Today is your day
University of Phoenix Commencement
Orlando | Summer 2025
Congrats! It’s time to celebrate your achievement surrounded by people who are so proud of everything you’ve accomplished. Welcome to a community of over 1 million alumni.
Congrats! It’s time to celebrate your achievement surrounded by people who are so proud of everything you’ve accomplished. Welcome to a community of over 1 million alumni.
Deadline to register is 4/10/25: To review eligibility requirements and register for a ceremony, please visit our commencement registration page. Be sure to check how your name is displayed as this is how it will be shown in the program and name card. The registration site is separate from the university site so any official name updates will need manually completed on your ceremony registration. Also, be sure to verify your ceremony registration has the correct degree listed for the ceremony
Have guests who can't make it? Stream it live.
Choose the ceremony based on your registration time:
- Morning ceremony – 10:00 am EDT
- Afternoon ceremony – 3:30 pm EDT
Ceremony links for each ceremony coming soon. Live streams will be available for viewing up to 30 days after ceremony.
Before commencement
Commencement checklist
Make travel plans as needed
When available, reserve graduate and guest tickets (Look for an email with instructions in May).
Bring Graduate Name Card (used to announce and display your name when cross the stage). You'll receive your name card by mail a few weeks prior to the ceremony.
Get ready to celebrate
Day of commencement
Getting to the ceremony
Transportation
Check with the Department of Transportation for any road closures the weekend of commencement.
Get directions to the venue and parking information.
Pick up/drop off
Drop off locations for patrons are located at the corners of East Plaza Drive and Gemini Blvd and West Plaza Drive and Gemini Blvd.
Airport
The closest airport is Orlando International Airport.
Parking
Graduating students in regalia can park in Garage F and D, free of charge. If this lot becomes full, remaining graduates and all guests will be directed to different garages (D,H, D surface lot) in the surrounding area with a card only fee (approx. $12-13, no cash)
There is drop off available in front of the entrances. Accessible parking is available in parking Garage D and F. Garage D offers accessible parking on the ground floor, while Garage F includes an elevator and accessible access on all floors.
Prohibited items
Items not permitted include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Artificial noisemaking devices of any kind (e.g., whistles, air horns, plastic horns, vuvuzelas, etc.)
- Bikes (e.g., unicycles, bicycles, tricycles or motorcycles)
- Cameras with detachable lenses or lenses longer than 6 inches. Camera policy is subject to change at any time at the show’s discretion. Shows/events reserve the right to approve camera use at any time during and/or before the event and to prohibit the use of any camera deemed unacceptable
- Coolers (exceptions may be made for special medical or religious needs.)
- Cremated remains (e.g., urns, vases, boxes)
- Drones
- E-cigarettes or vaporizers including JUUL's
- Folding chairs, except for cane-chair and seat-walker mobility aids
- Glass containers
- Glow sticks
- Helium balloons
- Hula hoops
- Illegal substances and drug paraphernalia, including but not limited to marijuana and marijuana products
- IPads, tablets and laptops
- Items that may be disruptive (e.g. laser pointers, noise makers, slingshots, stink bombs, air horns, fireworks, etc.)
- Large chains or items with spikes (e.g. purses, bracelets, ect.)
- LED light gloves, LED finger lights or LED hand light toys
- Outside food and beverage
- Pets (Service Animals are permitted)
- Restraining devices (e.g., handcuffs, zip ties) or any suspicious items (e.g., box cutters, razor blades, duct tape, wire)
- Self-defense equipment (e.g., pepper spray, mace, stun guns, brass knuckles, ect.)
- Selfie sticks (hand-held extension poles for cameras and mobile devices)
- Signs larger than 11 in. x 17in. Signs cannot be on a stick, or contain indecent or derogatory content.
- Skates and shoes with built-in wheels
- Skateboards and scooters (motorized and non-motorized)
- Sporting goods or equipment (e.g., baseball bats, golf clubs, bows and arrows, camping equipment, ect.)
- Strollers are permitted for suite holders only. All others must be checked in at the main lobby with a guest services staff member. A stroller tag will be issued and can be picked up at the location of check in as they leave the event.
- Tripods or free-standing photography equipment of any kind
- Wagons
- Water pistols, toy guns and replica weapons
- Weapons of any kind (including—without limitation—guns, knives, billy clubs, nunchucks, and other martial arts equipment)
- Wrapped Gifts
- 2-wheeled vehicles, including Segway™ Human Transporters
- Miscellaneous other items (tools, fire extinguishers, musical instruments, megaphones, pots and pans)
Entrances
- Graduates will enter through The Venue @ UCF arena (NE corner, name on black awning in front of arena).
- Guests will enter through the main UCF entrance (south side) doors.
- Metal detectors will be used for entry.
- The venue will not enforce their usual no clear bag policy, but they do encourage no bags and for any brought to the arena to be within the bag size guidelines. Venue will not allow bags 12”x 6” x 12” into the building and no backpacks at all.
- See bag guidelines here: Clear Bag Policy | Addition Financial Arena
- Everyone will go through metal detectors before entering the buildings. Venue does NOT allow re-entry after entering the building.
- Limited concessions will be available. Cash is not accepted, only credit card for payment.
Ticket information
Guests including minors are not allowed into the pre-ceremony graduate area or in the graduate seating and stage areas.
Tickets are required for both graduates and guests upon entry into the venue. You will be able to show tickets on your phone or print them out. The preference is to print them out for scanning.
We can provide up to 6 guest tickets and 1 graduate ticket for a total of 7 tickets at this time. This includes children of all ages. The graduate ticket will be the same as the guest ticket.
A separate email will be sent with instructions on how to reserve your tickets a few weeks prior to the ceremony. This email comes from a vendor called MarchingOrder and will be sent to the email address you used for registration. Be sure to check spam and all mail folders for this email. You will create an account on this site to reserve and access your tickets.
ADA accommodations
If any of your guests will require ADA accommodations at the commencement ceremony, there will be staff at the venue who can assist with seating accommodations. Wheelchairs will not be available for use during the ceremony. Please be sure to provide your own wheelchair, whether it is for a guest or graduate.
There is accessible seating at the top of each section for wheelchairs and a companion. There will be a designated drop off point near the venue.
The ceremony will use close caption for any of the speaking pieces.
ADA Accessible seating is available on Addition Financial Arena's main concourse level on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Strollers
It is best to avoid bringing a stroller, but if needed, the venue will check them downstairs. Strollers will not be allowed upstairs because there is no place to store them.
Due to Fire Marshal regulations, strollers are not permitted in the seating area. Please be advised that University of Phoenix is not responsible for any damage or loss to personal property.
Exiting procedure
We ask all graduates to stay until the end of the ceremony out of respect to the remaining graduates. You’re officially done at the conclusion of the ceremony and can celebrate by moving your tassel over as recognition of being a graduate. Guests will be released in an orderly fashion to ensure a safe exit for everyone.
Afterward, you'll exit the ceremony and can meet your friends and family at the Celebration Runway. Celebrate your accomplishment with a runway of fun photo backdrops.
Graduate information
Preparing for the ceremony
There is no storage at the commencement venue for personal belongings. Please make arrangements for a guest to hold any personal items or carry them with you at all times. Please be advised that University of Phoenix is not responsible for any damage or loss to personal property.
Bring your cap and gown. Additionally, bachelor’s degree students must bring their stoles and master’s degree and doctoral students must bring their hoods. Use a cool iron, if necessary, to ensure a wrinkle-free appearance.
The deadline to order standard regalia is May 23, 2025 (by midnight) without additional shipping charges. The final deadline will be May 30, 2025, with expedited shipping charges. The deadline for custom doctoral regalia is April 25, 2025.
You can order regalia through the NRP Regalia Website.
If you have any questions concerning regalia or other items, please contact Customer support at 800-293-0665, phoenix@taylorcorp.com. Limited amount of regalia will be available on the day of the ceremony for purchase (cash or credit).
Military graduates: Remember to bring your cord to the ceremony. The military cord is available to order at no charge on the regalia web site. If this was not ordered, they will be available on the day of the ceremony.
Regalia protocols and attire:
Pro tip: Steam your gown, stole, hood and hang it up prior to commencement to avoid wrinkles
Out of respect and courtesy to the University and graduates, we ask that candidates and faculty do not alter their caps and gowns; however, if graduates do alter their caps, we ask that they respect their fellow graduates by wearing their regalia (cap/gown) in a manner that prohibits the use of any offensive or obscene pictures, words, or reference. If students violate any of these prohibited items, they may be asked to remove or alter these items.
- Business casual attire should be worn under the gown.
- Military Dress Uniforms may be worn in place of regalia. Uniforms and regalia should not be worn together.
- Cultural robes, beauty pageant stoles, etc. are inappropriate for commencement ceremonies and should not be worn, unless they are worn completely underneath the official regalia robes.
- Cultural and tribal stoles are approved to be worn on the top of the approved official UOPX regalia at commencement ceremonies. Cultural robes, if worn, must be worn underneath the official regalia robe.
- You are allowed to wear honors regalia awarded by an approved Honor Society with your standard regalia attire. UOPX honor cords can be worn with your external honor society cord/stole (layered on top of each other, preference is UOPX honor cord on top).
- We ask that if you decorate your caps to do so tastefully. Stoles, hoods and gowns should not be altered or decorated.
Upon arrival, graduates will be directed to a “grad central” area on the concourse. University staff will be available to assist with any questions regarding ceremony logistics.
We will have the following tables available:
- NRP to purchase regalia. Credit card accepted, no cash.
- Grad Supplies with bobby pins and safety pins
- Military and Honors Cords available for eligible graduates
- Graduate Card Assistance - Name cards will be mailed to each graduate a few weeks before the ceremony. Be sure to bring it to the ceremony. This name card is what is used to announce and display your name as you cross the stage. If your name card does not arrive by the ceremony date, we will have back up name cards available on the day of the ceremony.
Sample graduate card
- First, ensure you have your name card
- Verify you have all your regalia (cap, gown, etc.)
- No rehearsal, staff will be available to guide the graduates.
- Graduates will be lined up by degree level, not alphabetically (associates, bachelor's, master's, doctoral)
- Graduates will proceed double file to seating. Comfortable and stable shoes are recommended. Seating will be by degree level in sections on the floor.
- You will be called to the stage by degree level, not alphabetical, with dual lines as you go across the stage. Your name and degree will be displayed and your name announced as you cross the stage. Photos will be taken as you go to the stage as well as when you cross the stage and are handed a UOPX branded congrats envelope.
- Doctoral graduates will be hooded on stage.
- We ask everyone to remain until the end of the ceremony for the celebratory tassel change and acknowledgment of being graduated. For recessional, you will exit the arena and go outside to meet your family and friends.
- We expect that the ceremony will last approximately two hours.
The University identifies graduates registered for the commencement who are eligible for the honor cord. If you are eligible to receive an honor cord, one will be provided to you at no cost on the day of commencement. This cord is not part of the President or Dean lists.
Current University of Phoenix Honors Policy:
Graduates eligible to participate in a ceremony and meet the honors criteria can receive a cord. The cord provided will be based on the current GPA.
- Associate and bachelor's degree students with a program completion date of 01/01/2022 or later:
- "Cum Laude" - Bronze Cord
Program GPA of 3.70-3.84 - "Magna Cum Laude" - Silver Cord
Program GPA of 3.85-3.94 - "Summa Cum Laude" - Gold Cord
Program GPA of 3.95-4.0
- "Cum Laude" - Bronze Cord
- Master's degree students with program completion date of 01/01/2022 or later:
- "With Distinction" - Red & Platinum Cord
Program GPA of 3.90 or higher
- "With Distinction" - Red & Platinum Cord
Prior University of Phoenix Honors Policy:
Bachelor's degree students with program completion date of 12/31/2021 or before:
- "With Honors" - Platinum Cord
Program GPA of 3.85 or higher
The University has coordinated with GradImages Photography to photograph graduates at the ceremony. There will be two photo opportunities during the ceremony: one when going up to the stage and another when crossing the stage.
GradImages Photography
service@gradimages.com
800-261-2576
The digital program version will be viewable 3 days prior to the ceremony date and up to 30 days following the conclusion of the ceremony.
Visit the official University of Phoenix Commencement Program site. Select “Orlando” from the “What is your Ceremony Location?” drop-down menu.
Share your journey!
We would love for you to share any ceremony photos and stories about your educational journey on Facebook.