Graduation Frequently Asked Questions

In addition to completing all of the courses required for your degree, you must meet the following requirements:

1. Unit requirement: You must have credit for a minimum of 180 quarter units.
2. GPA requirements: You must have a 2.0 GPA overall AND a 2.0 GPA in your major, including at least a 2.0 GPA in your upper division major requirements
    

Senior Residency: At least 36 of the final 45 units completed by a student for the bachelor’s degree must be earned in residence at the UCI campus (including UC programs, like UCEAP, UCDC, UCCS)

Residence Requirement: Beginning in Fall 2023, students must complete 50 percent or more of the total quarter units earned at UCI before graduation through courses that are not designated as online or mixed modality by the University Registrar.

Graduation is NOT automatic. You must file an Application for Graduation online in Student Access by the deadline stated for the quarter in which you expect to graduate. You can find it through Student Access > Applications > Graduation and follow the directions to submit. You are able to submit an application when you have completed at least 120 units.

Each year, we have different deadlines for graduation, but generally for Fall quarter it will be late November. Winter and Spring quarter will be in early to mid-February and the Summer deadline is mid-March.

If you miss the application deadline, you may not be able to reserve commencement tickets for your guests and your name will not appear in the commencement program. If you need to make any changes to your graduation application, please contact our office at socsci@uci.edu.

If you are a double/triple major:
 
Double/triple majors must apply to graduate for all majors in the same quarter. Students planning to graduate in only one major and continue with the second (or third) major should consult with their academic advisor about a possible Second Baccalaureate prior to the end of the expected quarter of graduation. The School of Social Sciences does not allow Second Baccalaureates for our majors.

When you first submit your application, it will be in "PENDING" status. After your application has been reviewed by an advisor, its status will change from “PENDING” to “RECEIVED.” The "RECEIVED" status means your graduation application is accepted. To ensure that you are on track for the quarter of your expected graduation, you are encouraged to schedule an appointment with a full-time advisor for an official graduation check. You can also use DegreeWorks as a guideline for your progress.

Yes, please make sure you still submit your graduation application by the stated deadline. The red "X" will turn into a green checkmark "✔" when we certify your degree and check that your minor has been completed.

If you are pursuing a minor, be sure to contact our office to add the minor to your DegreeWorks prior to submitting your graduation application. We can also add it after your submission, so don't worry. Just make sure to let us know you have a minor, since it can't be added to your record after you are certified.

If you expect to complete all graduation requirements by the end of Spring quarter, then you may apply for Spring graduation; if you expect to complete all graduation requirements by the end of Summer Session I or Summer Session II, then you would apply for Summer graduation.

Don't worry, Summer graduates are eligible to participate in the June Commencement Ceremony!

Prior to taking you final units at a community college, please contact our office to let us know, so we can make sure you will get units for the course(s) and we can also put a note of the courses in your file. Once the course(s) are completed and on your transcript, please send your transcript to UCI Admissions and then submit their Current Student Update to ensure the courses are added to your record.

If mailing is the only option, please request your official transcript(s) be mailed to our office: Social Sciences Undergraduate c/o: Helen Morgan, UC Irvine, 3151 Social Science Plaza A, Irvine, CA 92697-5100.

Academic honors at graduation are Summa Cum Laude, Magna Cum Laude, and Cum Laude. All are awarded on the basis of academic performance. Of the graduating Seniors, approximately one percent are awarded Summa Cum Laude, three percent Magna Cum Laude, and eight percent Cum Laude. In order to qualify for Honors, you must have a minimum of 72 units in residence at UCI by the end of winter quarter if you plan to graduate in spring quarter. You must submit an application to graduate before the end of the winter quarter prior to your anticipated graduation. You will be notified by our office via email once we have the official GPA cutoffs for Latin Honors (timing varies each year). More information can be found on the Registrar's website: https://www.reg.uci.edu/grades/latinhonors.html

Students graduating in Summer or Fall of the current year may participate in the December All-University Commencement Ceremony.

Students graduating in Winter or Spring may participate in the Commencement Ceremonies in Spring (June) of the academic year in which they graduate. Students graduating in Summer may choose to participate in the previous year’s ceremony or wait for December Commencement Ceremony. For students that graduate in Fall of the academic year, they may also decide to participate in the June Commencement Ceremony, as long as they did not register or attend the December ceremony.

To be eligible to participate in the Commencement Ceremony, you must submit an Application for Graduation by the stated deadlines. If you miss this deadline, you may not be able to reserve Commencement tickets for your guests and your name will not appear in the Commencement Program.

Everything you need to know about the Commencement Ceremonies will be found on the Commencement website: http://www.commencement.uci.edu. Bookmark the page and check your UCI email frequently, since they will also send out information regarding deadlines and important dates to note!

Graduation is the completion of your degree. To graduate, you need to submit your graduation application, complete all of your requirements to graduate (GE/university requirements, School/major requirements, units & GPA requirements, etc).

Commencement is optional and is an opportunity to celebrate your accomplishments with your peers and guests. There are no diplomas given at the Commencement Ceremonies.

Once grades are posted for each quarter, the certification process begins and this can take a few weeks. After you are certified (your graduation application changes from "RECEIVED" to "CERTIFIED"), your degree will be noted on your official transcripts first and then a few months after that, your diploma will be available for you. Please refer to the Registrar's Academic Calendar for official dates.

Transcripts: Degrees are noted on official transcripts approximately six to seven weeks after the end of the quarter in which they are awarded. Academic transcripts may be ordered from the Registrar's Office in advance, indicating that they be held until the degree is noted on the transcript. For more information, please refer to http://www.reg.uci.edu/services/transcripts/.

Diplomas: Diplomas are typically available for pickup to four months after the end of the quarter in which you graduate. The Registrar’s Office will notify you via email when your diploma is available. If you are not able to physically pick up your diploma from campus, you will need to submit a form to the Registrar's Office in order to request that it be mailed to you. More information about this process is available at http://www.reg.uci.edu/services/diplomas.html.

Upon graduation, academic records are final (may not be changed). It is your responsibility to check the accuracy of your academic record before you graduate. (Note that an NR becomes an F or NP after one quarter of subsequent enrollment or at the end of the quarter immediately preceding award of the degree, whichever comes first. Contact the instructor of the class about the possibility of removing the NR or replacing it with a grade.)