Students qualified to receive an Associate Degree from Danville Area Community College must file an Intent to Graduate in the Records Office (Vermilion Hall) after the student has met with a counselor or advisor to ensure that the student is within a semester of completing the degree requirements. The college has designed a worksheet, the Graduation Checklist, to help students prepare for graduation.

Participating in the Graduation Ceremony
Associate degrees and certificates are conferred during the graduation ceremony at the conclusion of the spring semester each academic year. Students who complete their degree requirements in the fall semester preceding the spring ceremony are asked to participate that following spring. Students who plan on completing their degree requirements the summer semester after the spring ceremony are also asked to participate in the preceding spring ceremony.

Students must notify the Records Office in February (preceding the May graduation ceremony) that they plan to participate in the upcoming ceremony. Graduation pictures, newspaper articles, graduation lists, and cap and gown orders are all affected by a student's notice to participate. Notification of participation received after April 1st may stop a student from being included in all or some of the above.

Graduation Participant Timeline

September	For December Graduates - File Intent to Graduate
February	For Spring & Summer Graduates - File Intent to Graduate Notify Records Office of Commencement Participation
March	Take Graduation Picture Get Measured for Cap & Gown Pay Cap & Gown Fee
May	Commencement Ceremony

Graduation Dress
The academic dress worn by the graduates, charcoal gowns, accented with black sleeve trim and yoke tabs, is tailored specifically for community college students. Students are asked to be measured for (and pay for) their cap and gown in late February.

Students graduating with honor are denoted in the following: cum laude candidates wear a gold tassel; magna cum laude candidates wear a gold tassel and a gold cord; summa cum laude candidates wear a gold tassel, a gold cord, and a medallion.

Degrees with Distinction
Students who have a cumulative grade-point average of 5.000 graduate summa cum laude; those with a cumulative grade-point average of 4.750 through 4.999 graduate magna cum laude; and those with a cumulative grade-point average of 4.500 through 4.749 graduate cum laude.

Students' ability to be recognized at the graduation ceremony is based on the cumulative grade-point average calculated at the end of the fall semester prior to the spring ceremony. Transcript notations of cum laude, magna cum laude, and summa cum laude are based on the total grade-point average, including the final semester prior to graduation.

Due to the "highest distinction," summa cum laude candidates' cumulative grade point averages are calculated using the grades earned at Danville Area Community College as well as any grades transferred in from another college that are used for degree completion.

Graduation dress for students graduating with honor is as follows: cum laude candidates wear a gold tassel; magna cum laude candidates wear a gold tassel and a gold cord; summa cum laude candidates wear a gold tassel, a gold cord, and a medallion.