Dear Students,

All July 2025 graduates, December 2025 graduates, and May 2026 degree candidates are invited to participate in the May 2026 graduation festivities. 

The celebrations marking the culmination of your law school journey will begin with a Celebratory Toast on Tuesday, May 12 followed by additional events leading up to the Maryland Carey Law Hooding Ceremony on Friday, May 15. You can view the full schedule on the law school's graduation webpage.

Each month leading up to graduation, you will receive this Graduation and Admission to the Bar Updates Newsletter, which includes required tasks, important event information, bar admission updates, and more.

"Graduation is not the end; it’s the beginning."

Dean Smith

Erica Smith, J.D., LL.M. (she/her/hers)
Associate Dean for Student Services
University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law

If you believe that you will meet the requirements to graduate in Spring 2026, you must submit a graduation application through SURFS on or before Friday, February 13. Once you are logged in to SURFS, click “Students” then “Graduation Application.”

All graduates participating in the Hooding Ceremony must wear approved academic regalia.  Academic regalia consists of a gown, tassel, tam, and hood (see picture to the left). 

LLM’s and MSL’s should order the “Master Package" and JD’s should order the “Doctoral Package."

To guarantee the appropriate size and timely arrival, all regalia orders should be placed no later than Wednesday, April 1. You have the option to ship your regalia to your residence for a fee or ship to the Campus Store for free.

Please note that regalia cannot be rented, but it may be borrowed from previous graduates. Please inspect your regalia upon arrival to confirm that all items are included and correct.

During the Hooding Ceremony, your name will be announced as it appears on your Application for Diploma when you walk onto the stage. In order to ensure that your name is pronounced correctly, please add an audio recording of your name in Blackboard. The recording may be up to 20 seconds long.  

Are you in need of an invitation letter for a family member/friend coming from overseas to attend your graduation? If so, please request an invitation letter or letters from Ms. Amanda Barnes, Office Manager for Student Services, and provide the following information about your guests:

All guests, including children and babies, MUST have a ticket for the Hooding Ceremony. We anticipate that each graduate will be allotted five (5) tickets to distribute to friends and family. Graduates do not need tickets for themselves. Graduates can request additional tickets when they fill out the 2026 Graduate Survey. While additional tickets are not guaranteed, we will do our best to accommodate additional requests. The 2026 Graduate Surveys will be available in March.

The name on your diploma will be your official name as it appears on University records.  You can view your official name by logging into SURFS. If you would like to request a name that is different from what appears on the University records, please visit Degrees, Diplomas and Certificates for information on how to make the request.  

The Office of Student Services will order graduation cords for any student organization that has budgeted for cords through the SBA and co-curricular teams that included cord purchases in their submitted budget for the year.  The treasurer of each student organization and all co-curricular teams should be on the lookout for an email from Ms. Amanda Barnes, Office Manager for Student Services, with more information. Only one submission per organization or team should be completed. Responses received after the deadline may not be included in the final cords order. 

All jurisdictions conduct a character and fitness review of applicants seeking admission to the bar. As part of this process, the Law School receives a form from the Character Committee that seeks verification of your attendance and asks whether your student record reflects any incidents that could negatively impact your moral character or fitness to practice law. Please follow the instructions for supplementing your law school application if you failed to disclose matters that should have been disclosed when you applied OR if you need to disclose events that occurred after you submitted your application and/or enrolled at Maryland Carey Law. 

📅 Date: Tuesday, February 17
⏰ Time: 1:00 to 2:00 pm
📍 Location: Online

Becoming a licensed attorney goes beyond graduating with your J.D. This session will walk you through the steps to licensure and help you find the information you’ll need to meet all of the requirements for your specific jurisdiction.

RSVP for Navigating Bar Licensure.

📅 Date: Thursday, February 19
⏰ Time: Noon to 1:00 pm
📍 Location: Online

If you're planning to take the bar exam in July 2026 or beyond, your jurisdiction may be switching to the NextGen Uniform Bar Exam (NextGen UBE). This session will cover the various components of the new exam, the timing of the roll out, and the pros and cons to consider when deciding whether to sit for the bar in a NextGen UBE jurisdiction.

RSVP for All About the NextGen UBE.

📅 Date: Wednesday, February 25
⏰ Time: 5:00 to 6:00 pm
📍 Location: Online

Becoming a licensed attorney goes beyond graduating with your J.D. This session will walk you through the steps to licensure and help you find the information you’ll need to meet all the requirements for becoming a licensed attorney in New York.

RSVP for Navigating Bar Licensure in New York.

Ask EDNA! for the latest MAX Student Loan Repayment Resources, including the new Law Student and Grad Budget Template, Federal Loan Repayment Plans at a Glance, and MAX Coaching.

Launching your legal career means taking your money management to a whole new level. Level up with this course by identifying core investing and tax strategies, covering risk with insurance, and choosing a student loan repayment approach that fits your specific situation. You’ll also build your own financial dashboard to keep track of important money metrics as you make the transition from student to legal professional. Enroll in Life After Law School. 

The NextGen UBE is scheduled to launch in select jurisdictions in July 2026. It will be administered over one and a half days, with two three-hour sessions on day one and one three-hour session on day two. Bookmark the NextGen UBE webpage to access the latest information and examinee resources. Have questions about when your jurisdiction plans to administer its first NextGen UBE or how scores may transfer between jurisdictions? Find answers here.

Early access to the Barbri SU2026 post-graduation commercial course will open on Sunday, March 15.

Law School’s Office of Registration and Enrollment

UMB's Office of the Registrar

Office of Student Affairs

Professor Micah Yarbrough

UMB’s Office of University Student Financial Assistance

If there is something missing from the Weekly Student Services Newsletter that you would like to see added, please let us know.