Graduation and Commencement

Graduation is defined as completing all credits necessary within an academic program to earn a Cincinnati State bachelor’s degree, associate’s degree, or certificate.

Commencement, also known as the graduation ceremony, is the event where graduates are recognized for their academic accomplishments in front of family and friends. Participating in the Commencement ceremony does not automatically mean a student has earned a degree or certificate.

Honors are awarded to degree program graduates with high academic achievement, as follows:

Cum Laude:
3.500-3.799

Magna Cum Laude:
3.800-3.899

Summa Cum Laude:
3.900-4.000

Honors designations in the printed program at the commencement ceremony are projected based on cumulative GPA calculations made at the end of the Fall semester. The student’s GPA at the conclusion of their degree requirements will determine the final honors designation.

In order to earn a bachelor’s degree, associate’s degree, or certificate from Cincinnati State, you must:

• Complete course requirements according to your program’s degree audit curriculum as published in the College Catalog.
• Attain at least a 2.0 cumulative and program grade point average (gpa).
• Completion is defined as earning the grade A, B, C, D, or S for any course. An earned D may not count toward graduation, depending on program and/or division policies.

Students are graduated at the end of the semester in which they complete all requirements for a degree or certificate. A student cannot reverse their graduated status after it has been conferred by the Office of the Registrar.

If a student does not wish to graduate, for any reason, he/she/they may opt out for the current semester. The student will automatically be placed in the group of those eligible for graduation at the end of the next semester.

Diplomas and certificates are mailed to students approximately six (6) weeks after the last day of the graduation semester. They are not given out at the Commencement ceremony. Diplomas and certificates are held by the Office of the Registrar for any graduate with a past due fee balance to the college. *Transcripts are not held for a past due fee balance. 

Students earning a certificate which requires 24 or more credits may participate in commencement if all certificate requirements will be completed during or before the semester immediately preceding commencement.

2023-2024 Catalog list: 

• Accounting (30 cr)
• Addiction Studies (32 cr)
• Automotive Service Technician (30 cr)
• Aviation Mechanics Airframe (62 cr)
• Aviation Mechanics Powerplant (58 cr)
• Banking & Financial Services (30 cr)
• Bookkeeping (31 cr)
• Brewing & Beverage Laboratory (24 cr)
• Brewing Sales & Marketing (24 cr)
• Business Pathways (30 cr)
• Chemical Technology Operator (30 cr)
• Coding Specialist (35 cr)
• Computer Applications (31 cr)
• Computer Network Administration (31 cr)
• Deaf Studies (24 cr)
• Dietary Management – Pathway I (34 cr)
• Emergency Medical Technician – Paramedic (40 cr)
• Engineering Technology Transfer (49 cr)
• Entrepreneurship (30 cr)
• Environmental Safety & Security (31 cr)
• Fire Service (31 cr)
• Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities (24 cr)
• Landscape Design (37 cr)
• Land Surveying (34 cr)
• Law & Paralegal Studies (27 cr)
• Leadership (31 cr)
• Medical Assistant (32 cr)
• Ohio Transfer Module (36 cr)
• Paralegal (30 cr)
• Personal Fitness Trainer (29 cr)
• Practical Nursing (39 cr)
• Real Estate (31 cr)
• Surgical Technology First Assistant (26 cr)
• Sustainable Agriculture Management (36 cr)
• Web & Multimedia Design (24 cr)
• Welding (31 cr)