General Ticket Information
Ticket ordering for the June 2027 ceremonies will open in April, 2027.
- Only eligible students can order tickets. Log-in instructions for the NU Graduation ticket website will be sent to eligible students via email. If you have not received instructions when the ticketing website opens, please send an email to the Graduation Office (graduation@northwestern.edu) noting your school name.
- Graduates are invited to 2 ceremonies: the all-University Commencement ceremony and your school convocation (or departmental ceremony for some graduate programs). If you are a dual degree student, you may be invited to an additional ceremony.
- Your school convocation is where you will cross the stage and hear your name read; no one crosses the stage at Commencement and there is no individual graduate recognition at that ceremony. You need separate tickets for these ceremonies because they are two separate events.
- If you are a graduate student whose program has a departmental ceremony instead of participating in a school-wide ceremony (e.g., School of Communication Master’s programs and the TGS/Feinberg Master’s programs), your department will communicate arrangements with you directly.
- For additional general information please see the Graduation Basics page.
Who Needs Tickets?
- Graduates do NOT need a ticket for themselves, only tickets for their guests.
- All guests must have an e-ticket displayed on a device or a hard copy printed ticket when entering graduation venues.
- Children 3 and under who will sit in a caregiver’s lap do not need tickets; if a child is going to occupy a seat, they need a ticket.
How many tickets can I order?
You can order up to 8 tickets for these ceremonies:
- Bienen Convocation
- Family Institute Convocation
- McCormick Undergraduate Convocation
- McCormick Master’s/PhD Hooding Ceremony
- Medill Convocation
- School of Communication Undergraduate Convocation
- School of Education and Social Policy Convocation
- School of Professional Studies Convocation
- The Graduate School PhD/MFA Hooding Ceremony
- 169th Annual Commencement
Ticket numbers for the Kellogg School of Management Convocation will be directly communicated to anticipated graduates by Kellogg.
Waitlist Tickets for All Ceremonies
You may request additional tickets through the Waitlist Tickets feature. When calculating how many people you can invite to graduation, you should not assume that you will receive waitlist tickets. The pool of waitlist tickets is made up of tickets not claimed during the initial ordering period(s) or returned by graduates whose guests can no longer attend. Waitlist tickets are directly tied to capacity, and it is not guaranteed that you will receive your requested waitlist tickets.
If you receive notification that you have been awarded waitlist tickets, you will have 72 hours to log into your ticket account and complete your cart to accept the tickets. Tickets not claimed within 72 hours will be returned to the waitlist pool to be distributed to another graduate.
Transferring Tickets
To transfer your tickets to your guests, please download this PDF for instructions.
Ticket Returns
If you ordered too many tickets or no longer need them, please download this PDF to return your tickets.
Selling Tickets
Selling graduation tickets is strictly prohibited. If we find out that you are selling tickets for a profit, all tickets in your order will be revoked.
Accessibility Accommodations
Requesting seating for a guest who uses a wheelchair/mobility scooter
All tickets to all ceremonies are general admission. When ordering tickets, the system will prompt you to enter how many guests in your party require accessible seating for a guest who uses a wheelchair or a mobility scooter. Please note: every wheelchair space has one companion seat included. Because these spaces are limited and in high demand, we are not able to seat entire parties together in accessible areas.
If you need other accessibility accommodations, please see our Accessibility page for instructions.
Questions?
Please contact the Graduation Office if you have additional questions.