Student FAQs

All the information about Commencement Ceremony , Commencement Book , Cap & Gown and Invitation Letters.

Commencement Information

For the Main Commencement Ceremony on Friday, May 15th, candidates are to assemble promptly at 7:45 a.m. and all guests are requested to be in their seats by 8:15 a.m. Procession begins promptly at 8:30 a.m. and the ceremony concludes at 10:00 a.m.

Ceremony 1: Graduates are to assemble at the Galen Center at 2:00 p.m. Procession begins promptly at 2:30 p.m.

Ceremony 2: Graduates are to assemble at the Shrine Auditorium at 6:00 p.m. Procession begins promptly at 6:30 p.m.

An invitation to participate in commencement will be emailed to all eligible students starting in February 2020.

Note: There is no registration for USC’s Main Commencement Ceremony.

The Viterbi Master’s Commencement Ceremony, however, requires students participating in the ceremony to register. After eligible students file for graduation with their department advisor, they will be able to register by following the instructions bellow:
1. Go to https://www.marchingorder.com/graduate/grad_register.asp.
2. Enter your USC email address.
3. You will receive an email with a link to create your password. If you do not receive this email within one hour, please check your spam folder. Should you have any trouble, please email support@marchingorder.com.
4. After logging on once, you can edit your information, including your RSVP, at any time prior to April 10, 2020 by visiting https://www.marchingorder.com/graduate/grad_login.asp. You will login with your USC email address and the password you created.

Only students graduating Fall 2019, Spring 2020, or Summer 2020 are eligible to participate in the Viterbi Master’s Commencement Ceremony.

If you have filed for graduation but cannot login, contact us at MSGrad@vase.usc.edu (include your student ID number).

For the Main Commencement Ceremony, names of candidates will not be announced. For the Viterbi Master’s Commencement Ceremony, candidates will be announced as they cross the stage. By completing the registration process above, your name and major will display on the screens when you cross the stage at the Viterbi MS Commencement Ceremony. When you select “yes” for the RSVP, the website will ask you to confirm how your name will be announced. The photographer will also use this registration information to send proofs.

Commencement Book

Students who graduate Fall 2019, Spring 2020, and Summer 2020 will be listed in the Commencement Book available at the Main Commencement Ceremony and in various places across campus. If you would like to check your expected graduation date, please check your STARS report on OASIS. To check if your name will appear in the 2020 Commencement Book, visit: https://camel2.usc.edu/CommBook/index.html Students should contact their academic advisor is they need their name corrected.

If you’ve legally changed your name and want it to appear in the USC Commencement Book, you will need to contact the Office of Academic Records and Registrar in the Verifications Department at (213) 740-9230. You can either do this in person or by mail. For verification purposes, you must submit a legal document that includes your complete name: driver’s license, birth certificate, or passport.

Cap and Gown Information

Invitation Letters

Letters are not required by the United States Consular Offices in order for family members to obtain visitor visas; however, as a courtesy to our students, OIS does provide a letter template for students who wish to write their own letter to invite family members to the United States. https://ois.usc.edu/invitation-letter/

Diplomas

The Registrar's Office oversees the distribution of university diplomas, in compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Most diplomas are mailed to the permanent address of record, six to eight weeks after a degree is conferred.

Certain activity restrictions or an invalid address will prevent your diploma from being printed until the problem is corrected. Any restrictions attached to your account can be found on the Restrictions link in OASIS which can be accessed through the myUSC portal.

Diplomas are generally printed and mailed six to eight weeks after the conclusion of your final semester. If you need official verification of your degree before you receive your diploma, please contact the Verification or Transcript department. If you requested that we "Hold for Pick-Up," or if your diploma mailing address is in the 90007 or 90089 zip codes, the Registrar One Stop Center will email you a notice when your diploma is ready for pick-up.

Unless you have made other arrangements or have a mailing address in the immediate 90007 or 90089 zip codes (see above), the Degree Progress department will mail your diploma to your permanent address. You may request that we mail your diploma to your local address or hold it for pick-up. When an order is placed with our diploma vendor, the Degree Progress department will pull a student's local and permanent addresses from the university's Student Information System (SIS). No updates can be made after the order is placed. If you would like to verify and/or change your local or permanent address, please update your address in OASIS.

In the event that a diploma is lost, stolen, damaged, or a duplicate copy is necessary, a request for a replacement may be sent through our contact page by selecting the Registrar/Diploma category from the drop down menus. The cost for a replacement diploma is $125.00, and the process may take four to six weeks from the time it is ordered. The new diploma will bear the current names of the officials in office at the time the replacement diploma is produced.

Please include the following information in your request:

1. Full Name while in attendance at USC
2. 10-Digit USC ID number (if applicable)
3. Dates of attendance
4. Date of birth
5. Major/degree for which you are requesting a replacement diploma.
6. Mailing address to which the replacement diploma should be sent.

Information on payment options for this service will be included on the email acknowledgement sent by USC.

You can request that your diploma be held for pick up: (1) in person at the Registrar One Stop Center (JHH 106); (2) by emailing us your request; or (3) by calling Degree Progress at (213) 740-7070. Any request must be made before your degree is awarded. Be sure to leave mail-forwarding instructions with the U.S. Postal Service, and check your USC email, to ensure you receive notification when your diploma is ready to be picked up.

If it has been more than three months since you received your congratulatory email, please contact the Registrar One Stop Center at email us from your USC email account, to inquire about a reissue. Be sure to include your USC ID number. We usually wait 10 weeks for returned mail from domestic addresses, and 14 weeks from international addresses, before reissuing diplomas. Be sure to verify that your mailing address is valid, and that you do not have any activity restrictions that might have prevented your diploma from being printed.

In the event your diploma was damaged in transit, please return it to the Registrar One Stop Center with a clear photocopy of your valid government-issued photo ID, the damaged diploma AND the original mailer (so that we can verify the in-transit damage). If the original mailer is returned, we will waive the replacement fee of $125.

Please include the following information in your request:

1. Full Name while in attendance at USC
2. 10-Digit USC ID number (if applicable)
3. Dates of attendance
4. Date of birth
5. Mailing address to which the replacement diploma should be sent or if you want to hold it for pick up