Policies and Procedures

Undergraduate Degree Services assists students who apply for their bachelor’s degree and diploma and verifies that all degree requirements have been met. The student’s “Application for Bachelor’s Degree and Diploma” initiates the graduation evaluation process, participation in Commencement and receipt of the diploma.

Students may apply for graduation once they have completed 90 units (including work in progress). There are three official graduation dates each calendar year—the final day of the Fall semester, the final day of the Spring semester and the final day of Summer term.

Graduation Process for Undergraduate Students

1. The student initiates the graduation process by completing the online Graduation Application* in myNorthridge Portal and the SOLAR Student Center. The link will display when 90 units are earned; a notice that the link is available will be sent to the student’s CSUN email account.
2. The student determines his or her expected graduation date by using the Degree Progress Report/Planner to plan remaining coursework in future terms. For assistance, tutorials are available for the DPR/Planner and other Degree Planning Tools. For additional help in determining the graduation date, the student may schedule an appointment with his or her major advisor.
3. The Application for Bachelor’s Degree and Diploma, whether online or paper*, must be submitted together with the appropriate fee and should be received by Undergraduate Degree Services before the filing period deadline.
   Online payment is made through the university’s CashNet vendor; in-person payment is made with the paper application form.
   Students who apply after the filing period deadline may delay receipt of their graduation evaluation and their graduating senior status priority registration appointment time. Commencement participation could also be affected.
4. If the online Graduation Application is used and it has been successfully submitted along with the appropriate fee, an advising hold is placed on the student’s account to prevent registration for the term or semester in which the student is graduating. (Summer candidates will receive the hold for the preceding Spring semester.) To remove the hold, the student will need to schedule an appointment to meet with his or her major advisor. (Students submitting the paper application and fee will have already met with their advisor.)
5. A graduation evaluation—a special Degree Progress Report that lists completed and remaining degree requirements—will be available through the student’s myNorthridge Portal. The graduation evaluation reflects units applicable toward degree requirements only. Therefore, the units listed on the graduation evaluation may be lower than the cumulative units reflected on other CSUN documents. At least one semester of coursework must be completed in residence at CSUN before Undergraduate Degree Services can complete a graduation evaluation.
   Undergraduate Degree Services will email the student when the graduation evaluation is complete. Questions about the graduation evaluation should be directed to the student’s major and/or minor advisor or the graduation advisor in Undergraduate Degree Services at (818) 677-3781.
6. Students will be invited to the annual Commencement ceremony for the academic year in which they graduate. Students choosing to participate in the ceremony should follow the instructions in the Commencement Handbook. Further information can be found on the Commencement website. Participation in the ceremony does not mean that the student has officially graduated from CSUN. All degree requirements must be completed before the degree can be awarded.
7. If final degree requirements are not completed by the end of the term for which the student applied to graduate, he or she will need to change the graduation date to the semester of actual completion and submit a Bachelor’s Degree Date Change Form to Undergraduate Degree Services in Bayramian Hall (BH) Room 170.
8. When the degree is posted, the Notice of Graduation will be emailed to the student. The diploma will be mailed three to six weeks after official graduation is posted. Students may indicate an address at which they would like to receive their diploma, as explained at Update Personal Information.

*Kinesiology majors, Liberal Studies majors, second bachelor’s degree candidates, discontinued students and those who cannot submit an online application through myNorthridge Portal and the SOLAR Student Center should print and complete the Application for Bachelor’s Degree and Diploma (.pdf) and follow the instructions on page two of the form.