August Commencement Graduating Student Information

The following is your step-by-step guide for preparing for your graduation day!

Join us in celebrating the Class of 2024

Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024
Marsh East Lawn, Forest Grove Campus
Seating Opens: 8 a.m.
Ceremony Begins: 9 a.m.

Before Graduation

Apply to Graduate

All students must apply to graduate — whether or not you plan to walk in the August Commencement ceremony. Complete your online graduation application on BoxerOnline by May 15 to participate in August Commencement.

When you apply to graduate, the Registrar’s Office begins the process of reviewing your degree requirements to ensure you are ready to graduate. 

Your graduation application also is your opportunity to RSVP to walk in the commencement ceremony, as well as where you will let us know where to send your diploma after graduation.

When you apply to graduate, the $100 graduation fee will be added to your student account. This fee covers expenses such as diploma and transcript processing, as well as ceremony expenses. The graduation fee is charged to all graduating students, regardless of whether they choose to walk at commencement.

Complete Degree Requirements

Once you apply to graduation, the Registrar’s Office reviews your degree requirements. They will contact your program director if there are any concerns. If you are currently taking courses at another institution to complete your degree, or have any questions about completing degree requirements, contact the Registrar’s Office at 503-352-2793 or registrar@pacificu.edu.

Order Your Regalia and Gear

Students who walk in commencement are expected to wear appropriate academic regalia, including the gown, cap and hood associated with your degree. Academic regalia is available for purchase online. Visit the online regalia portal and enter your program to find the right regalia for your program and degree. Regalia will be sent to the address of your choice. Regalia orders are due by July 15 for August Commencement.

Learn More About Regalia Traditions

Additional regalia accessories, such as pieces to help grad caps fit over hairstyles or assistive hearing devices, are available through Grad Cap Remix.

You also may want to order additional celebratory items for commencement: 

• Graduation announcements are available through CB Grad Announcements. 
• Diploma frames may be purchased through Framing Success. 
• Class rings are available through Balfour.

Settle Your Accounts

All student accounts must be paid in full before you graduate.  If you anticipate an outstanding balance after you graduate, please contact the Business Office to make arrangement for payment. Students with outstanding balances after graduation cannot receive their diplomas or transcripts. Students who receive federal student loans also must complete exit interviews before graduating or leaving campus. The Financial Aid Office will contact you to set up an appointment.

Graduation Day

When & Where

August Commencement takes place at 9 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024, on the East Lawn outside of Marsh Hall, on Pacific’s Forest Grove Campus. 

The ceremony location is in the middle of the Forest Grove Campus. Find directions to campus, and navigate campus with this interactive campus map.

All Pacific University parking lots are available on a first-come, first-served basis. No parking permits are needed for campus lots during Commencement. Please be courteous when parking on the neighborhood streets around campus and follow all posted city parking regulations.

Graduates should arrive by 8 a.m. to line up for the processional into the ceremony. Line-up takes place in the fire lane between Les AuCoin Hall and Walter Hall. 

The ceremony typically lasts 90 minutes to 2 hours.

What to Wear

All graduating students are expected to wear academic regalia signifying the degree they are earning. This includes gowns, caps and hoods, as applicable to the degree. Order your regalia by July 1 to ensure it arrives in time for the ceremony.

Graduating students also may wear stoles or other accouterments representing their academic or student life activities, as well as regalia or regalia accent pieces that honor their cultural heritage.

Be cognizant of the weather. August Commencement is held outdoors, rain or shine. The ceremony takes place in dappled shade under the campus oak trees, but even early mornings can be hot in August. 

Check Weather on Campus

What to Bring

There will not be a secure storage area for students to keep personal belongings during the ceremony, so pack light. Graduates are encouraged to bring a water bottle, which can be carried into the ceremony.

Crossing the Stage

During line-up, staff will help organize graduates in the order they will march into the ceremony and cross the stage. Graduates line up by school, degree, and last name, and should stay in this order throughout the ceremony.

Graduates will receive a card with the phonetic pronunciation of their name (which they provide as part of the graduation application). Hand this card to the reader just before you cross the stage.

Only graduates are allowed to walk across the stage. Family members, including children, should not accompany graduates to or on the stage.

Do not carry items on the stage. Graduates will shake hands with program leadership and the university president, will receive a diploma cover, and will have a professional portrait taken with the president.

Invite Your Guests

Students who sign up to participate in August Commencement do not need a ticket, but all guests do. Tickets are free and available online. Guests can find more information, including directions, parking, and campus amenities, on the guest information webpage.

The August Commencement ceremony also will be livestreamed for family and friends unable to attend.

Special Events

Many academic units host celebratory events around August Commencement. Check with your program for a schedule of award or pinning ceremonies prior to August Commencement.

After Graduation

Photos & Videos

The livestream of the August Commencement ceremony will be available to watch or download from the Pacific University YouTube channel.

Candid photos and graduate portraits from commencement will be published online about two weeks following the ceremony. These photos will be available to download, for free, for personal use. Graduates will receive an email announcing availability of these photos.

Attendees at the Commencement ceremony may be photographed as participants, and those photos may be used in university marketing and communications materials. If you do not wish to be photographed, please tell the photographer or step out of the photo. If an image of you appears in the photo library and you would like the image removed, email marcom@groups.pacificu.edu.

Transcripts and Diploma

Graduates will receive a commemorative diploma holder as they cross the stage. Official diplomas will be mailed to students several weeks following graduation. (Diplomas will be mailed to the address students enter in their graduation application.)

Students may order transcripts or duplicate diplomas at an additional fee.

Keep in Touch

Alumni are lifelong members of the Pacific University Alumni Association and the Boxer family.

Update your contact information to ensure you continue to receive news from Pacific, invitations to reunion and continuing education events, and benefits and discounts information.

We love hearing from our alumni! Share your life updates and milestones with us to be published in the class notes section of Pacific magazine, which all alumni receive multiple times a year.