Questions?

Please contact:

• Undergraduate: Prof. Matthew Cooper (Director of Undergraduate Programs) or Emily Resk (Academic Advisor)
• Graduate: Prof. Adriana San Miguel (Director of Graduate Programs) or Sandra Bailey (Student Services Specialist)

Tickets

CBE Graduation Ceremony

As of Fall 2026, the university now requires each department to distribute graduation tickets for all attendees. CBE will start with 6 guest tickets per student and then determine if we can accommodate additional guests based on RSVP responses. Students must be signed in with their @ncsu email to fill out the form. We will send pickup instructions at a later date.

The tickets to the CBE Graduation Ceremony do not assign seating. Seats in the Hunt Library Auditorium (room 1103) are available on a first-come first-serve basis so please arrive early.

University Commencement

As of Fall 2026, student and guest tickets are required for entry to University Commencement. There will be one ticket allotted per student, and students can request up to 15 tickets for their guests. Of those 15 requested tickets, the first six will be guaranteed. Additional information regarding this process will be available in the month prior to the ceremony.

TWO Graduation Ceremonies

The CBE Graduation Ceremony and the University Commencement.

CBE Graduation Ceremony in the Hunt Library Auditorium (room 1103)
10 am on Friday, December 11, 2026

• The ceremony will last approximately 60 minutes.
• The ceremony will not be live-streamed.

University Commencement in Lenovo Center
9 am on Saturday, December 12, 2026

• Visit the University Commencement website for more detail.
• Commencement should end no later than 11:30 am.
• Commencement will be live-streamed via go.ncsu.edu/WatchCommencement and the NC State Facebook Page.
• All graduates, guests, faculty, participants, and staff in attendance will be required to adhere to the Lenovo Center policies.

Instructions for CBE Graduation Ceremony

Doors open for guests at 9:00 am.

Students need to arrive by 9:30 am in order to be a part of the group picture.

The ceremony will begin promptly at 10:00 am. The order of the processional will be: (alphabetically by last name according to the program provided at the ceremony)

1. Undergraduates
2. M.S.
3. Ph.D.*

*Ph.D.’s will receive their hood during the ceremony from their advisor or a member of their Ph.D. committee. However, they must purchase the hood ahead of time.

Feel free to take pictures, but please be aware that a professional photographer will take an individual photo of each graduate shaking Prof. Sindee Simon’s hand during the ceremony. These photos will be made available to students after the weekend.

Parking & Directions

• CBE Graduation Ceremony: parking is free throughout Centennial Campus during graduation
• University Commencement: transportation options for the Lenovo Center

Student Regalia

• Regalia must be worn by all graduates.
• Academic honors for BS graduates (cum laude, magna cum laude, summa cum laude) are designated based on a student’s cumulative GPA when entering their final semester. This is what the printed program will reflect. If final grades are submitted in time and your honors designation changes, you can swap out your stole at the NCSU Bookstore. When checking in for the ceremony, you can update your honors status for the person reading out the names so the correct designation is used.
• Visit the Academic Regalia webpage for more information.
  • The link above describes the different regalia and who wears what.
  • Pricing and links to purchase are listed on the webpage.

Diploma Distribution

Fall (December) graduates: Final clearance for candidates other than Doctoral is early June. All diplomas will be mailed to the address the student listed as their “Diploma or Home/Mailing address” in their MyPack Portal by early July.

For additional information, see Student Services Center page for Diploma Distribution.

Update your address via the Student Services Center website.

Pictures

The Fall 2026 photo album will be posted here after graduation.