Graduation Instructions

It is each student's responsibility to apply for graduation, and to do so by the deadlines listed on the Academic Calendar. Degree seeking students should apply to graduate via CheckMarq (there is a link that says "Apply for graduation" on the My Academics page in the Student Center).  A graduation application summary page is now available in CheckMarq. This page summarizes the information submitted after you apply for graduation. You will receive an email when your graduation application has been submitted directing you to review and update your information. You may review your application and edit your diploma name, invitee names/addresses and commencement participation choices directly from this page without the need to submit an updated form.

Note: There is a distinct difference between officially graduating and participating in the graduation ceremony. The University holds one commencement ceremony in May. Because there are no August or December ceremonies, some graduates will be permitted to participate in the preceding May's ceremony. In general, master's degree candidates and certificate students expecting to graduate in August may apply to participate in the May ceremony.

Doctoral students cannot participate in a commencement ceremony unless all graduation requirements have been completed by the graduation deadlines specified in the Graduate Bulletin.

Once graduate students have applied to graduate, their names will be sent to the Office of the Registrar for ordering of the diplomas, and also to the Office of Special Events for graduation ceremony planning. The Office of Special Events will, in turn, send out a formal announcement on behalf of the graduate student. No invitation or ticket will be required to attend the university ceremony. Note: Receipt of these invitations to the graduation ceremony does not mean the student has been approved for graduation. Invitations are sent out well before the final audit of each student's academic record has been completed.

The submission of the graduation application will cause a summary of the academic record of each applicant to be created. That academic summary will be sent to the department for auditing. Once the department has completed the audit, it will be sent to the Graduate School, where the audit will be reviewed.

The results of the audit will be one of three determinations:

• the student is fully eligible to graduate,
• the student is definitely not eligible to graduate, or
• the student may be eligible pending completion of remaining requirements. These pending requirements are typically course work and/or defense and submission of the thesis or dissertation.

Submission to the Graduate School must include:

• an electronic submission of the thesis through ProQuest ETD Administrator. More information on the submission process.
• the signed Thesis Approval Form, and
• payment of the publishing fee as specified on the ProQuest ETD Administrator Web site.

Submission to the Graduate School must include:

• an electronic submission of the dissertation through ProQuest ETD 
  Administrator. More information on the submission process.
• a completed Survey of Earned Doctorates,
• the signed Dissertation Approval Form, and
• payment of the publishing fee as specified on the ProQuest ETD Administrator Web site.

Ensure that the formatting of your dissertation is in accordance with the instructions in the Dissertation Directives, or it may be returned for reformatting.

Complete instructions can be found on the Electronic Theses and Dissertations page.

The Graduate School will work with each department to resolve the final status of each student that is in a pending status. The defense and submission of officially approved theses and dissertations must occur by the deadline listed in the Graduate Bulletin. Completion of final course work is typically not known until a day or two prior to the graduation ceremony, so notification of students who are pending course work is not practical. This does not affect doctoral students, who will have completed their course work much earlier, but it does affect master's and certificate students.

All doctoral candidates that have applied for graduation will be notified of the status of their graduation audit as that audit is completed. If the audit is pending the dissertation defense/submission, students who have not completed those steps will be notified after the expiration of the deadline, that they are not approved for graduation. Students who do defend and submit their dissertations prior to the deadline will be told at the time that their dissertation and all associated paperwork is submitted that they are approved for graduation.

Master's degree candidates whose graduation status does not depend on final grades will be notified of their status when the academic audit is complete. Master's degree candidates whose graduation is pending the results of courses taken during the final term will be notified by the Graduate School after grades have been submitted by the professor and processed by the Office of the Registrar.

Any candidates who are not approved for official graduation must reapply for a future graduation cycle, and they must do so by the appropriate deadline. Students who apply for one graduation and who are denied for whatever reason will not automatically have their applications for graduation carried forward.

Complete instructions are available on the Marquette Central website. Contact Marquette Central directly with any questions regarding diploma pick-up.

Complete information can be found on the Commencement webpage.