Students who are expecting to participate in the 2020 winter commencement ceremonies must pay their $140 graduation fee or they will be unable to participate.
Avo Kechichian, vice president of finance and facilities, said the graduation fee helps pay for renting caps and gowns, printing diplomas, readying the venue, and providing the necessary equipment and furniture for the venue.
Students are asked apply for graduation and pay the fee one year prior to their anticipated graduation year. If a student cannot afford to pay the entire fee, they can choose to place this fee in their payment plan for the semester, which can then be covered by financial aid.
Julie Sandoval, accounts receivable supervisor, said the graduation fee can be embedded in their payment plan, or covered by financial aid and/or veteran benefits if applicable.
“If none of those options work, we work with the students to figure out another option,” Sandoval said. “The processing of the graduation application is only reviewed once the fee is paid entirely.
“We have very rare circumstances where we have a student who cannot pay for it,” Sandoval added. “There is less than a handful that I have seen that happen, and usually the student has the option to wait because they are applying with enough time to come back and pay the fee in full another time.”
“We want students to be aware that they can come to the Office of Student Accounts if they are unable to pay the fee and we can figure out what their options are,” Sandoval said.
Once a student has paid their fee entirely, submitted their graduation application for review and they see their name on the graduate and undergraduate commencement list, they can fill out a Student Participation Form on the Commencement Office’s website.
Once the Student Participation Form is filled out, students will be eligible to print their guest tickets starting on Dec. 9 through Jan. 17.
If a student has not printed their tickets by the Jan. 17 deadline, they will need to submit an appeal form and a $60 late penalty fee to the Commencement Office located in the Campus Center 133 by 5 p.m. Jan. 22.
For more information on Winter Commencement 2020 visit laverne.edu/commencement.
—Layla Abbas
