Commencement
in the Armory Gymnasium for graduates of the Class of 2024.
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To order your cap and gown, please visit Jostens.com, deadline for ordering without an additional fee is March 22, 2024. Cap and gowns are required to participate in the ceremony. MSU-Northern's gowns are black for undergraduate degree candidates; each college has their own tassel color.
Commencement is a celebration! We invite degree candidates to decorate the top of their mortarboard (graduation cap), but ask that they respect the dignity of this occasion and be considerate of accepted university standards regarding appropriate content.
In accordance with Montana State Law 2-1-315, American Indian degree candidates are permitted to wear tribal regalia instead of traditional academic regalia at Montana State University-Northern's commencement ceremony.
For more information about Montana State Law 2-1-315 please visit the Montana Code Annotated 2017 web page.
Please come to the Registrar's Office located in Cowan Hall one hour prior to your ceremony. At that time, you will receive your walk card and honor cord, if appropriate, then find your place in the hallway for line up.
Cards will also be available beginning Thursday the week of graduation for pick up. Our hours are 8-5 each day.
Additional details will be posted to the website as they become available.
Congratulations to this year's graduates!
Summer Semester 2024: April 20, 2024
Fall Semester 2024: April 20, 2024
Spring Semester 2025: October 20, 2024
Summer Semester 2025: April 20, 2025
Fall Semester 2025: April 20, 2025
Summer Semester 2024: Walk 2025 Commencement
Fall Semester 2024: Walk 2025 Commencement
Spring Semester 2025: Walk 2025 Commencement
Summer Semester 2025: Walk 2026 Commencement
Fall Semester 2025: Walk 2026 Commencement
- Complete the Application for Graduation and a print out of your Degree Works audit
- Meet with your faculty advisor for review and signature
- Meet with the Dean of your college for review and signature
- Go to the Business Office located in Cowan Hall and pay for the graduation application
fee -non-refundable $50.00 one-time fee
- Attach your receipt to the application packet
- Bring your completed packet to the Registrar's Office located in Cowan Hall
Gowns (Apparel)
Please plan to order your regalia (cap, gown, hood for master students) through Jostens.com in advance. The deadline for ordering without rush processing is March 22nd.
Name Card
You will receive a name card that you must prepare to hand to the "Reader of Names" located at the podium at the bottom of the ramp to the stage. On the morning of your ceremony please stop in the Registrar's Office to receive your name card.
Degrees are conferred three times a year at the official end of the term as determined by the Academic Calendar-May; August; December. The review of applications for degree posting is manual and take multiple weeks at the end of the term. If you have a strict timeline for licensure or employment, please request a rush transcript to be processed after your degree is awarded.
NOTE: For summer degrees, due to multiple course end dates, degrees are still conferred once at the official end of the term and will reflect the August end of term date as the graduation date. Please be advised that even if you complete courses sooner, degrees are conferred after the final grading at the end of the term. Please appropriately notify licensing agencies and employers.
Departmental Distinction
Students maintaining a 3.50 GPA and selected by the appropriate faculty may be eligible to graduate with departmental distinction. This distinction will be noted on the commencement program and on your Northern transcript only. There is no cord for this honor.
Graduation Academic Latin Honors
Graduation Academic Latin honors levels are based on all higher education work completed at the time the program was printed. This does not include work completed at the end of the Spring Semester of commencement. If work completed after the commencement program was printed changed any honors levels, every effort will be made to provide the proper cords.
The cumulative grade point average listed on your Northern transcript is calculated based only on your work completed at Northern; transfer work is not calculated into your cumulative grade point average. If you have transfer work from another institution you can not use your Northern cumulative grade point average to figure honors.
Honors will not be reviewed or argued the morning of commencement.
| Latin Honor | Minimum GPA |
| Cum Laude | 3.50 |
| Magna Cum Laude | 3.75 |
| Summa Cum Laude | 4.00 |
Honor Cords
Montana State University-Northern recognizes associate and baccalaureate students with excellent grades by awarding traditional Latin academic honors at graduation. Honored graduates wear honors cords and their names are noted in the commencement program. Cord colors are as follows:
| Cum Laude | Maroon |
| Magna Cum Laude | Silver |
| Summa Cum Laude | Gold |
Commencement without Graduation Policy
University policy allows students who have six (6) or fewer credits remaining toward requirements for graduation at the end of the Spring Semester, or who can demonstrate that they will complete graduation requirements by the end of the Summer Semester, to participate in the commencement ceremony provided that they submit graduation clearance papers by the deadline.