Please refer to the "Arrival" section on the General Information for Candidates page or to the Map of Strahan Coliseum.

Please leave all personal belongings (purses, jackets, etc.) with a family member or friend prior to arrival at the gyms. Texas State University is not responsible for any personal items left in the gyms or on the coliseum floor.

Each ceremony is typically one and a half to two hours long. The time length of each ceremony differs due to the number of graduates and the semester in which the ceremony is held. Ceremonies in May and December are usually close to two hours in length, while ceremonies in August are closer to an hour and a half.

Tickets are not required for commencement, so guest seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Out of consideration for others, please reserve seats only for people who have already arrived for the ceremony. Representatives from the University Police Department will be on hand to enforce this seating policy.

Candidates are grouped by academic college, then by level (doctoral, master's and bachelor's) alphabetically. This is the order in which candidates process into the coliseum, are seated, and are called during the diploma presentations.

Students who have earned GPAs of 3.40 to 3.59 will graduate cum laude; students with GPAs of 3.6 to 3.79 will graduate magna cum laude; and students with GPAs of 3.8 to 4.0 will graduate summa cum laude.

To be eligible for graduation with honors, a student seeking a bachelor's degree must have completed at least 60 semester credit hours preceding graduation at Texas State. Calculation of the GPA to determine honors status is based on all Texas State work applied to the first bachelor's degree, including work completed in the final semester.

Hours earned through Texas State correspondence courses and extension courses count toward GPA and honors eligibility. Hours earned through Texas State credit-by-examination, work/life experience, and other courses that offer only “CR” (pass/fail) grades also count toward honors eligibility, but they do not count toward GPA. Remedial courses with a “CR” grade and graduate courses do not count toward honors eligibility or GPA.

Transfer students who have earned at least 60 semester hours at Texas State are eligible to graduate with honors if their Texas State GPAs meet the above criteria. Students earning second bachelor's degrees are eligible for graduation with honors if they complete 60 or more hours at Texas State in pursuit of their second degrees.

All students graduating with master's degrees have maintained an A or B average in their major and minor courses. Therefore, it is not acknowledged during the ceremony, nor is there special regalia required. Please check with your department to see if there is a special event that recognizes your achievements. Also, you will receive a congratulatory letter from the dean of the Graduate College if you have earned all A's in your major and minor courses.

If you belong to a organization registered with the CASO Office, you may wear regalia from that organization. Please refer to the CASO site to determine eligibility.

Because the commencement ceremonies immediately follow final exams and the posting of final grades, you will be given a Texas State diploma cover at your ceremony during the presentation. You may pick up your official diploma a few weeks after the ceremony, as indicated in the Commencement Schedule.

The ceremonies will not be filmed for commercial sale, but our guests are welcome to bring their own cameras or recorders.

If you are concerned about the pronunciation of your name, please contact your college's academic advising center (bachelor's students) or the Graduate College (master's and/or doctoral students). These offices will forward your information to the faculty member assigned to read names at the ceremony.