Loyola policies involving eligibility for graduation for undergraduate and graduate students.
Navigation:
- Commencement
- Diplomas
- Eligibility for Graduation - Undergraduates
- Eligibility for Graduation - Graduates
- Graduation
- Graduation Distinctions
- Posthumous Degrees
If you do not find what you are looking for, please return to the Regulations Directory. If you have any questions, please contact the Office of the Registrar at registrar@loyno.edu.
Commencement
Loyola University holds a commencement ceremony at the end of the spring semester. Students who are candidates for Spring, Summer, or Fall of that calendar year participate in the spring ceremony held in May. The commencement program is not a certification document of the university.
All graduating students, regardless of their participation in the commencement ceremony, will be charged a graduation fee of $340. For students participating in the commencement ceremony, this fee will also include the cost of the regalia, diploma and leather cover.
Additional information on commencement can be found on Loyola's commencement website.
Diplomas
The diploma given to students upon graduation carries the university information, student’s name, university distinctions, and degree title. Diplomas will be released only to students who have discharged their financial and legal obligations to the university and who have completed the required exit surveys.
There is a charge of $25 for duplicate diplomas. For additional information, contact the Office of the Registrar, at registrar@loyno.edu or 504-865-3237.
Diploma Name
Because third parties, such as degree verification services, employers, and the international community, etc., often use the name as it appears on the diploma as the basis for verification of education, it is very important that the name a student uses on his or her diploma accurately reflects (ideally be the same as) the student’s Primary Name recorded in the student records system (LORA).
In keeping with best practices within American higher education, the student’s full Primary Name, as recorded in LORA, will be used on the diploma and all other official records printed on behalf of the student.
When a student wishes a variant of his or her Primary Name to be printed on the diploma, this name should be entered in the Diploma Name fields subject to the following rules:
- First Names:
- Existing first names may be reduced to an initial
- Middle Names:
- Existing middle names may be omitted or reduced to an initial. If no middle name is currently in the records system, one may be added to the diploma
- Last Names:
- Existing last names may be changed only with legal documentation
- Suffixes, such as Sr., Jr., II, III, etc. may be added
- Titles and/or degrees, e.g., Dr., Esq., M.D., PhD, will not be printed on the graduate’s diploma. Religious order affiliations can be included, e.g., S.J., OSU
- Maternal surnames may be added
- Hyphenated family-married last names may be used
- Chosen Names:
- Students may opt to add their chosen name, not replace a primary name, as indicated in the student records profile
Eligibility for Graduation - Undergraduates
Students must meet the specific requirements of their degree programs as set forth in this bulletin.
To be eligible for graduation, students must have fulfilled their specific degree program and college requirements, must have at least a 2.0 Loyola cumulative grade point average, major average, and minor average if a minor is pursued, and must have been certified to graduate by their dean. Students with any grades of “I” or “IP” will not be certified for graduation.
Students must also have completed their last 30 hours of coursework at Loyola or have that requirement waived by their associate dean before the start of the student’s last semester of study.
Applications for graduation should be filed during the previous fall term for Spring, Summer, and Fall candidates. Specific deadlines are published in the academic calendar.
To be certified to graduate at the end of the term for which the student applied, all degree requirements must be completed no later than:
- July 1 for Spring candidates
- October 1 for Summer candidates
- February 1 for Fall candidates
If the student is unable to complete the requirements during this period of time, the student may have to reapply for graduation in a subsequent term.
Eligibility for Graduation - Graduates
Students must meet the specific requirements of their degree programs as set forth in this bulletin.
To be eligible for graduation, students must have fulfilled their specific degree program and college requirements, must have at least 3.0 Loyola cumulative grade point average, and must have been certified to graduate by their dean. Students with any grades of “I” or “IP” will not be certified for graduation.
Applications for graduation should be filed during the previous fall term for Spring, Summer, and Fall candidates. Specific deadlines are published in the academic calendar.
To be certified to graduate at the end of the term for which the student applied, all degree requirements must be completed no later than:
- July 1 for Spring candidates
- October 1 for Summer candidates
- February 1 for Fall candidates
If the student is unable to complete the requirements during this period of time, the student may have to reapply for graduation in a subsequent term.
Graduation
Loyola confers degrees in Spring, Summer, and Fall. After grades are received, the university determines graduation grade point averages and distinctions. Subsequently, the Office of the Registrar posts the degrees and distinctions to transcripts and provides the students with their diplomas. Degrees shall not be posted to transcripts and diplomas are not released until the student has discharged all financial and legal obligations to the university. Once such obligations are discharged and the Registrar is notified, degrees shall be posted to students' academic records and diplomas will be released. After a student has graduated, no change may be made in his or her record, except to correct a grade or as the result of a grade appeal (see Grade Appeals).
(Updated August 6, 2024)
Graduation Distinctions
Undergraduate
Graduation distinctions for undergraduate students are determined on the basis of the student’s Loyola cumulative grade point average.
- Cumulative average of 3.500 - 3.699, cum laude
- Cumulative average of 3.700 - 3.899, magna cum laude
- Cumulative average of 3.900 - 4.000, summa cum laude.
On completion of all course requirements and certification for graduation by the student’s dean, the official distinction will be inscribed on the diploma and listed on the transcript. Distinctions noted in the commencement ceremony program are based on the previous term’s cumulative grades and therefore may not be the same as the official distinction.
Transfer Students
Graduation distinctions for transfer students who complete 60 or more Loyola quality hours will be based solely on the Loyola cumulative grade point average.
Transfer students who complete fewer than 60 Loyola cumulative quality hours are not eligible for graduation distinctions.
Graduate Students
Graduate students are not eligible for graduation distinctions.
Posthumous Degrees
Enrolled students whose untimely death prevents degree completion may be awarded a posthumous degree.
- Posthumous degrees may be awarded, with the consent of the deceased student’s family, to students who were in good standing with the university.
- The Dean of the student’s college should send correspondence to the Provost seeking approval of the posthumous degree. Upon approval, the Registrar will authorize the production of the student’s diploma. The diploma will be given to the Dean for presentation to the family.* The diploma will indicate ‘awarded posthumously”.