Graduation

One semester prior to the semester in which a student anticipates graduating, the student should:

1. Confer with their program office staff.
   
2. Consult the Graduation page on the Graduate College's website for deadlines, instructions on submitting their electronic dissertation, and doctoral hooding ceremony information.
   
3. Talk to advisor about whether an embargo is needed.
   

Students must: (1) complete academic requirements and (2) complete the official online Application to Graduate by the deadline for the semester in which they expect to graduate. Deadlines are firm and failure to meet them will delay students’ graduation until the following semester, when they must then submit a new application for their revised graduation date.

Students enrolled in doctoral program must pay a graduation application fee. The Registrar’s Office will email a payment receipt upon completion. If you do not receive one, contact registrar@ucmail.uc.edu. To confirm submission, check Catalyst; your application status should display “Received.”

The Graduate College will only move graduation applications to the upcoming term upon program deletion request through Certify Online, provided the program requests the deletion before the term’s ETD deadline at 5:00 p.m. Each application may be moved only once per program.

Students who will not graduate as planned must be removed from the graduation list before applying for a future term.

The graduation deadline is firm, and exceptions are only considered for extenuating circumstances.

If you need to graduate this term due to an extenuating circumstance and want to apply after the graduation deadline, please follow these steps:

1. Apply for the upcoming term through your checklist.
2. Log in to GradTracker 
3. Click 'Submit Forms' and complete the Late Graduation Request Form.

This is only a request to earn your degree and not a different way to apply for graduation. Your program and/or the Graduate College will review your request. Approval is not guaranteed. If approved, your application will be updated within one week. No confirmation email will be sent. Requests will be automatically denied during the graduation month.

The online Application to Graduate will allow a student to apply for graduation from both degree programs in a dual degree program. Each of the two programs must follow the certification processes and procedures necessary to facilitate the student’s graduation from their own program.

In dual degree programs, students must be registered for at least one graduate credit that contributes to degree requirements in one of the two programs (as determined by the program) during the academic year in which they graduate with dual degrees.

Students must be registered for at least one graduate credit that contributes to degree requirements (as determined by the graduate program) during the academic year in which they graduate from that program.

Doctoral students must also complete degree requirements within a nine-year period unless they have an approved extension (see Maintaining Graduate Student Status, Time to Degree). They should contact their program offices for any additional program requirements or deadlines to be completed prior to graduation.

Finalization and submission of a student’s Application to Graduate will activate the process by which the student will be certified for graduation, and the following requirements have been met. The student should confer with their program office one-two weeks after the application period has ended to assure that any problems related to these requirements are resolved in a timely manner and avoid delay of graduation until a subsequent semester.

Specifically, the student’s records will be reviewed to verify satisfaction of the following requirements:

• finalization and submission of their online Application to Graduate by the deadline;
  
• instructor’s submission of passing grades for final semester credits;
  
• removal of all I grades from transcript;
  
• Removal of previously earned NG grades and blank grade awards - removal of all UP/SP grades from unapproved courses and/or the final semester in which the courses were taken; 
  
• assignment of letter grades rather than UP/SP grades for courses in the final semester of the student’s program;
  
• confirmation of satisfactory repetition or waiver of required courses in which an F was originally received;
  
• confirmation of completion of work and changes of I grades within the one-year limit;
  
• confirmation that the student was registered for at least one credit in the graduate program in each academic year, including the year of expected graduation;
  
• confirmation that the student reached candidacy and has a valid dissertation committee;
  
• degree requirements completed within prescribed time-to-degree;
  
• satisfactory completion of sufficient graduate credits. In general, doctoral degrees require at least 7 research credits (many programs have higher requirements), within a total of at least 90 graduate credits for students who do not have a prior master’s degree, or require a total of at least 60 credits for students beyond the master’s degree. Please note that individual program credit requirements can vary widely.
  
• completion of all program requirements for the degree;
  
• 3.000 GPA has been earned while matriculated in the graduate program;
  
• if a dissertation is required, upload the electronic dissertation (ETD), following the instructions on the Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Information page, for chair approval by the deadline. 

Any waivers to request exceptions to the above requirements must be submitted by the program director through Certify Online. Each waiver is reviewed, and approval is not guaranteed. 

Note: The requirements explained here are university requirements. Students must contact their program office for any additional program-level requirements or deadlines that must be completed prior to graduation.