Students clapping at graduation

Graduation Guidelines and Application Process

To receive your certificate or degree from Mt. Hood Community College, you are required to submit an online graduation application. Follow these guidelines to get ready for graduation. 

Step One: Submit Your Graduation Application Online

Submit your online graduation application through the MyMHCC student portal. A separate application must be submitted for each certificate or degree you plan on earning. If you apply for a certificate or degree after you have already earned it, you may not have to wait until the end of the term to receive your degree.

Apply for graduation

Application Deadline

You should submit your graduation application two terms before your anticipated completion date. All students who apply on time will have their names printed in the commencement program.*

If you miss the application deadline, you may still participate in commencement but may not have your name in the program.

Step Two: Complete Your Program

Once you’ve applied for graduation, continue working towards completion of your program and your final term of classes. 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.

If you are enrolled in a  career-technical program and your course of study is interrupted or extended by five years or more, certificate and degree requirements for graduation may have changed. To then earn your certificate or degree, you may be asked to complete current requirements or provide written approval from the program adviser to apply the original coursework toward your degree. 

If you are applying credits from an accredited college or university toward a MHCC certificate or degree, they must be submitted via official transcripts to the admissions, records, and registration office.

Step Three (Optional): Attend Commencement and Receive your Degree

All students who have applied for graduation during the school year are eligible to participate in the June commencement ceremony, even if coursework is being finished in the summer.

Information regarding commencement will be mailed early in the spring term to students who submit their graduation application by the deadline posted on the commencement page. This information will also be posted on the college’s website. Students who do not attend commencement may pick up or request a degree cover from the admissions, records, and registration office. 

*Please note: If you have requested to prevent disclosure of directory information, your name will not be published in the commencement program book.

Graduation applications will be reviewed within the term you submit and audited for conferral after your final term is complete and final grades have been posted. Degrees will be mailed six to eight weeks after your term of completion. You will not receive your diploma at the commencement ceremony, and you do not have to participate in commencement if you choose not to.

Incomplete Applications and Reapplication

If your graduation application is incomplete, it will remain in the admissions, records, and registration office for two terms after the specified term of completion. After that time, the application will be removed and you will need to reapply for graduation.

Stay Connected with MHCC

Build your network and open new opportunities by staying connected with MHCC after graduation through the MHCC Alumni Association. 

Join the Alumni Association

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Have questions about graduation?

Read graduation and commencement frequently asked questions

Ready to plan your path to graduation?

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