2024 FAFSA Information Guide

ACADEMICS

Graduation FAQs

Commencement Details

Getting ready to graduate, or planning ahead?

Here’s everything you need to know. Click on each item for details.

Graduation Eligibility

Students can apply for graduation and degree conferral by filling out the online Graduation Application form under the ‘Graduation’ tab on MyPortal (JICS).

Yes, the deadlines to apply to participate in the Spring 2023 Commencement are as follows: 

Undergraduate: November 15, 2022

Master’s and Doctoral: January 30, 2023

The application can still be submitted after the application deadline, but you may not be able to participate in the commencement ceremony in Lakeland.

Students can check the status of their eligibility for graduation by visiting the Graduation Status portal on JICS under the ‘Graduation’ tab on JICS. Students will be notified by the end of Session A by an email from graduation@seu.edu if they are ineligible for graduation. 

For further questions on your graduation status, please contact the Office of the Registrar by emailing graduation@seu.edu or calling 863.667.5398.

Students can apply for graduation and degree conferral by filling out the online Graduation Application form under the ‘Graduation’ tab on JICS.

Yes, the deadlines to apply to participate in the Spring 2024 Commencement are as follows: 

Undergraduate: November 15, 2023

Master’s and Doctoral: January 30, 2024

The application can still be submitted after the application deadline, but you may not be able to participate in the commencement ceremony in Lakeland.

Students can check the status of their eligibility for graduation by visiting the Graduation Status portal on JICS under the ‘Graduation’ tab on JICS. Students will be notified by the end of Session A by an email from graduation@seu.edu if they are ineligible for graduation. 

For further questions on your graduation status, please contact the Office of the Registrar by emailing graduation@seu.edu or calling 863.667.5398.

Ceremony Information

Friday, April 28, at 6:30 p.m.

RP Funding Center: 701 W. Lime St., Lakeland, FL 33815 

Yes, the ceremony will be available for friends and family to view here.

Yes, there will be a reception held for graduates on Thursday, April 27, at 7:00 p.m. The reception will be held in Kelly Gardens on the university’s Lakeland campus.

Yes, there will be a mandatory rehearsal at 9:00 a.m. on Friday, April 28, which will last approximately 2 hours.

Students will meet in the Exhibit Hall at the RP Funding Center to line up for rehearsal.

Graduates should arrive no later than 5 p.m. and check in at the Exhibit Hall (RP Funding).

Yes, each graduate will have the opportunity to take a free photo with a professional photographer between 4:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. only.

Friday, April 26, at 6:30 p.m.

RP Funding Center

701 W. Lime St. 
Lakeland, FL 33815

Yes the ceremony will be available for friends and family to view here.

Yes, there will be a reception held for graduates on Thursday, April 25, at 7:00 p.m. The reception will be held in Kelly Gardens on the university’s Lakeland campus. 

RSVP for the reception here

Yes, there will be a mandatory rehearsal at 9:00 a.m. on Friday, April 26, which will last approximately 2 hours.

Undergraduate students will meet in the Exhibit Hall at the RP Funding Center to line up for rehearsal. Graduate students will meet in the Hollingsworth Room.

Graduates should arrive no later than 5 p.m., and check in at the Exhibit Hall (RP Funding).

Yes, each graduate will have the opportunity to take a free photo with a professional photographer between 4:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. only.

Small clutch bags that do not exceed 8.5 inches by 6 inches are allowed. Larger bags must be clear and cannot exceed 12 inches by 6 inches by 15 inches. There are exceptions for medical and parenting bags. To view the full bag policy, click here.

Regalia

Graduates can order regalia here.

The deadline to order regalia is March 10,2023.

Graduates can either pick up their regalia in the SEU Bookstore or request for it to be shipped to their place of residence.

The distribution of regalia kept in-store will begin on on April 17, 2023.

If you would like your regalia to be shipped to your home address, please call the SEU Bookstore at 863.667.5048 and have a credit card ready to pay for expedited shipping fees. Orders will be taken for expedited shipping April 17-22, 2023. 

If you are attending the ceremony and did not notify the bookstore to ship your regalia to your extension site, regalia will be kept in-store for pick up or shipping to your residence. If you are not attending the ceremony, regalia will be shipped directly to your site for pick up. 

Honor cords are distributed to undergraduate degree candidates with a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher, based on the previous grading period, if they are attending the ceremony in Lakeland or their extension site has signed up to do a ceremony locally.

Cords, medallions, and stoles are the only graduation adornments that graduates will be allowed to wear without written approval. Requests for other forms of adornment must be submitted to the Office of the Provost no later than April 7, 2023.

Honor cords should represent high academic achievement by graduates as recognized through their respective departments and colleges. Non-academic cords that have been awarded by University representatives may also be worn. 

  • Undergraduate-level students are allowed to wear a maximum of three honor cords, medallions, or stoles for all graduation ceremonies 
  • Graduate-level students are to not wear any cords, medallions, or stoles at graduation ceremonies 

Non-academic adornment: Graduates seeking approval to wear non-academic adornment, such as cultural representations, must submit a written request and photo of themselves wearing the adornment to the Office of the Provost no later than April 7, 2023, in order for the request to be processed. This privilege is for graduates only. Careful consideration will be given to all requests; however, approval is not guaranteed. Guidelines for consideration include the following. 

Adornment: 

  • Must lay flat around the neck 
  • Must be no more than 5″ in width 
  • Must be of a length that is appropriate for commencement attire 
  • Must be consistent with SEU’s message & mission 
  • Headdresses and/or attachments to graduation cap or gown will not be allowed
  • Representation of political affiliation or controversial subject matter will not be allowed

You can email your request to provostoffice@seu.edu.

Decoration of graduation caps is allowed, but we ask that decorations reflect the values of the SEU community. Administration will reserve the right to disallow anything that is not considered appropriate for the commencement ceremony.  

Students who are receiving master’s or doctoral degrees should bring their graduate hoods with them to the ceremony. They will be hooded before they walk across the platform. 




Graduates can order regalia here.

**Please note that the website will not be open for orders until early September. An announcement will be made when it is ready to accept orders.**

The deadline to order regalia is March 8, 2024. 

Graduates can either pick up their regalia in the SEU Bookstore or request for it to be shipped to their place of residence. 

The distribution of regalia kept in-store will begin on April 15, 2024. 

If you would like your regalia to be shipped to your home address, please call the SEU Bookstore at 863.667.5048 and have a credit card ready to pay for expedited shipping fees. Orders will be taken for expedited shipping April 15-20, 2024.

If you are attending the ceremony and did not notify the bookstore to ship your regalia to your extension site, regalia will be kept in-store for pick up or shipping to your residence. If you are not attending the ceremony, regalia will be shipped directly to your site for pick up.

The SEU Bookstore will have a table set up in the RP Funding Center lobby, where doctoral students will be able to return their regalia. The table will be available for one hour after the ceremony.

Honor cords are distributed to undergraduate degree candidates with a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher, based on the previous grading period, if they are attending the ceremony in Lakeland or their extension site has signed up to do a ceremony locally.

Cords, medallions, and stoles are the only graduation adornments that graduates will be allowed to wear at official commencement ceremonies of Southeastern University without written approval. Requests for other forms of adornment must be submitted to the Office of the Provost no later than April 5, 2024 (21 days prior to commencement). 

Honor cords should represent high academic achievement by graduates as recognized through their respective departments and colleges. Non-academic cords that have been awarded by university representatives may also be worn.

  • Undergraduate-level students are allowed to wear a maximum of three cords, medallions, or stoles for all commencement ceremonies.
  • Graduate-level students are allowed to wear a maximum of three cords or medallions at commencement ceremonies. However, stoles are not permitted.

Non-academic adornment: Graduates seeking approval to wear non-academic adornment, such as cultural representations, must submit a written request and photo of themselves wearing the adornment to the Office of the Provost no later than April 5, 2024, in order for the request to be processed. This privilege is for graduates only. Careful consideration will be given to all requests; however, approval is not guaranteed. Guidelines for consideration include the following.

Adornment:

  • Must lay flat around neck
  • Must be no more than 5″ in width
  • Must be of a length that is appropriate for commencement attire
  • Must be consistent with SEU’s message & mission 
  • Headdresses and/or attachments to graduation cap or gown will not be allowed
  • Representation of political affiliation or controversial subject matter will not be allowed

You can email your request to provostoffice@seu.edu.

Decoration of graduation caps is allowed, but we ask that decorations reflect the values of the SEU community. Administration will reserve the right to disallow anything that is not considered appropriate for the commencement ceremony.

Students who are receiving master’s or doctoral degrees should bring their graduate hoods with them to the ceremony. They will be hooded before they walk across the platform. 

Ticketing

For ticket inquiries, please contact graduation@seu.edu or 863.667.5015.

Each graduate will receive five (5) tickets to the ceremony.

As a graduate, you do not need a ticket; however, everyone else over the age of three (3) must have a ticket to enter the RP Funding Center.

Tickets will be available for downloading from March 24, 2023, through the deadline of April 21, 2023, 11:59 p.m. Please follow the instructions below during that time frame to obtain your tickets: 

  • Click here
  • Select Students/Faculty/Staff Login
  • Log in using your SEU OneLogin
  • You may be asked to complete your contact information before moving forward.
  • Select number of tickets (up to 5) and navigate to checkout
  • You must answer a question about your waitlist request before your tickets are processed
  • Select either none or 1 for your waitlist request
  • Checkout
  • Choose your option to print, download tickets, or send to friend

If you are unable to print, email, or text your tickets at this time, you may return to this site and do so later. You may also use the Send to Friend function to electronically distribute your tickets. 

Guests may print their tickets or view mobile tickets on their device to be scanned for entry. The unique barcode on each ticket allows only one entry into the ceremony. The first copy of an e-ticket (if there are multiple copies made) to arrive will gain entry after scanning and validation. Other copies of this ticket will be denied entry.

*Please note: being added to the waitlist does not guarantee you will receive an additional ticket to the ceremony. The availability of additional tickets is based on the number of graduates attending and the number of tickets that are left unclaimed. Please plan accordingly.

Yes. Tickets will become available for eligible graduates on March 24,2023. The deadline to download tickets will be April 21, 2023.

Yes, there will be a waiting list for graduates who need additional tickets. One (1) additional ticket will be allowed on a first-come, first-served basis. Students can request to be added to the waiting list for an additional ticket when they go online to download their tickets (see above).

However, please note that being added to the waitlist does not guarantee you will receive an additional ticket to the ceremony. The availability of additional tickets is based on the number of graduates attending and the number of tickets that are left unclaimed.

Please plan accordingly, and remember that the livestream of the ceremony will be available for anyone that you would like to share the link with: SEU.edu/academics/graduation/live

Waitlist tickets will start to be issued on April 22, 2023. If you are selected to receive an additional ticket, a notification will be sent to your SEU email account with further instructions on how to claim your extra ticket. At that time, you have 24 hours to claim your waitlist ticket. All unclaimed tickets will be redistributed to other graduates.

Each graduate will receive four (4) tickets to the ceremony. 

As a graduate, you do not need a ticket; however, everyone else over the age of three (3) must have a ticket to enter the RP Funding Center.

Tickets will be available for download from March 22, 2024, through the deadline of April 19, 2024, 11:59 p.m. Please follow the instructions below during that time frame to obtain your tickets: 

  • Click here
  • Select ‘Students/Faculty/Staff Login’
  • Log in using your SEU OneLogin
  • You may be asked to complete your contact information before moving forward.
  • Select number of tickets (up to 4) and navigate to checkout
  • You must answer a question about your waitlist request before your tickets are processed.
  • Select either none or 1 for your waitlist request
  • Checkout
  • Choose your option to print, download tickets or send to friend

If you are unable to print, email or text your tickets at this time, you may return to this site and do so later. You may also use the ‘Send to Friend’ function to electronically distribute your tickets. 

Guests may print their tickets or view mobile tickets on their device to be scanned for entry. The unique barcode on each ticket allows only one entry into the ceremony. The first copy of an e-ticket (if there are multiple copies made) to arrive will gain entry after scanning and validation. Other copies of this ticket will be denied entry.

*Please note: being added to the waitlist does not guarantee you will receive an additional ticket to the ceremony. The availability of additional tickets is based on the number of graduates attending and the number of tickets that are left unclaimed. Please plan accordingly.

Yes. Tickets will become available for eligible graduates on March 22, 2024. The deadline to download tickets will be April 19, 2024.

Yes, there will be a waiting list for graduates who need additional tickets. One (1) additional ticket will be allowed on a first-come, first-served basis. Students can request to be added to the waiting list for an additional ticket when they go online to download their tickets (see above).

However, please note that being added to the waitlist does not guarantee you will receive an additional ticket to the ceremony. The availability of additional tickets is based on the number of graduates attending and the number of tickets that are left unclaimed.

Please plan accordingly, and remember that the livestream of the ceremony will be available for anyone that you would like to share the link with: SEU.edu/academics/graduation/live.

Waitlist tickets will start to be issued on April 20, 2024. If you are selected to receive an additional ticket, a notification will be sent to your SEU email account with further instructions on how to claim your extra ticket. At that time, you have 24 hours to claim your waitlist ticket. All unclaimed tickets will be redistributed to other graduates.

Degree Conferral

Degrees will not be posted as conferred until after all grades have been entered as passing.

Diplomas will be ordered for all students with no outstanding requirements and a zero balance on their student account within 8 weeks.

Physical diplomas are shipped from Parchment to the diploma mailing address you provide. You must complete the Diploma Mailing Address form under the Graduation tab in JICS to ensure your diploma is mailed to you on time. A digital version of your diploma will be emailed to you within 24 hours of the processing of your degree conferral.

Graduates with outstanding credits have one semester to complete the requirements. For outstanding certifications, graduates have one year to complete any tests. Please contact the Office of the Registrar when all requirements are complete.

Your SEU email address will remain active for six months after you graduate.

Carry the Torch! Stay connected to your alma mater by getting involved with our Alumni Association

Degrees will not be posted as conferred until after all grades have been entered as passing. 

Diplomas will be ordered for all students with no outstanding requirements and a zero balance on their student account within 8 weeks.

Physical diplomas are shipped from Parchment to the diploma mailing address you provide. You must complete the Diploma Mailing Address form under the Graduation tab in JICS to ensure your diploma is mailed to you on time. A digital version of your diploma will be emailed to you within 24 hours of the processing of your degree conferral.

Graduates with outstanding credits (6 or less) have one semester to complete the requirements. For outstanding certifications, graduates have one year to complete any tests. Please contact the Office of the Registrar when all requirements are complete. 

Your SEU email address will remain active for six months after you graduate.

Carry the Torch! Stay connected to your alma mater by getting involved with our Alumni Association

Continue Your Journey

Want to stay at SEU? Check out our master’s and doctoral degrees! Contact gradenrollment@seu.edu with questions.