU offers placement file services to students and graduates from the Teachers College if a school district specifically requests a placement file be sent directly from the applicant’s university. For more information on this service, please contact the WGU Records Department at records@wgu.edu.

Your 1098-T form, if available, is found in your student portal on or before January 31st of the following year. Log into your student portal, select your Student Support tab, click the Financial Services section, and select the "Obtain Tax Forms (1098-T)" link in the financial toolbox. The 1098-T forms can be found in the right-hand bottom side of the screen that pops up.. You may also contact the WGU Bursar Office at 1-877-435-7948 extension 3105 if you have any questions.

For help in accessing your Student Portal, use WGU IT Service Desk at 877.435.7948.

Find more details in the WGU Student Handbook: https://cm.wgu.edu/t5/Nursing-Student-Handbook/Applying-for-a-California-Public-Health-Nurse-Certificate/ta-p/366

WGU diplomas are mailed to the graduate within 10-15 business days (pending any financial hold on the student account), to the address indicated on the graduation application. If you have not received your diploma within this time period, please contact the Graduation Clearance team in the Student Records Office. 

To order a duplicate diploma using a credit or debit card, or a web check, please visit your WGU Student Portal. Once there, click on the "Student Support" tab, then the "Financial Services" link. Locate the "Financial Toolbox" and click on the "Pay Fees or Purchase Items" link. A new page should open up, and there you can find the "Duplicate Diploma - WGU Graduate Only" link.

You can email records@wgu.edu requesting to change your name. You will be asked for proof of your name change so that it can be officially changed on your record and then it will reflect on your diploma. If you have already received your diploma and wish to change your name on it, you will go through the same process but you may need to purchase a new diploma which is $10.

Visit Transcript Request, Official WGU. 

You can access and download your unofficial WGU transcript from within the WGU Student Portal. Once logged in, proceed to the “Student Support” tab. There you will be able to "Download an Unofficial Transcript."

WGU alumni maintain access to their WGU email accounts even after graduating. To access your email account, login to your WGU Student Portal, and click on the “Mail” icon. If you are unable to login to the WGU Student Portal, you can reset your password by going to https://my.wgu.edu and clicking on the "Reset Password" link. For additional help in accessing the WGU Student Portal, please contact the WGU IT Service Desk at 877.435.7948.

WGU Alumni Relations sends all email communication to the graduating students’/graduates’ personal email addresses. This includes communication about WGU Commencement Weekends. 
 
A personal email address is what a graduate or graduating student lists as the primary email address on the graduation application and/or the graduate profile. The graduate may list a personal email address or a WGU email address as the primary email address. A primary email is determined by the graduate. The email address entered by the graduate will be referred to the “personal” email address. 

If you would like to update the email address listed on your grad profile, please login at alumni.wgu.edu. 

In order to participate in a commencement ceremony, a student must complete all degree program requirements before the scheduled ceremony.
Students who are enrolled in the final course(s) of their degree program may send an exception request to records@wgu.edu entitled, “Commencement Ceremony Participation Request” to walk early in a commencement ceremony. The records department will determine if the student is qualified to participate in a commencement ceremony prior to actual degree completion.

• If the student is enrolled in the final courses of their degree program, the exception request will be approved.
• If an exception request is approved, the student must still RSVP for the ceremony.

Please review the commencement participation guidelines located in the student handbook, which outlines the eligibility for commencements. 

Please visit the commencement website, which outlines the eligibility and instructions on how to rsvp for a commencement. 

In order to RSVP, you must have your Graduation Application submitted to the Records office and/or an Approved Commencement Participation Exception to walk early submitted to the Records office. It must be processed and approved. If you don’t meet one of these criteria, you will not be able to RSVP at this time and will need to wait to RSVP until you have met these criteria.  

Review the Commencement Ceremony Participation guidelines.

If you have any questions, please contact us at commencement@wgu.edu or by phone 385.428.2085.

After a graduate submits the ceremony rsvp form, a confirmation email is sent to the email address listed on the ceremony rsvp form. Please check your junk box. If you don't see a confirmation email for your ceremony rsvp. Please contact us at commencement@wgu.edu if you have additional questions. 

Yes. There is not a time limit on when a graduate must walk in a commencement. However, graduates may only participate in one commencement ceremony per degree program completed.

https://www.wgu.edu/about/students-graduates/commencement.html

No, but you may watch the commencement ceremony for free on the WGU YouTube channel.

For bachelor’s degree, post-baccalaureate teacher programs, or endorsement preparation program (English Language Learning), you would order: cap, gown, and tassel. For those earning a master's degree or endorsement preparation program (Educational Leadership), you would order: cap, gown, tassel, and a master's hood.

Oak Hall Cap and Gown is the official regalia vendor (caps, gowns, and hoods) for WGU. The official regalia color for graduates is navy. 

Visit the WGU-Oak Hall Cap and Gown website to place your order, or call 1-800-456-7623 and ask for the Web Department. 

You can order a tassel at the WGU-Oak Hall Cap and Gown website, or by calling 1-800-456-7623 and ask for the Web Department. 

Yes, WGU graduates affiliated with an honor society may wear society pins or honor cords/sashes on their gowns. Teacher graduates affiliated with the WGU chapter of the international honor society of Kappa Delta Pi (KDP) may order honor cords at http://www.kdp.org.  

The following hoods are available for purchase at the WGU-Oak Hall Cap and Gown website:

• Education - blue
• Business (all MBAs) - drab
• Information Technology - gold
• Nursing – apricot
• Integrated Healthcare Management - salmon
• Master of Health Leadership - sage green

Prior to the conferral of degrees, bachelor's degree graduates wear the tassel on the right side while master's degree graduates wear their tassel on the left side for the entire commencement ceremony.

A graduate should wear academic attire appropriate to the awarded degree. The master's gown is different from a bachelor's gown. If you already have a cap and tassel, you can order a master's gown as an individual item on the WGU-Oak Hall Cap and Gown website. Please note that the academic attire for a master's graduate includes: cap, tassel, master's gown, and hood. 

WGU graduates who are veterans or active duty military will be provided military honor cords at graduate check-in. On your RSVP form, please mark that you are a veteran or on active duty.

WGU founded WGU Advancement in 2018 as its official fundraising arm 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.

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 by making a gift of $22 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 make a donation, 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. We are asking for $22 in honor of WGU’s 22nd anniversary! 

Philanthropy cord recipients can pick-up their accessory at the Alumni Celebration on Friday evening or during the graduate check-in process on Saturday, at the WGU Advancement table.

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. 

Yes, students will need to send an email to the records@wgu.edu with the family member's full name, relationship to the student, and foreign address. Once provided, the records department will prepare documents on the official letter containing information about the commencement and student's earned degree. These prepared letters will then be sent to the student, so they may forward them on to the correct parties. It may take 5-10 business days for the letters to be mailed to the student.

Please visit the WGU page on the Jostens site. Jostens is the current provider for commencement announcements. 

Upon completion of a student's last course of study and as soon as the final grade(s) is posted on the Degree Plan, the student may apply for graduation. The student requests a graduation application form from the mentor and the mentor will recommend the student for graduation.  The student then receives an electronic graduation form to fill out and submit automatically to the Graduation Team. Students will be cleared for graduation and mailed a diploma and two copies of their transcripts within 10 working days of receipt of the form, assuming they do not have any outstanding financial obligations or state licensing requirements.  Students should make sure that all financial obligations have been met prior to applying for graduation.  Diplomas and transcripts will be held for students who have not fulfilled financial obligations and/or have remaining licensing requirements for their state.

Graduates attending in person will be recognized individually at Commencement. Your diploma and official transcripts will be mailed to you within 2-3 weeks of receipt of your application for graduation, assuming you have no outstanding financial obligations. If you have any questions, please contact records@wgu.edu.

No, the records department compiles the list of graduate names from processed graduation applications for the graduate name book.

Graduates who complete their degree during one of these periods will be published in one of these books.

May 27 - December 31, 2017 Graduate Name Book: This book includes graduates from May 27 to December 31, 2017. 
January 1 - June 30, 2018 Graduate Name Book: This book includes graduates from January 1 to June 30, 2018. 
July 1 - December 31, 2018 Graduate Name Book: This book includes graduates from July 1 to December 31, 2018.
January 1 - June 30, 2019 Graduate Name Book: This book includes graduates from January 1 to June 30, 2019. 
July 1 - December 31, 2019 Graduate Name Book: This book includes graduates from July 1 to December 31, 2019.

If you prefer to not have your name listed in the graduate name book, you have the option to opt out by sending an email to graduation@wgu.edu.