Today is your day
University of Phoenix Commencement
Detroit | Summer 2024
Congrats! It’s time to celebrate your achievement surrounded by people who are so proud of everything you’ve accomplished. Welcome to a community of over 1 million alumni.
Congrats! It’s time to celebrate your achievement surrounded by people who are so proud of everything you’ve accomplished. Welcome to a community of over 1 million alumni.
Ceremony Registration (4/29/24): To review eligibility requirements and register for a ceremony, please visit our commencement registration page. Be sure to check how your name is displayed as this is how it will be shown in the program and name card. The registration site is separate from the university site so any official name updates will need manually completed on your ceremony registration. Also, be sure to verify your ceremony registration has the correct degree listed for the ceremony.
Watch live stream, day of ceremony
Choose the ceremony based on your registration time:
- Morning ceremony – 10:00 am PDT
- Afternoon ceremony – 3:30 pm PDT
Live stream links will be available closer to the event.
Live streams will be available for viewing up to 30 days after ceremony.
Before commencement
Commencement checklist
Make travel plans as needed
When available, reserve graduate and guest tickets
(Look for an email with instructions in early June.)
Bring Graduate Name Card (used to announce and display your name when cross the stage). Will receive this name card a few weeks prior to the ceremony.
Get ready to celebrate
Day of commencement
Getting to the ceremony
Know before you go
Transportation
Check with Michigan Department of Transportation for any road closures the weekend of commencement.
Transportation options: Huntington Place Detroit
Rideshare: pick up/drop off on the South side of Atwater Street near the Huntington Place riverfront entrances.
Airport
Distance from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW) to Huntington Place, 23 miles.
Parking information
There are three garages connected to Huntington Place. They are Huntington Place Rooftop Garage (625 W Congress St, Detroit, MI 48226), Huntington Place Congress Street Garage, and Huntington Place Washington Blvd. Garage. All of these garages are around the venue. For these three garages, the parking fee will be $20 per vehicle.
- Accessible parking spaces using both regular vehicles and vans are available in each Huntington Place garage.
- There is a drop off point available in front of the main entrance (east side, large marquee sign) on Washington Street.
- After parking, you will take an elevator from the garage to Level 2, Exhibit Halls and Meeting Rooms inside the venue.
Prohibited items
- Animals (Except Service Animals)
- No metal or glass containers for food or beverages
- No food or beverage
- Alcohol
- Aerosol Cans
- Drones
- Illegal Substances
- Firearms, knives, or weapons of any kind
- Fireworks or other incendiary devices
- Camera Tri, Dual or Single Leg Pods by Non-Media Personnel
- Selfie-sticks
- Skateboards, rollerblades, scooters
- Blow horn or noisemakers
- Umbrellas
- Fishing Nets
- Beach balls, Ballons or other inflatables
- Laser pens
- Flags with poles
- Banners
- Frisbees
- Bubble-making liquids, machines
- Haze, fog, smoke machines
- Backpacks
- Luggage
- Smoking
**Service animals are allowed in Huntington Place but must be credentialed with Huntington Place Security prior to the event.
Entrance
- Graduates will go to Level 2 meeting rooms space and proceed to the applicable degree level room (signage and staff will be available to help find the room).
- Doctoral graduates and faculty will be in a room together.
- Guests including minors are not allowed into the pre-ceremony graduate area or in the graduate seating and stage areas.
- Guests will go to Level 2, Exhibit Halls C-D entrance doors.
- Everyone will be required to go through metal detectors and bags may be checked.
Ticket information
We can provide up to 7 guest tickets and the graduate ticket (8 total tickets) at this time. This includes children of all ages. The graduate ticket will be the same as the guest ticket. You will receive an email with instructions on how to officially reserve your tickets closer to the ceremony date. The ticket email will be sent to the email address used in your registration. There will be staff available on the day of the ceremony to assist with any ticket requests or issues.
ADA accommodations
If any of your guests will require ADA accommodations at the commencement ceremony, there will be staff at the venue who can assist with seating. Wheelchairs will not be available for use during the ceremony. Please be sure to provide your own wheelchair, whether it is for a guest or graduate.
Strollers
Strollers are not permitted in the seating area.
We ask all graduates to stay until the end of the ceremony out of respect to the remaining graduates. You’re officially done at the conclusion of the ceremony and can celebrate by moving your tassel over as recognition of being a graduate. Guests will be released in an orderly fashion to ensure a safe exit for everyone. Afterward, you'll exit the ceremony and can meet your friends and family at the celebration runway across from the halls, in the Grand Ballroom. There will be music, photo opportunities and a place for you to gather with your guests and fellow grads.
Graduate information
Preparing for the ceremony
There is no storage at the commencement venue for personal belongings. Please make arrangements for a guest to hold any personal items or carry them with you at all times. Please be advised that University of Phoenix is not responsible for any damage or loss to personal property.
Bring your cap and gown. Additionally, bachelor's degree students must bring their stoles; master's and doctoral degree students must bring their hoods. Use a cool iron, if necessary, to ensure a wrinkle-free appearance.
The deadline to order standard regalia is June 14, 2024 (by midnight) without additional shipping charges. The final deadline will be June 20, 2024, with expedited shipping charges.
You can order regalia through the NRP Regalia website.
For questions concerning NRP regalia items, please contact customer support at phoenix@taylorcorp.com or 480-219-3247. Limited amount of regalia will be available on the day of the ceremony for purchase (cash or credit).
Military graduates: Remember to bring your cord to the ceremony. The military cord is available to order at no charge on the regalia web site. If this was not ordered, they will be available on the day of the ceremony.
Pro tip: Steam your gown, stole, hood and hang it up prior to commencement to avoid wrinkles
Regalia protocols and attire:
Out of respect and courtesy to the University and graduates, we ask that candidates and faculty do not alter their caps and gowns; however, if graduates do alter their caps, we ask that they respect their fellow graduates by wearing their regalia (cap/gown) in a manner that prohibits the use of any offensive or obscene pictures, words, or reference. If students violate any of these prohibited items, they may be asked to remove or alter these items.
- Business casual attire should be worn under the gown.
- Military Dress Uniforms may be worn in place of regalia. Uniforms and regalia should not be worn together.
- Cultural robes, beauty pageant stoles, etc. are inappropriate for commencement ceremonies and should not be worn, unless they are worn completely underneath the official regalia robes.
- Cultural and tribal stoles are approved to be worn on the top of the approved official UOPX regalia at commencement ceremonies. Cultural robes, if worn, must be worn underneath the official regalia robe.
- Please wear comfortable shoes that can be worn long distances, on concrete and/or unstable flooring.
You are allowed to wear honors regalia awarded by an approved Honor Society with your standard regalia attire. UOPX honor cords can be worn with your external honor society cord/stole (layered on top of each other, preference is UOPX honor cord on top).
We ask that if you decorate your caps to do so tastefully. Stoles, hoods and gowns should not be altered or decorated.
Upon arrival, graduates will be directed to a "grad central" area on Level 2, Meeting Rooms. We will have the following tables available:
- NRP to purchase regalia. Credit card accepted, no cash
- Grad Supplies with bobby pins and safety pins
- Military and honor cords available for eligible graduates
- Graduate Card Assistance - Name cards will be mailed to each graduate a few weeks before the ceremony. Be sure to bring it to the ceremony. This name card is what is used to announce and display your name as you cross the stage. If your name card does not arrive by the ceremony date, we will have back up name cards available on the day of the ceremony.
Sample graduate card
University staff will be available to assist with any questions regarding ceremony logistics.
- First, ensure you have your name card.
- Verify you have all your regalia (cap, gown, etc.)
- No rehearsal, staff will be available to guide the graduates.
- Graduates will be lined up by degree level, not alphabetically (associates, bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral).
- Graduates will proceed double file into the hall and to seating. Comfortable and stable shoes are recommended. Seating will be by degree level in front sections on the floor.
- You will be called to the stage by degree level, not alphabetical, with dual lines as you go across the stage. Your name and degree will be displayed and your name announced as you cross the stage. Photos will be taken as you go to the stage as well as when you cross the stage and are handed a UOPX branded congrats envelope.
- Doctoral graduates will be hooded on stage.
- We ask everyone to remain until the end of the ceremony for the celebratory tassel change and acknowledgment of being graduated. For recessional, you will exit through guest seating aisles, walk across to the Grand Ballroom for the post-ceremony celebration runway.
- We anticipate the ceremony lasting approx. 2 hours.
The University identifies graduates registered for the commencement who are eligible for the honor cord. If you are eligible to receive an honor cord, one will be provided to you at no cost on the day of commencement. This cord is not part of the President or Dean lists.
Current University of Phoenix Honors Policy:
Graduates eligible to participate in a ceremony and meet the honors criteria can receive a cord.
The cord provided will be based on the current GPA.
- Associate and bachelor's degree students with a program completion date of 01/01/2022 or later:
- "Cum Laude" - Bronze Cord
Program GPA of 3.70-3.84 - "Magna Cum Laude" - Silver Cord
Program GPA of 3.85-3.94 - "Summa Cum Laude" - Gold Cord
Program GPA of 3.95-4.0
- "Cum Laude" - Bronze Cord
- Master's degree students with program completion date of 01/01/2022 or later:
- "With Distinction" - Red & Platinum Cord
Program GPA of 3.90 or higher
- "With Distinction" - Red & Platinum Cord
Prior University of Phoenix Honors Policy:
Bachelor's degree students with program completion date of 12/31/2021 or before:
- "With Honors" - Platinum Cord
Program GPA of 3.85 or higher
The University has coordinated with GradImages Photography to photograph graduates at the ceremony. There will be two photo opportunities during the ceremony: one when going up to the stage and another when crossing the stage.
GradImages will send an email to graduates following the ceremony with a proof and information on how to purchase.
GradImages Photography
service@gradimages.com
800-261-2576
The digital program version will be viewable 3 days prior to the ceremony date and up to 30 days following the conclusion of the ceremony.
Visit the official University of Phoenix Commencement Program site. Select “Detroit” from the “What is your Ceremony Location?” drop-down menu.
While you're in Detroit
Hotels with discounted rates
Detroit Ceremony Hotel Options with Discounted Rates (first come, first serve, limited amount of rooms available with each block, rate does not include tax and any other fees).
333 East Jefferson Ave. Detroit, MI 48226
Rate: starts at $249.00
Deadline for Reservations: June 6, 2024 (or sooner if room block is filled)
400 Renaissance Drive. Detroit, MI 48243
Rate: starts at $235.00
Deadline for Reservations: June 6, 2024 (or sooner if room block is filled)
1114 Washington Boulevard. Detroit, MI 48226
Rate: starts at $249.00
Deadline for Reservations: June 6, 2024 (or sooner if room block is filled)
1777 Third Street Detroit, MI 48226
Rate: starts at $209.00
Deadline for Reservations: May 27, 2024 (or sooner if room block is filled)
525 W. Lafayette Blvd. Detroit, MI 48226
Rate: starts at $239.00
Deadline for Reservations: May 28, 2024 (or sooner if room block is filled)
Crossing the border to Canada
Want to cross over to Canada from Detroit? The Windsor-Detroit Border is the busiest international crossing in North America. Follow these travel tips to learn more.
IMPORTANT: You must come prepared with your valid passport or other supporting documentation as determined by the Department of Homeland Security if you’d like to take the trip.
For more information on valid documentation that are accepted at land or sea border crossings to and from Canada, please visit cbp.gov. Additional questions may be directed to 313-393-3793 ext 0 for U.S. Customs or call 519-257-6473 for Canadian Customs.
Share your journey!
We would love for you to share any ceremony photos and stories about your educational journey on Facebook.