Graduation Petition

• Ensure you have submitted official transcripts and relevant test scores from all institutions attended to the Admissions and Records Office. Note that all transcripts from other schools must be mailed/emailed directly to SMC Admissions. Hand carried transcripts will not be accepted.

• Make an appointment with a counselor to see if you are eligible to graduate. You can also run a Degree Audit check using the SMC educational planning tool called MyEdPlan.

• Once you determine you are eligible, complete and submit your graduation petition as noted below.

• You may petition for any degree or certificate for which you qualify (no limit).

Complete and submit the graduation petition for your degree or major.  If you are using external coursework, please be sure that all official documents are on file no later than April 15th to provide you with an accurate honors designation. We cannot guarantee processing external coursework if submitted after the deadline.

Log in with your SMC username and password. Your username is the first part of your SMC email address--everything before the "@" symbol. Same username you use for Canvas. 

• Associate Degree or B.S. in Interaction Design: Submit the Graduation/Associate Degree Petition (opens in new window) (login required)
• Certificate of Achievement:  Submit the Certificate of Achievement Petition (opens in new window) (login required)
• Certificate of Completion : Submit the Certification of Completion Petition (opens in new window) (login required) 
• Certificate of Competency: Submit the Certificate of Competency Petition (opens in new window) (login required)
• CSUGE Certification: Submit the CSU General Education Certification Petition (opens in new window) (login required)
• IGETC Certification: Submit the Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum Petition (opens in new window) (login required)

SMC will automatically grant a Certificate of Achievement upon processing of any full certification request.

The filing periods for graduation are as follows:

• Winter: Start of Winter session thru January 31 (for Noncredit Programs only)
• Spring: Start of Spring semester thru April 15
• Summer: Start of Summer session thru July 31
• Fall: Start of Fall semester thru December 1

• You will receive an email on the status of your petition within 8 weeks after submitting it to the Admissions Office.
• If found eligible, your petition will be re-evaluated once official grades are posted at the end of the term. This process can take up to 5 weeks. 
• You will be provided with instructions on how to participate in our annual Commencement Ceremony a couple months ahead of the event. In order to participate in the ceremony, you must submit the graduation petition by the petitioning deadline.

• Graduation honors are awarded to students who have met all the graduation requirements, who have never been suspended from Santa Monica College, who are not currently on academic or progress probation, and who meet the following GPA qualifications for all degree-applicable coursework.

  • Highest Honors: 4.0 GPA

  • High Honors: 3.70 to 3.99 GPA

  • Honors: 3.0 to 3.69 GPA

• Graduation honors will be annotated on your SMC transcript and your diploma. *For our Spring graduates, the honors designation for the program and purchasing of your stole/sash is determined by the current degree-applicable GPA, including any transfer work. This may change once your Spring grades post. The updated honors designation will be reflected on your transcript and diploma. 

• Transcripts: Once the Admissions & Records Office has verified you completed all degree/certificate requirements, your official Santa Monica College transcripts will be annotated with the degree/certificate and major you completed. This annotation will appear on all transcripts we generate.
• Diplomas: Will be mailed to you after the appropriate filing period. Only one diploma (per major) will be provided to you at no cost. If you graduated with more than one major, you will receive a separate diploma for each major. It will also state if you graduated with honors.
• Duplicate Diplomas: Duplicate diplomas may be ordered directly from the Admissions & Records Office by completing the Duplicate Diploma Request Form (opens in new window) or Duplicate Certificate Request Form (opens in new window) at a cost of $20 each.

Who May Participate

• Students who were granted a degree/certificate from Summer and/or Fall preceding the graduation ceremony or Winter of that term.
• Students who have petitioned for the Spring semester who are designated as eligible or eligible pending.
• Students who have petitioned for a degree and/or certificate of achievement for the Spring but are missing at most 8 units and are enrolled in them during the Summer session following the graduation ceremony, may participate provided they petition to graduate by April 15. These students will be designated as 'ineligible but may participate'.
  • Ineligible but may participate students will need to resubmit a new graduation petition during the Summer term in order to be granted the degree and/or certificate.
• Please refer to our Graduation and Commencement page for details on the commencement ceremony.