You MUST be registered for classes on at least a part-time basis during the quarter in which you wish to graduate.

For all doctoral degrees, students are required to successfully complete the written and oral defense components of their doctoral dissertation.  This is referred to as a “Final Exam.” Per Graduate School requirements, students must complete their final exams during the quarter in which they intend to graduate.  In order for you to graduate, we need to register your final exam with the Graduate School during the last quarter of your program.

To facilitate your graduation, please coordinate with your doctoral supervisory committee and academic advisors to set a final exam time, date, and location. Then log into MyGrad program and select “Schedule a doctoral general or final exam”.   Enter the exam information in MyGrad and submit it for approval.  This “Final Exam Request” will come to the Department and we will approve your request and send it to the UW Graduate School. 

Please submit your final exam request by the 3rd Friday of the quarter in which you intend to graduate.

Your online "Final Exam" request will trigger a series of steps behind the scenes to facilitate your graduation, including a preliminary Graduate School degree audit of your academic record, to verify you are eligible to graduate in accordance with the Graduate School requirements for the Doctoral degree. Please review this audit after submitting your Final Exam request.

As long as you have followed your PhD Program Plan, the course requirements will be satisfied.  You MUST be registered for classes on at least a part-time basis during the quarter in which you wish to graduate. Any graduation issues or contingencies will be highlighted and identified during the degree audit.  Please contact your academic advisor should have any red flags or questions.

Please note that the department will also conduct a review of each student's academic record to ensure all requirements have been successfully met including:

• Required didactic course, including any undergraduate coursework or teaching requirements​
• General Examination
• Required pre-disseration and dissertation research requirements
• Final Examination 
• Minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0
• 90 total credits (60 at the UW)

At the time of this review, the department will identify any graduation contingencies as appropriate. These contingencies will reflect coursework you are currently taking and/or any courses with an incomplete or missing grade. Thus, your graduation will be contingent upon successful completion of any coursework currently in progress during the quarter in which you intend to graduate.

Complete instructions and deadlines can be found here.

All graduating students are required to complete an exit survey prior to graduation. This survey will become available to you at the start of the quarter in which you graduate, and will close on the last day of the quarter. Thank you in advance for your feedback which is critical to ensuring the quality of our degree programs. This must be completed by the final day of the quarter in which you graduate.

You will receive an email with a link to this survey 4-6 weeks prior to the end of the quarter.

When do I get my diploma? While the actual diploma may take 3-4 months to receive, the Graduate School makes it a priority to process students who have licensing requirements first. From the day you receive the automatic email that you have graduated, allow 2-3 days to obtain an official transcript.

UW Housekeeping

• Update your contact information and mailing address in MyUW
• Clean out your locker in Eagleson Hall (if applicable)
• Return all department keys and building fobs (if applicable)  Contact Andrea Loren.