All degrees are conferred by the VCU Board of Visitors upon recommendation of the graduate faculty.

Candidates for degrees are eligible for graduation upon completion of all academic requirements in effect at the time of official matriculation into the program, provided the students are continuously enrolled and provided the requirements are met within the time limit specified by the school or program and the University Graduate Council. Students failing to satisfy the time requirement and who are readmitted to their programs shall satisfy requirements in effect at the time of readmission.

Degrees are granted at the close of the semester or summer session in which students complete their work. Diplomas will not be granted unless all financial obligations have been resolved with VCU’s Student Accounting Department. Students must be enrolled at the time of application (i.e., the semester in which students graduate).

No degrees will be conferred unless students make formal application to graduate.

Degrees will be awarded and diplomas issued in a current semester only. Students who do not submit/complete their applications to graduate in the semester in which they actually complete their programs will be awarded their degrees in the semester in which they apply to graduate. In such cases, a text notation will be added to the transcript to indicate the date that course work for the degree was completed. Program directors and academic school deans must submit a special action request to the Graduate School to this effect that also includes a request for a waiver of the requirement that the students must be enrolled at the time of application/reapplication. A request for a waiver of the enrollment requirement must document that the student has completed all degree requirements and is not using any university resources (i.e., libraries, computer labs, faculty advising, etc.)

Graduation applications must be submitted by students to their advisers or deans no later than the dates indicated in the university’s academic calendars on the Web. Students should schedule conferences with their advisers well ahead of the deadline and should note that the application requires the approval of the adviser, the department chair or the school director of graduate studies, and the school dean. Credit is applicable toward only one degree unless students are admitted to a course of study that allows a defined number of shared courses. Graduate credit hours earned toward a VCU graduate certificate may be applied one time to degree requirements for master’s or Ph.D. programs. Graduate credit hours earned toward a VCU graduate certificate may be applied toward only one certificate. The determination of the acceptability of specific courses to be used for both the certificate and the graduate degree will be the responsibility of that master’s or Ph.D. program or school.

Revised 5/11/2010, 1/24/2017
University Graduate Council

Graduation checklist

The total number of semester credits required for graduation depends upon the degree program. Specific information may be found under degree program descriptions. In addition to the specific requirements listed by the department, the following graduation checklist for graduate students, advisers and program directors summarizes all general requirements for graduation as determined by the University Graduate Council.

  • All provisional or probationary conditions of admission have been met
  • Candidates enrolled at time of application/reapplication to graduate (i.e., semester in which candidates plan to graduate)
  • Overall graduate GPA is greater than or equal to 3.0
  • Graduate GPA based on all graduate course work attempted after acceptance into program unless the student has an approved historical repeat.
  • For repeated courses, both original grade and repeat grades included in calculation of graduate GPA
  • Students may not present courses receiving grades less than C for fulfilling degree requirements.  Individual programs reserve the right to establish more stringent requirements regarding acceptance of C grades.
  • No course work approved for transfer below grade of B; no course work approved for transfer included in calculation of GPA
  • Graduate course work only (500 level or higher) may be applied to a graduate degree, with at least one-half of required course work designated exclusively for graduate students (600 or higher)
  • All Incompletes (I) converted to letter grade by last day of class of semester in which candidate plans to graduate
  • All grades of Continued (CO), Progress (PR) and No Grade (NG) converted to letter grades by last day of class of semester in which candidate plans to graduate
  • All course work taken within prescribed time limits (master’s, six years; Ph.D., eight years, with any extensions approved by Graduate School)
  • All requirements for theses/dissertations must be completed by the deadline published in the academic calendar of the semester in which the candidate plans to graduate, including:
  • Students must settle all financial obligations with VCU’s Student Accounting Department.

Revised 5/11/2010; 5/10/2011; 12/13/2016; 12/19/2023
University Graduate Council

Application to graduate

At the beginning of each semester, all matriculated graduate students will receive an email reminder from the Office of the University Registrar to initiate the application-to-graduate process for the current semester. The email notification will be sent to the official VCU student email address and will include submission deadlines and guidelines. (All graduate students in the School of Medicine are asked to complete a preliminary review before initiating the graduation process and are referred to the School of Medicine guidelines or to their advisers/graduate program directors regarding application-to-graduate procedures.) Students planning to graduate in the current semester should proceed as follows:

  • Complete the apply to graduate procedure on eServices. 

Graduate students, program directors and academic school deans/designees are required to conduct a final review of all academic histories as part of the application-to-graduate check-out process as articulated in this Bulletin and on the Graduate School website. A student’s signature on the application to graduate is acknowledgement that the student has reviewed the academic history and that it is correct. Final approval signatures by graduate program directors and academic school deans/designees on the final application to graduate confirm that the student’s academic history is complete, correct and final and that no future requests for changes to the academic history will be considered once the student has been approved to graduate. 

Revised 5/11/2010; 5/10/2016
University Graduate Council

Reapplying for graduation

Candidates who do not graduate at the end of the semester for which they have applied must re-register and reapply. Students must be enrolled at the time of application/reapplication (i.e., the semester in which the student graduates).

Commencement participation

Graduate students are encouraged to visit the Graduate School website for information about university Graduate School events and activities for May and December commencement ceremonies. Students also are encouraged to visit the VCU Commencement website.