doctoral hooding ceremony

Doctoral candidates must have all requirements for conferral completed before participating in the hooding ceremony. Doctoral candidates will receive their diplomas at the hooding ceremony on the Friday before the graduate and undergraduate commencement ceremony.

• Meet all admission requirements.
• Complete all curriculum requirements listed in the assigned University catalog.
• Pass all degree-required doctoral courses with a grade of “C” or better + a maximum of six credits with a grade below a “B-” and no grade below a “C”.
• Attain an overall GPA of 3.0 or higher in the doctoral degree program.
• Have at least 49 credit hours in residence courses at Bellevue University (online courses are in residence).
• Have ALL requirements completed satisfactorily, including defense of your dissertation, at least 30 days prior to the ceremony in which you will participate.

Doctoral graduates are invited to a special reception on Friday, June 5, 2026, on the main campus of Bellevue University.

A Doctoral Hooding Ceremony will be held on either Friday, June 5, prior to the reception, OR on Saturday, June 6, during the commencement ceremony at the Mid-America Center. The date will depend on the number of graduates participating.

Final details will be communicated closer to the event date.

Doctoral graduates may nominate themselves to be considered as the student speaker for the Saturday, June 6, 2026, commencement ceremony. Review the qualifications and expectations of nominees on the Student Speaker Nomination Form.

While Bellevue University does not supply announcements for your graduation, we welcome our graduates to order announcements and/or class rings if they wish. We are proud to partner with Balfour for all of your graduation announcement and keepsake needs. Order online at https://www.cbgrad.com/school/BELLE.

You will have the opportunity to record and send in a video or text “Shout Out.” We will play the video “Shout Outs” on the big screens at commencement before the ceremony beginning at 8 a.m. Shout Outs submitted by Doctoral graduates will be shown prior to the Hooding Ceremony. They will also be posted online for viewing two weeks after commencement.

“Shout Outs” are a brief video clip or text message of graduating students sending out messages to family and friends, thanking them for their love and support. An example of a Shout Out: “Hi, Mom and Dad. Thanks so much for your love and support during my time at Bellevue University. It has been a great experience and I could never have made it without you.”

Video Shout-Out Requirements

• Video Formats: Apple ProRes, AVI, M4V, MOV, MP4, MPEG, MPE, MPG, WMV
• 1920×1080 or 1280×720, if possible
• Shoot with camera/phone horizontally
• Place camera/phone on table or tripod
• Solid color background/wall behind you
• Not handheld, if possible
• Good lighting (light yourself from the front)
• No windows or bright light source behind you
• Say or spell your name before giving your Shout Out
• Rename video file with student ID number
• Upload your video to your Bellevue University OneDrive or similar service
• Photos must not exceed 30 MB
• Photos should be in focus, contain only your face (no group photos) and not contain nudity, profanity, hate speech, or adult content
• Photo Formats: JPG or JPEG, PNG, TIFF, PSD, PDF, RAW, HEIF, and GIF
• Please submit your video Shout Outs by emailing av@bellevue.edu

Text Shout-Out Requirements

• Text Shout Outs have a limit of 255 Characters
• Text Shout Outs must not contain nudity, profanity, hate speech, or adult content
• Text Shout Outs can include one photo
• Photos must not exceed 30 MB
• Photos should be in focus, contain only your face (no group photos) and not contain nudity, profanity, hate speech, or adult content
• Photo Formats: JPG or JPEG, PNG, TIFF, PSD, PDF, RAW, HEIF, and GIF

Video or Text Shout Outs can be submitted between Monday, April 13, 2026, and Friday, May 22, 2026, at 11:59 PM CT. Questions? Contact av@bellevue.edu.

Bellevue University reserves the right to edit or decline submissions at its sole discretion.

Join the Party on Social Media!

Follow @BellevueU on Twitter and Bellevue University on Instagram.

Use the hashtag #BUGrads2026 or #BUGrad2026 in your post.