Additional Information for Graduates
Here are some important details about the ceremony, key deadlines, location, guest tickets, and academic attire.
News & Events
Commencement
Celebrate Bank Street’s Class of 2026 graduate students at our annual Commencement.
Thursday, May 7, 2026
United Palace
4140 Broadway (corner of 175th Street), New York, NY 10033
Grad Arrival: 3:00 PM
Guest Arrival: 3:30 PM
Processionals: 4:15 PM
Start of Program: 4:30 PM
Recessionals and Conclusion: 6:30 PM
All eligible candidates for the 2026 Commencement received an email on Tuesday, March 10 to their Bank Street email with valuable information about graduation. Please watch this space and your Bank Street emails in the coming weeks for more information about tickets, ordering cap & gown, and more!
A live stream of Commencement 2026 will be available on this page on Thursday, May 7, beginning at approximately 4:15 PM ET.
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Eligibility
2026 Graduates: Students who completed master’s degree or certificate requirements in their entirety by the end of the Summer 1 2025, Summer 2 2025, Summer Long 2025, Fall 2025, or Spring 2026 term and who submit a graduation application by March 1, 2026 are invited to participate in the annual spring commencement ceremony taking place in May 2025. Eligible graduates will receive an invitation to commencement and must RSVP by the deadline given. Only the names of the graduates who RSVP for commencement will be called at the ceremony; all graduates will be listed in the program.
Degree requirements include all course and fieldwork credits, the Integrative Master’s Project requirement (if applicable), and any prerequisites and/or workshops as defined in the catalog published the year of the student’s first term of enrollment and the individual letter of admission. All degree requirements must be completed or be in progress with expected completion by the end of the spring semester. Students who complete requirements after the spring term are invited to attend the following year’s ceremony. Students must be currently enrolled in the semester of their degree conferral.
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Guest Tickets
Graduates will receive all commencement-related news via your Bank Street email. The March email included information on how to register for guest tickets. No walk-ins will be allowed entrance.
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Robes and Academic Regalia
Academic attire is suggested, but not required, for the Bank Street Commencement ceremony. The invitation email sent to you in March tells you how to order your academic attire from the company called Oak Hall.
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Diplomas
- Diplomas and certificates are not distributed at commencement and will be mailed to students approximately two months from the date of graduation.
- Diplomas are mailed to the address you indicated when you filled out your electronic Graduation Application.
- If you need to change the address where your diploma will be sent, please email registrar@bankstreet.edu.
- Diplomas will not be sent to students with holds. All financial obligations must be settled with the Business Office and books borrowed from the Library must be returned.
- Questions regarding diplomas should be sent to registrar@bankstreet.edu.
2026 Honorary Doctorate Recipients
Fela Barclift
Fela Barclift, known as Mama Fela, GSE ’02, earned her master’s degree in Early Childhood Leadership from Bank Street College of Education in 2002. She’s a visionary educator who founded Little Sun People, an Afrocentric preschool that incorporates themes of social justice into its curriculum and teaches Black and Brown children, from their very first steps, that they are smart and that they belong. Throughout her career, Mama Fela has remained dedicated to dismantling the effects of systemic inequity on our youngest children. Bank Street honored her with the Bank Street College Alumni Association Recognition Award in 2018 for her unparalleled work in the field of early childhood education.
Dr. Carla Hayden
Dr. Carla Hayden is a renowned leader in library science and a fierce advocate for equity, literacy, and universal access to information. She made history in 2018 when she was appointed by President Barack Obama to be our 14th Librarian of Congress, becoming the first woman and the first African American to lead the Library of Congress, our nation’s oldest federal cultural institution. With over 23 years as the CEO of Baltimore’s Enoch Pratt Free Library, she pioneered community-centered programs and opened after-school centers that provided homework assistance and career counseling for teens. She has also served as president of the American Library Association.
