Prepping for Graduation
Congratulations on hitting this major milestone! This page offers basic information on the processes you must complete in order to graduate in your intended semester. More information is available through the Graduate School’s website.
It is your responsibility as a graduate student to satisfy all degree requirements for your program and complete all Graduate School required processes in order to graduate. Work closely with your faculty advisor and the department’s Graduate Program Specialist (ceaegrad.advising@colorado.edu) in order to properly complete and submit paperwork.
MS students who are graduating this semester should review each section below to understand what they are required to complete by the Graduate School. Deadlines for these processes each semster can be found on the Graduate School’s . Reach out to the Graduate Program Specialist at ceaegrad.advising@colorado.edu with any questions along the way – they are happy to help!
If you are a PhD student picking up an MS during your program, you will also need to complete the processes described below.
Apply to Graduate
At the beginning of their final semester, students will need to apply to graduate online through the using the “apply for graduation” card. This is required whether or not there will be a university-wide ceremony depending on the semester.
Visit the Graduate School for deadlines per semester.
No problem! Submit a NEW graduation application for the updated semester. Please also let the Graduate Advising Team know the change in plans so we can offer more information and take note on our records. Applications to graduate do NOT automatically transfer between semesters.
Absolutely! If you think there is a chance you will complete your degree requirements this semester, go ahead and apply to graduate!
Apply for MS Candidacy
Alongside applying to graduate, students must fill out the for their master’s degree. This document allows students to select the coursework they are using to satisfy degree/program requirements. Student should meet with their faculty advisor to confirm their coursework and ensure all requirements have been completed before filling out this form.
The form operates via an online workflow owned by the Graduate School. The submitted form will go to the department’s Graduate Program Specialist for review in coordination with that student’s faculty advisor on record. Once it is approved at the departmental level, the Graduate School will process the form and send the student an email indicating their MS Candidacy has been approved.
Students can find additional resources on how to complete the form through the Candidacy Application Student Guide.
Let's find out! Reach out to the Graduate Advising Team and they will help you troubleshoot.
If you have completed more than the minimum required number of coursework credits, you are not required to apply the excess to your degree so long as the courses you ARE applying satisfy program and coursework requirements. If you plan to complete another master's degree in the future, the credits you do not apply to your current degree would be available for transfer. Otherwise, there is no harm in applying more than the minimum number of coursework credits on your candidacy application.
No - Students cannot graduate with unused MS Thesis credits on their record. If you have taken thesis credits but have since switched to the MS Report or Coursework-Only track, please connect with the Graduate Advising Team right away to review.
No - Students cannot take more than six thesis credits.
No - Transfer credits must be formally processed and posted to your record by the Graduate School in order to be included in the form. They cannot be written-in.
If you have credits you need to transfer and have not done so already, please initiate a Transfer of Credit Request form as soon as possible. Please be advised that the form can several months to be processed between offices. Waiting until your final semester may result in your graduation being delayed if the credits are necessary for satisfying degree requirements.
Courses with an 'I' incomplete grade in a previous semester are not automatically populated by the candidacy application. If you have an incomplete grade that you are wrapping up this semester, you will need to write the course(s) into the 'Planned Courses' section of the form. Please also make sure to have a grade entered by deadlines for your graduating semester.
Master’s Final Examination
All MS and Professional MS students must complete the final exam process regardless of their track. What this process looks like for each student will depend on their degree, subplan, and track. There are three major components to the Final Exam described below that are confirmed via the MS Exam Form. The Graduate School requires this form be intiated at least two weeks in advance of the exam date. Students must be registered the semester they complete the final exam process including if it takes place over the summer.
- Exam Process: What the exam looks like for each student will depend on their degree and track - see below. Check with your faculty advisor to confirm whether your subplan or area of emphasis has any additional requirements you must complete.
MS Thesis: Presenting your thesis to your exam committee.
MS Report: Presenting your report to your exam committee.
Coursework-Only: Your unofficial transcript is reviewed by your exam committee. Please check with your program for any additional examinations or requirements.
- Exam Committee: Each student must assemble a faculty committee that will participate in the final exam process that includes a total of three members. Your faculty chair and first member should be your faculty advisor. The remaining two members can be any qualifying CEAE/EVEN faculty members who have agreed to sit on your committee. Students are responsible for setting their committee members. Check with your faculty advisor to confirm whether your subplan has any additional requirements for your committee members.
- Exam Date: This is the date the exam process will be completed. For any students defending or presenting, it is important to coordinate with your committee members to set a date that works for everyone according to deadlines.
The final exam should generally take place the semester you plan to complete requirements for your degree and track and according to graduation deadlines. If you do not complete the exam process by the deadlines, you will graduate in the following semester at the earliest.
MS Exam Form
Once you understand your exam process, assembled a faculty committee, and selected an exam date, you are ready to initiate the MS Exam Form.
The purpose of the exam form is to A.) Receive approval from the Graduate School of your committee and exam, and B.) Collect committee signatures after the exam has taken place. The Graduate School requires that the form is submitted at least two weeks in advance of your exam date for review. If students do not receive approval before the exam takes place and an issue is identified, the exam results may be nullified and required to be completed again.
Your completed form with signatures will automatically be sent back to the Graduate School for processing once all signatures have been collected.
Your first member should be your faculty advisor, so you only need to identify two more members. You can ask faculty in your research area, whose class you have taken before, or that you have otherwise worked with academically. Check with your faculty advisor to see if your subplan or area of emphasis has any additional requirements for your committee members.
Yes, MS students have the option to include one member from another department at CU Boulder, another academic institution, or someone from the field who typically holds a PhD. Before including such a member, please confirm whether they are a good fit with your faculty advisor. Next, connect with the Graduate Advising Team prior to submitting the exam form to ensure that individual holds a Graduate Faculty Appointment (GFA) that allows them to participate.
Yes! The Graduate School requires that students are enrolled the semester they complete their exam process.
If you have already completed all coursework, MS Report, and/or MS Thesis credits as applicable, you can register for an MS Candidate for Degree credit by completing a Course Agreement form with your faculty advisor and sending to the Grad Advising Team. This acts as a holdover credit that makes you a full-time student without incurring any additional coursework. The credit is graded Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory and cannot be counted toward degree requirements.
You can still hold your exam when you are able but please be aware that you will be ineligible to graduate that semester. The earliest you would be able to graduate is the following semester.
This depends on when you end up taking your exam. If you hold your exam after the semester deadlines but BEFORE the next semester begins, then you will NOT need to register. If you take your exam AFTER the next semester begins, you WILL need to register. This is because students must be registered the semester their final exam takes place, but not to graduate.
Example: A student applies to graduate in Fall 2024. That student runs into delays that prevent them from completing the final exam process by Fall 2024 deadlines, but manages to hold their exam before the first day of Spring 2025 classes. As a result, this student will graduate in Spring 2025, but they will NOT be required to register. However, if that same student saw further delays that prevented them from completing the exam process until after Spring 2025 has begun, they WOULD need to register.
Select a date ahead of the deadline. The Grad Advising Team recommends selecting a date two weeks out from when you are submitting the form so long as the date is before the deadline. The date you select is when your committee will receive your transcript for review.
If your your subplan or area of emphasis requires any additional exam processes, make sure your exam date considers these as well. Connect with your faculty advisor to review.
Thesis Approval Form + Submitting Final Manuscript
This step only applies to MS students on the thesis track. After their defense, students will edit their thesis to reflect feedback offered by their exam committee before submitting their final manuscript. Once you are prepared to submit, first complete a Thesis Approval Form (TAF). This will send your manuscript to select exam committee members to collect their approval before taking next steps. Find step-by-step instructions for completing the TAF here.
Once the TAF has been completed with signatures, the next step will be to submit the TAF + final manuscript to the . The Graduate School will review your uploaded manuscript to check the formatting before signing off on the submission. If they determine your manuscript requires edits, they will send it back to the you in order to make changes. It is not considered officially submitted until it is accepted by the Graduate School – submit 1-2 days before the deadline for safety. Find information for .
Please visit the Graduate School for deadlines per semester for more information on when the TAF & ProQuest/UMI upload is due.
Find information for .
PhD students who are graduating this semester should review each section below to understand what they are required to complete by the Graduate School. Deadlines for these processes can be found on the Graduate School's webpage for graduating PhD Degree Candidates. Reach out to the Graduate Advising Team at ceaegrad.advising@colorado.edu with any questions along the way – they are happy to help!
Apply to Graduate
Toward the beginning of their final semester, students will need to apply to graduate online through the using the “apply for graduation” card. This is required whether or not there will be a university-wide ceremony depending on the semester.
Visit the Graduate School for deadlines per semester.
The PhD Candidacy Application should have been completed upon passing your comprehensive examination. It does NOT need to be completed a second time in your graduating semester. If you have not already completed this process, connect with the Graduate Program Specialist right away.
No problem! Submit a NEW graduation application for the updated semester. Please also let the Graduate Advising Team know the change in plans so we can offer more information and take note on our records. Applications to graduate do NOT automatically transfer between semesters.
Absolutely! If you think there is a chance you will complete your degree requirements this semester, go ahead and apply to graduate!
Doctoral Final Examination
Doctoral students will complete their final dissertation defense in their final semester. Students must initiate the PhD Exam Form at least two weeks in advance of their dissertation defense in order for their exam committee to be approved by the Graduate School ahead of their exam. This process is nearly identical to the Comprehensive Exam paperwork.
Your committee will consist of five members in total. At least one half of the committee must be resident graduate faculty of CEAE/EVEN. Your first member and Chair will be your faculty advisor. If the Chair of your exam committee is not a full-time member of CEAE/EVEN’s resident graduate faculty then a Co-Chair must be appointed. Your committee must include at least one ‘outside’ member. ‘Outside’ is defined as someone from another department at CU Boulder, another university, or someone from the field who typically holds a PhD.
Speak with your faculty advisor about selecting committee members, then contact them to confirm their participation and coordinate a time to defend. Most PhD students choose the same committee as their comprehensive exam – however, if you have changed your outside member(s) or it has been 3+ years since your comprehensive exam, check-in with the department’s Graduate Advising Team to review.
The PhD Exam Form must be submitted at least two weeks in advance of your defense in order for the Graduate School to review and officially approve your exam committee. If your committee is not approved BEFORE the exam takes place, you risk your exam results being invalidated if a member does not qualify. Once your committee is approved, your form will be sent to your committee members the day of your exam for signatures. The completed form will automatically be sent to the Graduate School for processing.
Yes! Doctoral students must be enrolled in a minimum of five dissertation credits the semester they defend.
You can still hold your exam when you are able but please be aware that you will be ineligible to graduate that semester. The earliest you would be able to graduate would be the following semester.
This depends on when you end up taking your exam. If you hold your exam after the semester deadlines but BEFORE the next semester begins, then you will NOT need to register. If you take your exam AFTER the next semester begins, you WILL need to register. This is because students must be registered the semester their final exam takes place, but not to graduate.
Example: A student applies to graduate in Fall 2024. That student runs into delays that prevent them from completing the final exam process by Fall 2024 deadlines, but manages to hold their exam before the first day of Spring 2025 classes. As a result, this student will graduate in Spring 2025, but they will NOT be required to register. However, if that same student saw further delays that prevented them from completing the exam process until after Spring 2025 has begun, they WOULD need to register.
In order to sit on exam committees, faculty and any outside committee members must hold either a regular or special ‘Graduate Faculty Appointment’ (GFA). Most CU Boulder faculty will already have one in place – outside members will usually need one to be requested if they are not already in place. Connect with the Graduate Advising Team to check.
In order to submit a request for an outside member, you will need to provide the Grad Advising Team with that individual’s up-to-date CV or resume. If that individual does not hold a PhD, your faculty advisor will need to provide a Memo of Support that outlines how their professional experience qualifies them to sit on your exam committee.
Thesis Approval Form + Submitting Final Manuscript
After your defense, students will edit their dissertation to reflect feedback offered by their exam committee before the final manuscript is submitted. Once you are prepared to submit your final manuscript, first complete a Thesis Approval Form (TAF). This will send your final manuscript to select exam committee members to collect their approval before taking next steps. Find step-by-step instructions for completing the TAF here.
Once the TAF has been completed with signatures, your next step will be to submit the TAF + final manuscript to the . The Graduate School will review your uploaded manuscript to check the formatting before signing off on the submission to the ProQuest website. If they determine your manuscript requires edits, they will send it back to the you in order to make changes. It is not considered officially submitted until it is accepted by the Graduate School – submit 1-2 days before the deadline for safety. Find information for .
Please visit the Graduate School for deadlines per semester for more information on when the TAF & ProQuest/UMI upload is due.
Yes - You can order copies of your dissertation or thesis online when you upload your finished work to the ProQuest/UMI website.
Find information for .
Survey of Earned Doctorates
Complete the once you have successfully submitted your final dissertation manuscript. The Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED) is an annual census of individuals receiving a research doctorate from an accredited U.S. institution in a given year sponsored by NCSES within the National Science Foundation. Results are used to assess characteristics of the doctoral population and trends in doctoral education and degrees. .
Please visit the Graduate School for deadlines per semester for more information.