Apply for Graduation

You must apply for graduation several months before your intended graduation date. Please see the Advising page for details.

Graduation Events

Indiana University holds official Commencement ceremonies in May and December. August graduates may attend Commencement in the preceding May. For more information, see the IU Commencement website.

In addition, the IMP hosts a celebration for students graduating with individualized majors. The format of this celebration varies depending on the number of graduating students, but it usually takes the form of a ceremony and reception in May and a brunch or dinner event in December. The IMP event does not conflict with the campuswide Commencement ceremony, so students may choose to attend both.

Information about the IMP events will be distributed to graduating students and IMP faculty members via e-mail. Please contact the IMP office if you have questions.

IMP Awards

The Raymond Hedin Award, Richard D. Young Award, and IMP Outstanding Senior Project Award are awarded annually to outstanding graduates of the IMP. The recipients are nominated by their final project review committees and selected by the IMP Advisory Committee.

Raymond Hedin Award

Named for the long-serving IMP director (1997-2009), the Raymond Hedin Award honors the IMP senior whose academic and extracurricular record reflects extraordinary dedication to serving the IU, Bloomington, and world communities.

Previous winners of the Raymond Hedin Award are:

• Nikko Rocha and Zoe Layton, 2022
• Taylor Akers and Nicholas Buehler, 2021
• Emma DeLillo, 2020
• Keirsten White, 2019
• Angela Pan, 2018
• Kelsey Cooper and Elisa Dickey, 2017
• Lauren Martin, 2016
• Faith Liveoak, 2015
• Katherine Abderholden and Gina Eastwood, 2014

Richard D. Young Award

Named for the IMP's founding director, the Richard D. Young Award is given annually to the student whose combination of academic excellence and civic engagement exemplifies the ideals the program exists to nurture.

Previous winners of the Richard D. Young Award are:

• Madelyn Allen, 2022
• Olivia Owens, 2021
• Sneha Dave, 2020
• Lucy Battersby, 2019
• Holly Waldkoetter, 2018
• Jenny Huang and Morgan Mohr, 2017
• Sarah Swank, 2016
• Ryan Myers, 2015
• Sara Swan, 2014
• Casey McGlasson and Brittany Miller, 2013
• Ronak Shah, 2012
• Erin Chapman, 2011
• Aasiya Mirza, 2010 (honorable mention: Andrew Hahn)
• Jessica Keller, 2009
• Karen Pennington, 2008
• Steven Shyu, 2007
• Kathleen Claussen, 2006
• James Bourke, 2005
• Kyra Busch and Kunal Desai, 2004
• Beth Hannon and Summer Johnson, 2003
• Rima Kapitan and Noah Merrill, 2002
• Angelique Cabral, 2001
• Anna Strout, 2000
• Ingrid Jensen, 1999
• Kathryn Revtyak, 1998
• Carol Harrison, 1997
• Jeff Dattilo, 1995

IMP Outstanding Senior Project Award

This award (formerly called the Senior Achievement Award) is given annually to the student(s) whose final projects are judged to be the most outstanding projects of the year and to epitomize the intellectual or creative energy that the IMP tries to foster.

Previous winners of the IMP Outstanding Senior Project Award are:

• Sam Perin, 2022
• Danielle Bergman and Mackenzie Knight, 2021
• Mara Flynn and Mia Siffin, 2020
• Mary Gilbert and Chelsea Sherman, 2019
• Daniel Aufmann and George Silva, 2018
• Kirsten Hawley, Maggie Scudder, and Rob Sherrell, 2017
• Michael Blomquist and Cody Gage, 2016
• Ava Dickerson, Nitish Kulkarni, and Vianna Newman, 2015
• Travis Davies and Andrew McLaren, 2014
• Destin Hubble, Matthew Starr, and Rachel Stewart, 2013
• Beth Reinke and Linda Xiong, 2012
• Emily Neff and Kaylee Spivey, 2011
• Casey Heck, Caleb Levell, Joshua Stewart, and Max Yoder, 2010
• Alyson Bloom, Mary Hogue, and David Pavkovich, 2009
• Claire Diedrich, 2008
• Joshua Corum and Codey Girten, 2007
• Elizabeth Brown and Bridget Fallen, 2006
• Abigail Anderson and Colin Donnell, 2005
• Leah Barak, Megan Bowton, Ivey Kitchens, Erin Pritchard, Brittany Snyder, Salena Watkins, and Sarah Wilkins, 2004
• Frances Costello, Jeffrey Eisner, and Elizabeth Wittman, 2003
• Michael Brady, Ryan Mills, and Duncan Teater, 2002
• Eric Davis and Stanley Wash, 2001
• Anne Czupryna, Greg DerAnanian, Peter Evan, and Ward Roberts, 2000
• Sarah Oldenburg and Xochi Musser, 1999
• Dolores Canavan, Peter Skafish, Moira Stone, and Sarah Oldenburg, 1998
• Nathaniel Troy, 1997
• Matthew Laherty, Timothy Smith, and John Ward, 1995

Departmental Honors

IMP graduates who maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.5 and whose final projects are deemed to be of excellent quality by their final project review committees are awarded departmental honors. In cases where the committee judges the final project to be of extraordinarily high quality, they may recommend honors for a student whose GPA is less than 3.5 but at least 3.3.

Graduation With Distinction

In addition to the departmental honors conferred by the Individualized Major Program itself, outstanding IMP graduates are also eligible to have their degrees awarded with Distinction, High Distinction, or Highest Distinction by the College of Arts and Sciences. These honors are based on the standing of each candidate in relation to the overall grade point average of each graduating class. To be eligible, a student must have completed a minimum of 60 graded credit hours at Indiana University.

Students who graduate with distinction receive fourragères (honor cords) to be worn at Commencement. Fourragères may be picked up from the College Recorder's office in Owen Hall. They are free of charge and are yours to keep after the ceremony.

Phi Beta Kappa

Founded in 1776, Phi Beta Kappa is the oldest and most prestigious academic honor society in the United States. Election to Phi Beta Kappa is the highest honor that can be conferred on an undergraduate in the liberal arts and sciences. About one in 100 college seniors nationwide are invited to join this prestigious group. Members are chosen by the faculty electors of Indiana University's chapter from among senior degree candidates and recent graduates of the College of Arts and Sciences whose academic records have placed them among the top ten percent of their college class.