Graduation FAQ

Your application to graduate will be reviewed by your faculty in October for the fall ceremony and in April for the spring ceremony. The final approval will be noted in Workday on the Academics app, under the graduation tab about a week prior to the congregation ceremony.

In the Workday Academics app, under the “Graduation” tab, you can view your Program of Study Status and Program Completion Status. There are a number of statuses that may appear on your academic record once you have applied to graduate. Your program of study status will also be reflected on your graduation application. Please review the tutorials for more information.
 

Contact your program or faculty advising office to request a letter of completion.

Please contact your faculty or departmental advising office.

Please note that there may be a delay in syncing between the two portals, which can cause this discrepancy. Once the systems have synced, your Graduation Application will display the correct Program Completion status.

To graduate from UBC, you must complete a formal application process that consists of two components:  

1. The Graduation Application  
   • This application must be submitted to receive your parchment and to indicate whether or not you plan to attend the ceremony. 
2. The Program Completion Application  
   • This application must be submitted to have your program requirements reviewed by your faculty or school, and have your degree conferred (awarded) by the Senate. 

Please review the tutorials for more information. 

Contact your faculty or departmental advising office.

When you submit your Graduation Application via the Graduation Application Tool, only your primary major will be displayed. Please note, however, that both majors will be printed on your degree parchment.

To apply for graduation and process transfer credit from another institution, you must follow the steps below:

1. Arrange for an official transcript from the other institution that includes your final course grade to be sent directly to Enrolment Services at UBC, via email to final.grades@ubc.ca including your student number or to:
   
   UBC Enrolment Services
   ATTN: Transfer Credit
   1874 East Mall
   Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1
   Canada
2. Before you started taking courses at the other institution, you should have received a Letter of Permission (LOP) from your faculty. Send your LOP and student number to Enrolment Services at academicrecord.support@ubc.ca. Alternatively, you can ask your faculty to send the LOP directly to Enrolment Services via campus mail.

The approximate processing time is 6 to 8 weeks.

Graduate students who are award recipients will have their award prorated to the end of the month in which they complete their degree requirements, including submission of their thesis to the UBC Library. Students will be required to return any amounts issued to them for the time period after their effective completion date. Please contact Enrolment Services with any additional questions.

The fall schedule is available in October and the spring schedule is available in March on the UBC Graduation website.

If you are a student completing a double major, you will be assigned to the ceremony for the primary Program of Study (e.g., someone with a primary program of study in History and a Secondary Pathway in Psychology will be assigned to the History ceremony). To check your student record, log into Workday and select “Academic History” under Academics. 

Please note that if you are completing an Honours program, it must be listed as your primary major, and you will be assigned to the corresponding ceremony. 

Contact your faculty or departmental advising office if this needs to be changed before the application deadline. 

Yes, you are required to apply for graduation regardless of whether you are able to attend the ceremony. If you do not apply, you will not graduate nor receive your parchment.

Ceremony information is expected to begin appearing on Graduation Applications in April for May ceremonies, and in October for November ceremonies.

If you do not complete your degree requirements by December, you will not meet the fall congregation deadline. You must apply to graduate in the spring ceremony following the completion of your degree requirements. If you will not meet degree requirements by the deadline for spring graduation, you must apply for the following fall graduation.

Read about options to change the name on your parchment. There is a deadline to submit preferred name change and legal name change requests for graduation.

The following details will be included on your parchment.  

• Faculty 
• Student’s name 
• Credential (Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Education, etc.) 
• Primary Program of Study and Secondary Pathway (If applicable)  
• Co-operative Education (if you completed a co-op program) 
• Degree Standing (“With Distinction” and “with Honours”, etc., if applicable). To dispute your standing, please contact your program or faculty. 
• Minors are not printed on parchments. However, this will be displayed on your transcript. 

Yes. If you would like someone to pick up your parchment on your behalf, download and complete the Third-Party Document Pick Up Form (pdf), then give it to the person who will be picking up your parchment for you. Make sure you have filled out the form correctly and that the person picking the parchment up can present the identification specified in the form. Alternatively, you can assign third-party authorization via your Workday account.

You can purchase a UBC parchment frame during the graduation ceremonies outside near the Chan Centre. You can also purchase one online through Alumni Affairs or in person at the UBC Bookstore.

Yes, a portion of the frame purchase is donated to UBC Alumni Affairs.

Some degree or diploma and certificate programs do not have year levels so the system cannot determine when you’ll be completing your program. For some programs, students may take from 8 months to 5 years to graduate. We want to make sure that those who are eligible to graduate know they should apply.

Before the application deadline, you can withdraw your graduation application by sending in a written request to graduation@ubc.ca. Please include your UBC student number. When you are ready to graduate, please remember to apply again.

After the application deadline, you can withdraw your graduation application by sending in a written request to your faculty or departmental advising office.

Please include your full name and UBC student number. When you are ready to graduate, please remember to apply again.