Frequently Asked Questions

Commencement serves as the celebratory event dedicated to acknowledging students who have completed their degree or are in the process of doing so. Our office specifically manages the coordination of Commencement celebrations and ceremonies.

Please be aware that CSULB organizes annual commencement ceremonies at the conclusion of the Spring semester for students meeting their degree requirements. It's important to note that there is currently no fall commencement ceremony. Summer and fall graduates have the option to participate in the May commencement ceremony either before or after completing their degree. To do so, they must apply for graduation via MyStudentCenter in the spring semester of the year they plan to participate.

Graduation is fulfilling your degree requirements. Taking part in the commencement ceremony does not imply or guarantee graduation or the receipt of honors. Enrollment Services manages all aspects related to graduation, eligibility, degree checks, diplomas, class credit, grades, name and address changes, FERPA (Family Education Rights and Privacy Act), and graduation status.

For inquiries regarding degree progress or graduation matters, please reach out to Enrollment Services at es-registration@csulb.edu.

For questions about commencement ceremonies, please contact commencement@csulb.edu.

1. Open a web browser and go to  translate.google.com. 
2. In the text box on the left, type in the entire CSULB Commencement URL, /commencement (be sure to include the http://). 
3. In the text box on the right, choose the language you want to see the website in. 
4. Click on the highlighted URL in the box on the right.

It is university policy to send commencement communication to student email accounts. Student email addresses (@student.csulb.edu) remain active for 1 year after graduation. Use this link to look up your student email account.  For other information, such as forwarding your beach emails to another email account, visit this general website.

The Center for International Education (CIE) handles visa requests for those living outside of the country who want to attend commencement. They can be reached at cie-student@csulb.edu.

• Tickets will be required to access all commencement ceremonies. You and your guests will be required to show event tickets to enter the venue. Graduates should be prepared to show a student or photo ID to receive a GradPass. Please allow ample time to proceed through security, check-in and line-up.  
• All persons will be required to consent to security checks, which will include walk-through security screenings through a metal detector at the gates.
• All persons must comply with all venue security policies, including that no bags, including clear bags, are allowed and there are restrictions on prohibited items. Please refer to the stadium's security policies for further information regarding prohibited items. Please note backpacks are not permitted. All attendees are encouraged to keep permissible items to a minimum. You will be asked to return bags to your vehicle. Please plan accordingly.
• Do not disrupt the event, including while you are in a line or processional, seated in the stands, or walking across the stage. This includes using sound to disrupt the event or interfere with the rights of others, engaging in harassment or intimidation, throwing objects, or creating unsafe conditions or any other disruptive act outside the regular order of the proceedings.
• Do not bring signs, banners, flags or anything that blocks or obstructs others’ view of the event. Please be aware that distribution of flyers is not permitted. Nor is the use of any device that prevents or impedes others from hearing programmed speakers.
• Do not touch or walk on the grass on the field, as this is strictly prohibited by the venue. Doing so will subject you to immediate removal from the facility and citation for trespassing.
• All graduates and their guests must promptly comply with directives and requests by events staff, including in the parking lot, stadium perimeter and/or inside the stadium.
• Costumes and masks that create security concerns or unwarranted disruption will not be permitted.

Please be aware that the venue may remove any person who is disruptive or otherwise fails to comply with any of its security policies. Moreover, the venue has the right to cancel or interrupt the event if, in its sole and absolute judgment, the venue deems it necessary for public safety. Those disrupting the event may thus cause the ceremony to end for all participants.

Thank you in advance for your attention and compliance to ensure all graduates and guests can equally experience our Beach 2024 Commencement ceremonies.

You must Apply to Graduate through MYCSULB Student Center to be eligible to graduate (this is not related to attending commencement ceremonies):

Apply to Graduate - Undergraduate Students

Apply to Graduate - Graduate Students

Step-by-step instructions here. 

If you have questions on the application process, please email CSULB Enrollment Services at es-registration@csulb.edu.

Check your Grad Status after applying by referring to the following instructions (PDF). 

This fee helps cover the costs associated with the final preparation for graduation and the awarding of a student’s degree. 

The fee, set by the university, includes the following services:

• Commencement ceremonies
• Degree audit and evaluation by advisors throughout the year
• Creating each student’s diploma
• Mailing each student’s diploma

Refunds are not given as the fee pays for services already performed. At this time, there are no waivers for the Apply to Graduate fee.

For a full description of the process and the fee, please go to: Student Records - Apply to Graduate- What happens after I Apply to Graduate.  Full dates, deadlines, and fee schedules can be found at the Enrollment Services page here.

Please see the following PDF with instructions (PDF) or email CSULB Enrollment Services at es-registration@csulb.edu.

Please see application dates and ranges in the chart below and here:

Image

If you missed the deadline, you can still apply with a late fee charged in addition to the Apply to Graduate fee.

Full dates, deadlines, and fee schedules can be found on the Enrollment Services page here.

When you Apply to Graduate, select your last term. For instance, if your final term before graduating is Fall 2023, choose Fall 2023 from the dropdown menu. Do not select Spring 2024 as your graduation term if you are only participating in the Spring 2024 ceremonies, as the ceremony is not directly tied to your graduation term.

If you submit your application after the deadline, there is no assurance that your name will be included in the online graduate recognition program since the deadline is March 1st. Additionally, make sure to contact commencement@csulb.edu to request inclusion, providing your name, ID, college, and major, and we will add you to future communications.

Honors based on GPA are not acknowledged during the ceremony since GPAs are computed only after the degree has been officially conferred, typically several weeks after the semester concludes. If you have already graduated before the ceremony and are aware of your final GPA, you have the option to buy an honor cord at the University Bookstore. Additionally, you can indicate your honor level through personalized graduation announcements, which are also available at the Bookstore.

For inquiries regarding honors specific to your major, please reach out to your college coordinator.

The term "legal name," also referred to as the graduate's primary name, must be used for official university transactions, including transcripts, diplomas, and the graduate recognition program. Graduates can find their primary name in the Student Center app on the CSULB single sign-on website.

If you prefer a name other than your primary name to be listed on the graduate recognition program, the jumbotron displays, and recorded for your name announcement while you cross the stage at your ceremony, please reach out to commencement@csulb.edu before the March 1st deadline.

For changes related to degree and diploma information, kindly contact Enrollment Services at es-registration@csulb.edu.

If you intend to modify your legal name within the University system, you need to submit a Legal Name Change Request form along with all required documentation. Students should submit these to the Office of Enrollment Services (BH 101), while employees should submit them to Payroll (BH 353). Current or former CSULB students can access the form under the 'Registration/Records Forms' heading on the Forms webpage (/enrollment-services/forms). However, current and former CSULB employees, including student employees, cannot use this form and should instead get in touch with the Payroll Office at payroll@csulb.edu.

If you change your graduation term, you will NOT need to reapply to graduate nor pay the fee again if you already paid. 

If you have applied for graduation by the March 1st deadline but are not receiving our communications or are not listed on our graduation roster, it's possible that a FERPA block (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) has been activated on your account. This block restricts access to your information by any department, including your email address, if you have applied to graduate, and more. To verify whether FERPA restrictions are in place, please check your MyCSULB Student Center using the detailed instructions here. 

If you find that a FERPA block is enabled, you can uncheck the FERPA box to disable the block or reach out to commencement@csulb.edu for further assistance.

All communications that have been sent out, as well as social media posts, can be found under the COMMUNICATIONS tab on the commencement website.

FERPA's impact on your graduation remains unaffected. Enabling FERPA restrictions limits the sharing of your personal details exclusively to authorized parties. Therefore, you won't receive emails from Commencement, and the inclusion of your name in the commencement Graduate Recognition Program will be excluded due to FERPA privacy constraints.

The University, including Commencement, is unable to address inquiries from your family members. If any family member or friend, such as a parent, sibling, grandparent, or others, contacts us with questions about your ceremony, we cannot provide specific details (e.g., whether your child applied or RSVP'd, ceremony details, nor ticket requests). Kindly direct friends and family to our website and ensure they are aware of your ceremony details.

MarchingOrder is an online platform that issues students their Grad Pass (necessary for entry into the ceremony), manages student information for display on the jumbotron during the ceremony (including name, major, degree, and college), and offers the capability for students to record the pronunciation of their names for professional name recorders.

Students are not required to actively "sign up" for MarchingOrder. When you apply to graduate, your details are automatically uploaded to the MarchingOrder database. Once the MarchingOrder portal becomes accessible between February 8 and April 19, you will receive an email containing instructions on how to access MarchingOrder via CSULB SSO. It's important to note that you won't be able to access MarchingOrder before February 8 or after April 19, 2024.

If you plan to participate or attend your ceremony, login to MarchingOrder to verify that all information is accurate. You will pick up your MarchingOrder GRAD PASS on THE DAY OF YOUR CEREMONY at Check-in AT THE STADIUM. This Grad Pass serves as your ticket to participate—no separate stadium ticket is required.

To ensure your inclusion in MarchingOrder, apply to graduate by the March 1st deadline. If you applied after this date, please inform us so we can facilitate access: commencement@csulb.edu.

MarchingOrder becomes available on February 8 and closes on April 19 at 11:59 PM. It is advisable not to delay logging in until April 19, as there is a risk of potential crashes. It's crucial to note that once MarchingOrder closes, even in the event of a crash, there is no means of accessing it thereafter even for university administration. MarchingOrder is open for a significant amount of time to allow grads to access with plenty of time. 

Credential students are not required to submit a graduation application. However, their access to the RSVP and Tickets portal, as well as the MarchingOrder login, may be delayed because we typically receive the comprehensive list of credential candidates from the College of Education in late March. Rest assured, you will still have ample time to RSVP, redeem your tickets, and personalize your name and slide in MarchingOrder before the portal's closing deadline of April 19. We kindly request that you access these portals as soon as your college notifies you that they have submitted the list to us, usually around March 23-25.

For Fall graduates, there are two options: you can participate in the Spring ceremony either the semester preceding your official graduation term or the Spring ceremony following your graduation term. It's important to note that there is currently no Fall commencement ceremony.

No, presently CSULB does not conduct ceremonies in the Fall. If you graduate in the Fall, you can choose to participate in the Spring ceremony either before or after your last semester.

You still have the opportunity to RSVP and SECURE TICKETS for your ceremony until the day of your ceremony! Please note that the full quantity of guest tickets or assurance of seating together is not guaranteed the closer to your ceremony that you RSVP and redeem your tickets.

Feel free to reach out to commencement@csulb.edu for guidance and information.

Cultural graduation celebrations are hosted each spring by the Division of Student Affairs and student organizations. For more information, please visit the Cultural Graduation Celebrations website or contact the office of the Division of Student Affairs. We do not have information on the celebrations nor do we coordinate ticket sales, event set up, etc.

Please note, in keeping with U.S. ADA regulations, people with disabilities may use a dog that is trained to do work or perform tasks for the guest. The work or tasks performed by the service animal must be directly related to the guest's disability. As such, animals that solely provide emotional support or companionship to a guest will not be permitted inside the ballpark.

Angel Stadium only will allow Service Animals (dogs) and if you report that your animal is a Service Animal, they will ask the following questions for verification: 

1. Is this animal needed because of a disability? 
2. What duty or task does this animal perform (that is outside of the realm of emotional support)?  

Please note that admitted Service Animals must be under the control of the handler at all times, exhibit appropriate behavior, and be housebroken.

BMAC advises that you relieve your Service Animal prior to the ceremony, or if your animal needs to be relieved in the middle of the ceremony, your animal may use the Stadium planters outside in the parking lot. 

Please feel free to contact BMAC@csulb.edu if you have any questions.  

Per stadium policy, no posters, noisemakers, banners or confetti are allowed to be brought in. Faces on sticks are acceptable. You may not bring anything in that obstructs the view of other guests or pose a safety risk to anyone.

Please visit the Angel Stadium website for this information.

Please fill out the following form for Disability-Related Accommodations (link).

In addition, you can visit our Accessibility and Accommodation page for more information.

When you redeem your tickets, you do not have the option to choose ADA seating/accommodations online so please do NOT do that.

You will have to exchange your tickets in person on the day of your ceremony. Plan to arrive earlier to the stadium on the day of your ceremony and IN PERSON exchange some of your tickets at the ticket window. You are allowed to exchange one (1) ticket for the person who needs the accommodation + one (1) companion ticket. If more than one person needs accommodations, they can each have a ticket exchanged and each have one (1) companion ticket. So that is two (2) ADA tickets for each accommodation.

MLP Ballpark app: To access [CC] in the app, please follow instructions in the linked instructions here.

YouTube Livestream captioning: For [CC] on our YouTube livestreams of the ceremonies, please use their auto captions. Instructions link here. There is a setting on the local player for end users to turn captions on/off if needed.

Captioning Board: A board will be displayed featuring [CC] (see below image): 

Image

Ceremonies are planned to accommodate a specific number of graduates. Therefore, we cannot exceed the predetermined maximum capacity, as doing so may result in insufficient available seats for guests.

Every graduate who RSVP'd will be provided with twelve (12) complimentary tickets. Children aged 3 and above must have a ticket. If more tickets become available, information will be communicated to students through our informational emails, social media posts, and updates on this website/FAQs.

However, please be aware that these additional tickets will not be allocated to the same section or seating area as the original tickets, and won't be sent out until a majority of the eligible grads have RSVP'd and received their initial tickets. Angel Stadium cannot fulfill requests for seat changes due to the substantial number of guests who have already been assigned tickets in the section you are requesting. Assignments are made as ticket codes are redeemed.

RSVP portal will close on Wednesday, May 15.

Tickets are COMPLIMENTARY. It's important to note that if a fellow graduate provides you with extra tickets, the commencement department cannot officially transfer these tickets to you through the MLB app. Moreover, we are unable to alter the ceremony or the seating arrangement of the tickets. While you may use the additional tickets, please be aware that your guests will be seated in a different area than your original tickets, and we, nor Angel Stadium, cannot facilitate seat changes. Children aged 3 and older are required to have a ticket.

In the case of receiving extra or additional tickets for your ceremony, the guests holding these tickets will be assigned to a section different from the one on your assigned original tickets you redeemed. The stadium cannot accommodate requests to switch tickets to ensure guests are seated together. Sections are filled as students redeem tickets, making it impractical to change the assigned tickets.

Last year, CSULB was proud to host 9 commencement ceremonies over the span of 3 days at Angel Stadium. Almost 70,000 friends and family attended the 2023 ceremonies!  

We also offered a livestream to broadcast ceremonies to viewers in over 40 different countries with over 46,000 total online views.  

2023 Commencement and Cultural Celebrations highlights:  

The CSULB Bookstore offers free portrait sessions with GradImages throughout the Spring semester! Please visit the Bookstore's Grad Central page for more information on how to register, and take advantage of the 20% off pre-registration code available upon sign-up.