A Formal Graduation Announcement Wording Sample

Wording your graduation announcement can seem like a minor challenge, but it's also a task that can take up a lot of your (very precious) time. Going with formal, traditional language is one way to ensure your announcement accurately represents the importance and value of all of your hard work. Before writing your formal graduation announcement, it's important to review some basic rules of etiquette for any kind of graduation announcement, formal or otherwise.

Rules for Graduation Announcements

The first thing to decide before writing your announcement is whom to invite, or whether you intend to invite anyone. Unlike high school graduation, not everyone is going to attend the commencement ceremony or expect a party. It is not uncommon for college graduates to omit the date and location of the graduation from the announcement.  This may seem odd, but in this case, the announcement is just that: an announcement of your achievement.

If you do intend to invite guests to the graduation ceremony, you'll need to include a few vital pieces of information:

• The salutation or greeting
• Your name
• The college or university
• The degree you've earned
• The commencement ceremony (or party) date and time
• The location of the ceremony or party

In a formal graduation announcement, the salutation takes on a very specific, formal tone, usually mentioning the president of the college or university, the faculty, and the graduating class as the parties that are actually inviting guests to attend. These three parties are, in essence, hosting the event and extending a formal invitation to your guests on your behalf.

Sample Graduation Announcement

Once you've gathered the necessary information—always ensure that you know how the spell the college president's name, for example—including the location, time, and date, you are ready to write your formal graduation announcement. The information below represents a sample formal announcement. You can replace the information in parentheses with the details that are specific to you. Additionally, center the text in your announcement.

The President, Faculty, and Graduating Class

of

(XX College or University)

Proudly Announce the Graduation of

(Your full name, including your middle name)

on

(The day, the date—spelled out—and the month)

(The Year, spelled out)

with a

(Your degree) in

(The subject in which you are obtaining your degree)

(The location)

(The city and state)

(The time)

Note that in a formal graduation announcement, you would never say something like, "I would like to invite." Since you are a member of the graduating class, you are of course included in the groups that are hosting the event, but you should not single yourself out in extending the invitation.

The Final Product

It can be helpful to see what a formal graduation announcement would look like. Feel free to use the format and wording below. Simply replace the name of the college, graduate, degree, and other details with the correct information.

The President, Faculty, and Graduating Class

                                 of

                        Hope College

        Proudly Announce the Graduation of

                Oscar James Meyerson

           Sunday, the Nineteenth of May

             Two Thousand Eighteen

                            with a

            Bachelor of Arts Degree in

                Sports Management

            Holland Municipal Stadium

                Holland, Michigan

                   2:00 o'clock p.m.

Centering the text and spelling out information that is usually abbreviated—such as the type of degree, date, and time—give the announcement an elegant, formal appeal. Use this format and you'll be sure to impress your guests not just with your achievement, but also with the way you are inviting them to celebrate it with you.