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Graduation Guidelines and Application Process

1. Students earning a certificate or degree from Mt. Hood Community College must process a graduation application with the Admissions, Registration and Records (AR&R) Office. It is strongly recommended students apply two terms before their anticipated completion date (i.e., spring term graduates should apply during fall term). All students who have applied for graduation during the school year are eligible to participate in the June commencement ceremony even if coursework is not done by spring term. All students who apply will have their name printed in the commencement program (as listed in our records system) unless they apply after the third week of May or if they have requested their name be excluded. After the deadline, names will be published in the following years program. Students must contact this office to have their name published a second time if they did not complete and / or participate in the ceremony originally scheduled for. Information regarding commencement will be mailed early in spring term to students whose names will be in the program. We also post this information on the colleges Web site. Students who do not attend commencement may pick up or request a degree cover from the Admissions, Registration and Records Office.

2. Students have the choice of following the catalog of the year they began their program or the year they are ending their program. Once enrolled in a career-technical program, if the course of study is interrupted or extended by five years or more, certificate and degree requirements for graduation may have changed. In order to then earn the certificate or degree, the student may be asked to complete current requirements or provide written approval from the program adviser to apply the original coursework toward a certificate or degree.
   
   Students may complete a program no longer offered by MHCC if, before the program was eliminated, they received an official contract from the college entitling them to completion.

3. Students should secure their graduation application forms from the AR&R Office or on the MHCC Web site at www.mhcc.edu/graduation, complete the application and return it with the application fee to the cashier station in the Student Services lobby or mail to the AR&R Office.

4. Credits from all accredited colleges or universities that are to apply toward a MHCC certificate or degree must be submitted via official transcripts and be attached to the graduation application or be on file in the AR&R Office.

5. The AR&R Office will evaluate the application and notify the student by mail with an evaluation of progress - Graduation Application Part 2. The Part 2 will consist of a cover letter and a degree audit report (DARS). Students should work with their advisers for educational planning in completing the requirements.

6. Final review and approval of the certificate / degree application is done after the students anticipated term of completion and after final grades have been posted and checked. Degrees will be mailed to the student two to four weeks after the end of the term of completion except for spring term, which takes four to six weeks. Students who apply for a certificate or degree after it has been earned will not have to wait until the end of a term for the certificate or degree to be sent or awarded. These will be processed on a first come, first served basis along with all other applications.

7. Incomplete applications for graduation will remain in the AR&R Office for a period of one year from the last term in which there is certificate / degree coursework or one year from the date of application (for those students no longer in attendance at the time of application). After that time, the application will be destroyed and the student will need to reapply for graduation.