Graduation
You receive a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science diploma upon graduation from University College Utrecht. For our graduates we organise a Commencement Ceremony twice a year.
Receiving your diploma and transcript
Please find below the approximate dates for your official graduation - when your diploma and final transcript (grade list) will be issued. If you need a list of your grades earlier, please request a preliminary transcript and/or an "expected graduation letter" by filling in the document request form.
Your full name, date and place of birth will be recorded on your diploma and final transcript, on the basis of your personal information in Osiris. If any of this information is not correct, you can contact UU Student Services. Please note your name, date and place of birth has to match the information in your passport.
- You need to submit your final thesis via the Osiris Case link you will receive by email.
- As soon as the fellow has uploaded your grading sheets and (provisional) grade, you need to submit your thesis for archiving. Only then will your thesis grade be finalised.
- The Registrar's Office will do a final check on whether you meet all graduation requirements, and will issue your final transcript and diploma.
Depending on how many students are graduating simultaneously, this process may take from a few days to several weeks. You will receive an email from the Registrar's Office when this check is complete, to notify you that your documents are ready for collection. We will also send you a digital copy of your diploma and transcript. Please ensure you stay enrolled in Studielink until you have officially graduated.
| Hand in last academic work | Official graduation date on or before |
December (Fall thesis deadline) | 31 January |
| Spring & Summer | |
May (Fall & Spring thesis and Spring-only thesis deadline - see the academic calendar) | 15 July |
June/July (Spring & Summer thesis deadline - see the academic calendar) | 31 August |
Commencement
Commencement literally means ‘beginning’. It is the beginning of the period during which students will meet all of the graduation requirements and graduate. As not all students from the same year will graduate at the same time, we do not jointly celebrate the end of the graduation. Instead, we celebrate the beginning of it.
Some students may take an extra class or finalise their research thesis later. University College Utrecht students are from all over the world and many of them will leave the country at different times.
A Commencement Ceremony consists of academic rituals and practices. Students wear caps and gowns; one of the students is beadle of the day (carrying the institutional mace) and there are two student speakers (valedictorian and salutatorian) on behalf of their graduating class.