Undergraduate Students

Once you have earned 85 or more hours you will be prompted to answer questions in your Registration Ready process regarding your anticipated graduation date. Be sure to read through these questions, and verify the correct graduation term is entered.

1. If you have already completed the Registration Ready process for the term and need to change the date entered please contact the Registrar's Office via email: degreeoffice@colostate.edu, phone: (970)491-7159, or in person in Centennial Hall.
2. In the term you are going to graduate (complete all your degree requirements) you should meet with your advisor/department to review your Degree Audit Report (DARS) and sign your Contract for Completion of Major/Minor. If you are signing a Contract for Completion of Major/Minor in any given semester, and you are planning on registering for a course(s) in a future term you may encounter unintended consequences once your degree is conferred. Please refer to the Contract for Completion of Major/Minor website for additional information.
    
3. Departmental curriculum requirements are checked by the department head of the first major, second majors, and/or minors if applicable. Requests for waivers or substitutions for departmental requirements must be approved by the advisor and department head.
4. Requests for waivers or substitutions of Graduation Requirements or the All-University Core Curriculum must be submitted on an appeal found through the Registrar's Forms webpage: the University Graduation Requirement Appeal Form or the Requesting a Substitution for a Core Requirement Appeal Form. This form must be signed by the advisor and department head. Once you have a completed form it may be submitted to the Registrar's Office for processing. NOTE: Once a completed form is received in the Registrar's Office it can take approximately 3 - 4 weeks for a response.

If you are planning on transferring in coursework from another post-secondary institution in order to meet the requirements for degree completion you should contact the Degree & Transfer Evaluation unit for assistance (970-491-7159). It is very important that all grades/transcripts are received by the end of the 4^th week after the semester has ended. If grades/transcripts are not received within this timeframe you will experience a delay regarding the formal posting of your official graduation for that semester as well as delays printing your diploma.

Graduate Students

Follow the Steps to Student Degree on the Graduate School website as a general guideline of what to expect, and discuss your program and graduation requirements with your department. It is important to note that departments and programs may require additional items in order for successful completion of the degree.

The GS25: Application for Graduation Form is submitted to the Graduate School by the deadline date, as outlined on the Graduate School website, of the semester that you intend to complete your degree requirements.

Important things all students need to know prior to attending Commencement
 

1. Be sure your address on RAMweb is correct and reflects where you wish to have your diploma mailed.  If it is not accurate make sure to update this information prior to attending commencement.
2. Expect the diploma to be mailed within 6-8 weeks after the conferral of your degree.
3. If a financial hold exists at the time of degree conferral your diploma will be held until the account is paid.
4. If more than one term has lapsed since your degree was conferred and a financial hold has been in place, you will need to update your address on RAMweb and then contact the Degree and Transfer Evaluation unit in order to have your diploma released.
5. Walking in a particular commencement ceremony does not mean that you have "graduated".  We will begin a reconfirmation/double check of all degree requirements once the grade submission date has passed prior to posting the conferral of your degree.

CSU Commencement Ceremonies

CSU hosts a number of commencement ceremonies each fall and spring semester. See the University Commencement website for more information.
 

At the time of the commencement ceremony, if you do not have a preprinted card with your name, you will need to fill one out manually and give it to the staff member there who is representing your college.

Your Diploma
 

It can take approximately 4-6 weeks to post your degree to your Official Transcript (or to confer your degree). The process of conferral officially begins the Monday after the Grade submission/Grade due date.

Diplomas are mailed approximately 6-8 weeks after the degree conferral date. They are mailed to the address listed on file through RAMweb, this includes international addresses. Address updates can be made through the "Change My Address/Telephone Number" link in RAMweb. Please note that an incorrect address will delay the delivery of your diploma. Students will be notified through their CSU email account if their diploma is returned to the University. All undeliverable diplomas returned to CSU will be retained in the Registrar's Office for one year.

NOTE: Graduates with a financial hold will not receive their diploma until the hold is resolved. For information regarding financial holds please contact Student Financial Services at (970)491-6321.