Excelsior College’s Degree Conferral Process

Your Conferral (Graduation) Date is Automatically Assigned

Your years of hard work have finally paid off and that light at the end of the tunnel is blinding; you shield your eyes and step through, for you have finished your last course or examination towards your degree requirements at Excelsior.

What is the Degree Conferral Process?

You may have heard from peers who have attended traditional institutions that you should have applied for graduation months ago (which could send you into panic mode). Good news! At Excelsior, there is no need to request graduation. Also, Excelsior confers degrees every month! Once your advisor is in receipt of your final grade or outstanding transcript(s) and sees that you have satisfied all of your degree requirements, you are automatically assigned a conferral (graduation) date. Your file is subsequently reviewed by several members of our advising and Office of Registration and Records staff to make sure that everything is in order. Our advisors use deadlines set forth by the college in order to determine your conferral date and to allow for efficient processing of student files between the necessary offices.

It’s important to note that this approval process may take some time (up to two months, at times), as many students graduate at the end of every term. Typically, students see their graduation status change about 3-4 weeks before their assigned conferral date. For example, if your assigned conferral date is December 19^th, you may not see your status change until November 28^th. Once you are cleared for graduation, a packet is mailed to the address listed on your file. You have until two weeks before your conferral date to submit, in writing, any additions/corrections you wish to make to your final transcript. With timely payment of your graduation fee (if applicable), your physical diploma and a student copy of your transcript are sent out on your assigned conferral date.

Getting Your Diploma – An Important Part of the Degree Conferral Process

Excelsior’s advisors understand the excitement and oftentimes the anxiety that come along with finishing up your degree; you just want that coveted piece of paper in hand showing that your hard work was not for naught. We thank you for your patience as we at Excelsior do the heavy lifting to get that diploma in your mailbox as soon as we can. In the meantime, sit back and enjoy that celebration dinner you have scheduled with family and friends. You’ve earned it!

To access the PDF document containing the full list of conferral dates and the appropriate deadlines, please visit MyExcelsior (requires login).