Students assume responsibility for informing the Registrar’s Office of their intentions to graduate from Centenary by (1) filing an approved degree plan with the Centenary Registrar and (2) applying for admission to graduation candidacy. The Registrar evaluates degree plans and monitors each candidate’s progress toward degree completion for each semester of the academic year leading up to graduation. All candidates’ names are posted to a graduation list which forms the inclusive group presented to the Centenary faculty and Board of Trustees each spring. A candidate must be approved by both the faculty and the Board to participate in commencement and receive a Centenary diploma.

Students must apply to graduate seven months prior to the conclusion of the fall or spring most closely associated with when they expect to finish their degree requirements. That is, students planning to graduate at the end of the spring or summer terms must apply by the end of the preceding October; students graduating in fall must apply by the end of the preceding June. Students are encouraged to apply in advance of the seven month deadline. Seniors who have applied to graduate and then delay finishing must inform the Registrar of their changed intentions, but are exempt otherwise from the seven month pre-notification period.

A degree plan must be filed before they apply for candidacy for graduation. All juniors must submit a completed degree plan to the Registrar’s Office before registering for the fall semester of their senior year. If not received by the day before the start of fall registration, a hold will be placed on a student’s account until the degree plan is turned in to the Registrar’s Office.

Classification as a candidate does not guarantee that a student will graduate. Students can be added to and removed from the candidate list. Once removed from this list, a student must reapply for candidacy. The candidacy list is maintained by the Registrar, and candidates’ names are posted to the Registrar’s webpage. In accordance with the Family Education Records and Privacy Act (FERPA), candidates’ names will not be listed on this public website if a candidate requests exclusion in writing at the time of application.

During the academic year of their candidacy, students are eligible to participate in graduating senior activities (including commencement ceremonies in May) and to receive their Centenary diplomas. To receive a diploma, a candidate must satisfy all degree requirements no later than noon on the last Wednesday preceding the Saturday commencement service each May.

A candidate’s graduation date is posted to the transcript at the end of the fall, spring, or summer term in which all degree requirements are completed. Diplomas are conferred at the conclusion of the spring term. Candidates who complete the degree after the spring term participate in the subsequent spring’s commencement and receive their diplomas at that time.