Diploma Application and Degree Conferral

Students must submit a Diploma Application through NCUOne, which triggers a final degree audit. The audit process confirms that the student has met all academic and programmatic requirements and is financially clear. The Diploma Application final degree audit is reviewed and completed by the Academic and Finance Advisor, the School of the degree program to be conferred, Student and Financial Services, and the Office of the Registrar.

Upon successful completion of the final degree audit, the student is degree conferred and the diploma order is submitted to NCU’s third-party diploma vendor for processing.

A student’s program completion date is the end date of the last course in their program. This date will be used as the student’s degree conferral and diploma date.

If a doctoral student successfully defends their dissertation prior to the end date of the last dissertation course, the University will use the date the student defended their dissertation as the degree conferral and diploma date.

Example: End date of last course is March 14th; doctoral student defends dissertation on March 8th. Degree conferral date and diploma date is March 8th.

Honors

Students who demonstrate exceptionally high academic progress in the undergraduate programs are eligible for graduation honors. Graduate degrees do not qualify for honors designation. Students must have earned at least 30 semester credits with letter grades (A through F) at NCU for honors to be determined. Academic honors are posted to the diploma and final transcript when the student’s degree is conferred. 

Students completing an Undergraduate program may qualify for the following honors: 

• Summa Cum Laude (with highest honors) GPA 3.85 +
• Magna Cum Laude (with high honors) GPA 3.75 - 3.849
• Cum Laude (with honors) GPA 3.50 - 3.749

Diplomas and Certificates

The student’s name in the official record will be printed on their diploma. Students may type out how they want their name to appear on the diploma in the diploma application, however; only minor deviations from the name will be allowed (e.g., omission or inclusion of middle name or suffix, abbreviated or nickname). If a student wants a different name than what is on record, they must complete a change of information request prior to submitting the diploma application. Contact the Office of the Registrar at graduation@ncu.edu for additional assistance.

Students receive one free diploma and diploma cover upon completion of the degree conferral audit and approval process. Students may order duplicate copies of their diploma or an electronic credential. Electronic credentials are only available for students that graduated after February 2021. See Miscellaneous Fees  for more information.