Doors are expected to open for graduating students at 3:00 pm. The Commencement ceremony will begin at 4:30 pm and last approximately 2.5 hours.

Commencement is a festive and ceremonial occasion celebrating the accomplishments of students. Graduates and their guests are expected to remain for the duration of the entire ceremony. If you need special accommodations, please reach out to commencement@sps.cuny.edu.

The ceremony will include remarks by leadership and select speakers, the individual procession across the stage, and at the end, the official conferral of degrees and turning of the tassel.

All graduating students who have registered to attend the ceremony will have their name announced during the stage crossing.

For each academic major, graduates who are attending the ceremony virtually will have their name announced, and their graduate slide will be shown on screen. Following that, the graduates who are attending the ceremony in person will then have their names announced, and they will be shown on screen as they cross the stage. 

Graduates will also will have the opportunity to take a photo as they exit the stage.

All candidates for graduation will have the opportunity to hear their name announced and cross the stage individually.

Due to safety reasons, children are not permitted on stage for the crossing nor can they be seated amongst the members of the graduating class. If you are a nursing parent, or if you need access to your child during the ceremony for another reason, please contact the Commencement Office to discuss accommodations.

Your academic achievement and other distinguished scholarship and military service may qualify you to be recognized with an honors designation at Commencement. Recipients of these honors will receive a cord to wear with their Commencement attire.

The City University of New York recognizes academic honors at the bachelor's degree level only, with the honors of cum laude (with honor), magna cum laude (with great honor), and summa cum laude (with greatest honor).

The printed programs for the ceremony will include a full listing of all members of the graduating class who submit their application to graduate by the March 1, 2026 deadline. Late applicants may not be included, based on production deadlines.

A official list of the full Class of 2026 graduating class will be made available via a digital file in the fall of 2026. This file can be printed by those who wish to do so.

Yes! The Commencement ceremony will be available for live, online viewing on the day of the Commencement for students and guests attending virtually. American Sign Language interpretation and closed captions are available. A video recording of the ceremony will also be posted to the Commencement webpage, as well as the School's YouTube channel, following the ceremony

Yes, all June 2026 degree and certificate candidates need to apply for graduation, regardless of whether they intend to participate in the Commencement ceremony. The deadline to submit the Application for Graduation is March 1, 2026.

The March 1 deadline means that your final grades will likely not be available when you submit your application. All requirements associated with your graduation status must be satisfied by the end of the Spring 2026 semester in order to earn a June 2026 award.

Students who have no more than two remaining courses to complete their degree requirements at the end of the Spring semester are permitted to participate in Commencement. To do so, the student must be registered for the final course(s) in the Summer 2026 term.

If you have questions about your Commencement eligibility, please contact the Office of the Registrar at registrar@sps.cuny.edu.

If you have missed the deadline to apply to graduate, please contact the Office of the Registrar at registrar@sps.cuny.edu immediately. 

Invitations to Commencement will be sent out to students who have submitted an Application to Graduate and have been approved by the Registrar's Office to be invited to attend. The invitations will be sent to your CUNY SPS email address. If you shared a second email address in your Application to Graduate, the invitation will also be sent to that address.

Invitation are expected to be sent out by the end of February.

If you have trouble accessing your CUNY SPS email address, please reach out to the School's Help Desk (helpdesk@sps.cuny.edu).

Each graduate who RSVP's to attend the in-person ceremony by the April 15th deadline will be granted 5 guest tickets. 

Most children do need a ticket. Babies and toddlers who are unable to be seated on their own do not require a ticket. Instead, they may be held on the lap of a ticketed adult guest.

During registration, graduates may request to be granted up to 4 additional guest tickets. Additional guest tickets are not guaranteed; they are subject to availability. Once the RSVP deadline of April 15th has passed, the School will determine if additional guest tickets are available and will notify all graduates in late April on the status of their request.

Tickets for the in-person ceremony are issued electronically via a TicketMaster site specific to the venue. Instructions on accessing the e-tickets will be provided in early May.

It is the responsibility of the graduate to make sure that their guests are provided with their tickets in advance of the ceremony.

Yes, most children do need a ticket.

Babies and toddlers who are unable to be seated on their own do not require a ticket. They may be held on the lap of a ticketed adult guest.

Yes, the ceremony will be held at a venue that has both elevators and escalators available for guests.

Yes. Graduates will be seated in a dedicated area on the court of the venue. Guests will be seated in general audience seating on the lower bowl of the venue. Guests using wheelchairs, scooters, or other mobility devices may utilize the dedicated spaces in the venue. Companion seating is available next to these spaces, as well.

No, the School does not provide parking passes for graduating students or their guests.

Please note that Barclays Center does not offer on-site parking. If you plan to drive, several nearby parking garages are available and may be reserved at your own expense through services such as SpotHero or ParkWhiz.

The venue is also conveniently accessible via the LIRR, MTA subway lines, or rideshare services.

Guest seating will be stadium style, and there will be designated seating areas for guests in wheelchairs. The venue has escalators/elevators for any guests who are unable to walk up the stairs. Guests with special needs are advised to arrive one hour prior to the start of the ceremony. If your guests need ADA seating accommodations, please let us know that when you register to attend the ceremony. 

American sign language interpretation and live captioning will be available. 

For any other inquiries regarding accommodations for guests, please contact the Commencement team.

The Access-A-Ride bus stop at Barclays Center is located on Atlantic Avenue, between Ft. Greene Place and 6th Avenue. The stop is situated on the South Side of Atlantic Avenue, adjacent to the arena, and is nearest the Atlantic Entrance.

Regalia can be purchased through Jostens. The CUNY SPS store with Jostens is now open for orders. Please visit the store here to place an order today! The last day to order via the Jostens site is Thursday, April 17, 2026. 

If you are planning to order a Kente or Serape stole through Jostens, those orders should be placed by March 8, as those stoles take longer to produce and ship to the US.

A standard regalia package includes the essential items: cap with tassel and gown for Bachelor’s and Certificate program graduates, and cap with tassel, gown, and hood for Master’s graduates.

Students have the option of selecting from a basic package with a black gown, or a custom package, where the black gown has a School logo on the right sleeve and a customized zipper pull and tassel. 

Additional items are also available for purchase a la carte: Stoles (including custom designs), souvenir tassels, keychain tassels, diploma frames, announcements, rings, and more.

You can review all of the items available on our Caps and Gowns page.

CUNY SPS maintains a Commencement Closet with a limited supply of (gently used) regalia donated from alumni. Please contact commencement@sps.cuny.edu if you are in need.

No. We strongly encourage you to order your regalia well in advance of Commencement. If you arrive without regalia, we cannot guarantee you will be provided a proper cap and gown. A limited supply of gently used regalia may be available on the day of the ceremony from the School's Commencement Closet.

You can view this instructional video from Jostens to learn how your cap and gown should fit and be worn.  Hoods are worn by Master degree graduates only. 

Absolutely! We encourage you to customize your mortarboard. We only ask that you remember that Commencement is a family event, and that customization should be respectful of all people. Please also be sure that your decorations will not block the view of the person sitting behind you and will not impair your vision while walking.

You can decorate your cap alongside other graduating students at the 2026 Graduate Reception on May 20, 2026. Stay tuned for more details and be sure to order your cap and gown by early April so that you have receive it before the cap decorating event.

You can purchase them from the CUNY SPS page on Jostens, the same place where you ordered your regalia.

No. While we love to have all of our graduates take part, participation in the Commencement ceremony is not a requirement to receive your diploma.

Students who have satisfied all academic and financial requirements to earn their degree can expect to receive their diploma by mail approximately 6-8 weeks from their degree conferral date.  Further questions about diplomas should be directed to the Registrar's Office at registrar@sps.cuny.edu.

No. Diploma frames are optional and available for purchase from the CUNY SPS page on Jostens.

Seven-10 days following the ceremony, graduates will receive an email from the ceremony photographers with a link to where you can view and order your graduation photos. If you do not receive an email, please contact the Commencement team at commencement@sps.cuny.edu.

You can start scheduling your graduation pictures with Thornton Studio now. Once you've found what day and time works best for you, visit www.ThorntonStudio.com and schedule your portraits using code: studio.

You do not need to have ordered (or received) your regalia in order to pose for a senior portrait. Thornton Studio has regalia for you to wear on site.

Graduation pictures are optional, not required.

Yes! In the days following the ceremony, we will post both highlights and the full ceremony to our School's website, YouTube and social media pages. 

If you need a formal letter of invitation to support a visa application for you or one of your guests to attend the Commencement ceremony, submit your information via the button below: 

If you have trouble accessing your CUNY SPS email address, please reach out to the School's Help Desk (helpdesk@sps.cuny.edu).