Youngstown State's commencement page gives Fall 2026 in full: "Friday, December 11, 2026 5:30 pm - Williamson College of Business Administration & College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics"; "Saturday, December 12, 2026 10:00 am - Beeghly College of Liberal Arts, Social Sciences, and Education & Cliffe College of Creative Arts"; "1:30 pm - Bitonte College of Health and Human Services"; "All above ceremonies will take place in Beeghly Physical Education Center." Those dates are firm, and the catalog calendar agrees. For spring the same catalog lists "Apr 30 | Fri. | Commencement" and "May 1 | Sat. | Commencement", but the registrar's calendars page states "Commencement Ceremony is held on April 30 & May 1 (tentative)", and the registrar's graduation page gives "Graduation Date | May 1, 2027" with the ceremony itself TBA. This page carries all three statements as they stand and calls the spring round tentative, which means hotel rooms for it on cancellable rates only. Spring times and the college split were not published at this check.
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December: two days, one building, dates that are firm
YSU’s commencement page has the December round in full. “Friday, December 11, 2026 5:30 pm - Williamson College of Business Administration & College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.” “Saturday, December 12, 2026 10:00 am - Beeghly College of Liberal Arts, Social Sciences, and Education & Cliffe College of Creative Arts.” “1:30 pm - Bitonte College of Health and Human Services.” And: “All above ceremonies will take place in Beeghly Physical Education Center.” The catalog calendar agrees on the dates.
A Friday 5:30 p.m. ceremony means the Friday night, and the Thursday too for anyone flying in. Both Saturday sittings mean the Friday night. Nobody needs to guess the day.
Spring: three pages, one word
The catalog calendar lists “Apr 30 | Fri. | Commencement” and “May 1 | Sat. | Commencement.” The registrar’s calendars page says the same dates with a qualifier: “Commencement Ceremony is held on April 30 & May 1 (tentative).” The registrar’s graduation page gives “Graduation Date | May 1, 2027” as the conferral date and lists the Spring 2027 ceremony as TBA.
This page does not resolve the three into one. The dates are the university’s plan; the word “tentative” is the university’s caution; TBA is where the graduation page stands. The consequence is simple: any hotel room held for 29 April to 1 May 2027 should be on a cancellable rate, and flights should wait for the registrar to drop the qualifier. The November review checks whether it has.
Tickets and captions
No ticket rule for December 2026 was stated on YSU’s commencement page at this check; re-read it in November. The page does say the live stream on YSU’s YouTube channel carries closed captioning, and that ASL interpreters can be requested a month ahead.
The room downtown, and four towns
The DoubleTree on Federal Plaza has 125 rooms four minutes from Beeghly, and Niles, Sharon, Warren and New Castle are all under 31 minutes. The where to stay page has the hotels, the ring, and the cancellable-rate rule for spring spelled out.
Live availability near campus
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Frequently asked questions
When is YSU's December 2026 commencement?
Friday 11 December 2026 at 5:30 p.m. and Saturday 12 December at 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., by college, in the Beeghly Physical Education Center, per the commencement page read on 14 September 2026.
When is Spring 2027?
Friday 30 April and Saturday 1 May 2027 in the catalog; the registrar marks those dates "(tentative)" and the graduation page lists the ceremony as TBA. Likely, not confirmed.
Should we book hotels for spring now?
Only on a cancellable rate. Hold a room, do not prepay, and release it free if YSU moves the dates.
Where are the ceremonies?
The Beeghly Physical Education Center, 1 Tressel Way, on campus, per YSU's commencement page. The spring venue was not restated at this check.
Which day is my graduate's?
Friday 5:30 p.m.: Williamson College of Business Administration and the College of STEM. Saturday 10 a.m.: Beeghly College of Liberal Arts, Social Sciences and Education, and Cliffe College of Creative Arts. Saturday 1:30 p.m.: Bitonte College of Health and Human Services. Per the commencement page.
What time, and do we need tickets?
Times are above. A ticket rule was not stated on the commencement page at this check. The live stream on YSU's YouTube channel carries closed captioning.
How many nights?
The Friday night for every college; the Thursday as well for a Friday-evening graduate travelling far. The DoubleTree downtown has 125 rooms; the where-to-stay page has Boardman and the four ring towns under 31 minutes.
How we verified this
Last verified:
- YSU catalog, academic calendar ("Dec 11 | Fri. | Commencement"; "Dec 12 | Sat. | Commencement"; "Apr 30 | Fri. | Commencement"; "May 1 | Sat. | Commencement")
- YSU Registrar, calendars ("Commencement Ceremony is held on April 30 & May 1 (tentative)")
- YSU Registrar, graduation ("Graduation Date | May 1, 2027"; Spring 2027 commencement ceremony TBA)
- YSU, Commencement (Fall 2026 Commencement Ceremonies: "Friday, December 11, 2026 5:30 pm - Williamson College of Business Administration & College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics"; "Saturday, December 12, 2026 10:00 am - Beeghly College of Liberal Arts, Social Sciences, and Education & Cliffe College of Creative Arts"; "1:30 pm - Bitonte College of Health and Human Services"; "All above ceremonies will take place in Beeghly Physical Education Center."; closed captioning on the YouTube live stream)
This page is verified in two stages. Every fact is checked against the primary sources listed above, then the page is reviewed and signed off by our editor, A. Hassan. Corrections and enquiries: hello@graduationstay.com