Graduation Information

Ohio Wesleyan University confers degrees on four dates within the year: May, June, August, and December.  A Commencement ceremony is held once a year in the month of May.

Graduation Application

To be considered for a degree, a student must fill out an Application for Graduation (PDF) form, which will need to be signed, by the student and the student’s advisor preferably in the student’s Junior year. The application is due no later than October 1^st of a student’s Junior year.  The signed application for graduation implies that the student and advisor have reviewed the plan for completion of all general education, major, and minor requirements by the anticipated graduation date. All intended majors and minors must be requested and approved online before an application can be turned in. This can be done with our Major/Minor Request system.   Any change to a student’s major and minor after the submission of the application for graduation must be made via petition. Faculty advisors and the Registrar’s Office are available to assist students with questions in regards to their majors and minors but the ultimate responsibility of meeting all requirements for the degree rests entirely with the individual student.

Staying on Track to Graduate – Degree Audit

Students are responsible for reviewing the catalog and knowing their degree requirements. It is up to students to review their progress after each semester to ensure they are staying on track to graduate. Degree audits can be reviewed by students and advisors at degreeaudit.owu.edu.   The audit will show which courses are needed to complete a specific major and what courses have been completed or are in progress. It is in a student’s best interest to review their audit and make sure it looks correct. If corrections are needed please reach out to the Registrar’s Office at registrar@owu.edu.  Course substitutions within a major require the approval of a department chair in order for the Registrar’s Office to make the change to a student’s degree audit.

Degree Requirements

(dependent on catalog year)

Requirements for all degrees and programs can be found here.

Graduation Requirements  – Participation in Graduation

Students who have satisfied all degree requirements and have completed the application for graduation are welcome to participate in the May graduation ceremony. Students must have all coursework completed and graded and be cleared financially in order to receive a diploma at the ceremony.

Petition to Participate in Graduation

Students who are no more than 2 units short of meeting graduation requirements may participate in the May graduation ceremony. The student must determine when and where they will take the remaining courses to complete their degree and must inform the Registrar’s Office of their plans in writing. If the student is taking courses outside of OWU, the student must submit a Transfer Credit Application to the Registrar’s Office prior to enrolling in coursers. Students will submit a course description or syllabi of their courses to Department Chair if courses need to apply to their major.  Students can submit the course descriptions or syllabi to the Registrar’s Office for general distribution or elective credit.