V.   GRADUATION & COMMENCEMENT

The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences awards master's and doctoral degrees at the end of each term (May, August, and December).  The University conducts Commencement ceremonies annually in May.  In order to be considered for graduation and to be eligible to participate in Commencement, students must apply to graduate.

V.A.  Application for Graduate Degree

Students who wish to graduate in August or December must apply to graduate by the first working day of that month. 

Students who wish to graduate in May must apply no later than February 1.  Those who apply later may be cleared to graduate, but they will not have their names in the Commencement Program book and their diplomas will not be available at the Commencement ceremony in May.

Instructions on how to apply online via MyAccess are available at:  http://grad.georgetown.edu/academics/how-to-graduate/

Students who have applied by the deadline for an August or December graduation have until the last working day of that month to meet all degree requirements.   Please note, however, that students are strongly encouraged to submit theses, doctoral projects, and dissertations to the Graduate School as early in the month as possible.

For students who have applied for a May graduation, a thesis, doctoral project, or dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a May degree must be approved by the faculty and be accepted by the Graduate School no later than the first working day of May.  All other degree requirements must be met by the Monday preceding Commencement, including receipt by the University Registrar of spring semester grades and all examination ballots.

Students must be enrolled during the Fall or Spring semester or Summer term in which they graduate.  Students who apply to graduate toward the end of one semester, but who, for any reason, do not complete all degree requirements until the following semester, will be required to enroll in that following semester.  If all degree requirements are met no later than the first day of classes for the new semester, the student will be eligible to enroll in Continuous Registration, Section 2, for which no fee is charged.  See Section II.F.5.b.  for information on this registration category.  If all degree requirements have not been met by the first day of classes for the new semester, the student must enroll in the appropriate thesis or non-thesis registration mode.

If a student who is required to submit a master’s thesis. doctoral project, or doctoral dissertation defends it successfully by the first day of classes for the new semester, the student will be registered for Continuous Registration, Section 2, for which no fee is charged, while completing any final edits required by the faculty.  This registration category confers less than half-time status.  Under normal circumstances the student will be expected to submit the final approved copy by the end of one semester.  However, if additional time is needed, the student may register in the same manner for a second semester.  If the final approved copy of the thesis is not submitted by the end of the second semester, the student will be deactivated and will be neither required nor permitted to register until the final approved copy has been submitted and accepted by the Graduate School.  At that time the Graduate School will reactivate the student without a tuition charge in order to award the degree.

All students must be familiar with their degree requirements and the relevant policies of the University and the Graduate School. Failure to do so may result in a delay in graduation.

V.B.  Publication of Theses, Doctoral Projects, and Dissertations

The Graduate School requires that all theses, doctoral projects, and dissertations that are submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of a graduate degree be published in electronic form. Doing so serves both to document the basis upon which individual students’ degrees have been awarded and to share the results of our students’ research with the scholarly community and the public.

This requirement covers only those academic products that are formally designated as theses, doctoral projects, or dissertations; it does not cover capstone projects, creative works, or other activities that are not formally designated as a thesis, doctoral project, or dissertation, but that may be required by or grow out of the student’s degree program.

The procedures for submitting both master’s theses and doctoral dissertations or projects are described at: https://grad.georgetown.edu/dissertation-doctoral-project-and-thesis-information/.

The presumption is that all theses, doctoral projects, and dissertations will be published and made publicly available immediately once the Graduate School has formally "accepted" (approved) the student’s submitted manuscript. There are, however, circumstances under which a student may wish to request a temporary embargo. Such circumstances might include a pending patent application or pending publication of the thesis, doctoral project, or dissertation.

The most restrictive embargo, resulting in a complete suppression of the text of the thesis, doctoal project, or dissertation for a limited period of time, could be requested for a pending patent application. Such a request must be made at the time the thesis, doctoral project, or dissertation is submitted and must be supported by a letter from the student’s mentor or Director of Graduate Studies. Such an embargo could be requested for up to two years, but the student would be expected to notify the Graduate School once the patent had been granted, at which time the embargo would be released.

The more common embargo could be requested by the student at the time of submission and will be granted upon request for a period of up to two years. During this period the text of the thesis, doctoral project, or dissertation will be withheld from public distribution but will be available to the Georgetown community (current faculty, student, and staff); it will also be available to any researcher who contacts Georgetown Library at digitalscholarship@georgetown.edu in advance to arrange to travel to campus to read it. Such a visiting reader would not be permitted to print the thesis, doctoral project, or dissertation or to download a copy.

Under rare circumstances, an extension of an embargo beyond two years might be granted, but the responsibility for justifying the extension will rest with the student. Such requests must be made before the expiration of any previously granted embargo and must be addressed in writing to the Dean of the Graduate Schol, accompanied by a letter of support from the student’s mentor or Director of Graduate Studies. The decision whether or not to grant such an extension will rest with the Dean.

Requests to embargo a dissertation that has already been publicly available will not generally be approved.

During any period of embargo metadata concerning the thesis, doctoral project, or dissertation, including title, author, and an abstract of the work, will be available online.

V.C.  Diplomas and Transcripts

Diplomas for May degrees will be available for distribution at the Graduate School Commencement Ceremony in May, provided that the student submitted the Application for Graduate Degree by February 1, as noted above.

Diplomas for students who did not submit the Application for Graduate Degree by February 1 will be available for pickup or mailing approximately four weeks into the Summer term.

Diplomas for students who graduate in August will be ordered at the end of August and should be available for pickup or mailing by the beginning of October.

Diplomas for students who graduate in December are ordered at the end of December and should be available for pickup or mailing by the beginning of February.

Official copies of a student's final transcript showing award of the Graduate School degree are available via MyAccess or may be ordered directly from the Registrar’s Office.

University policy does not permit the release of either diplomas or final transcripts to students with unpaid balances greater than $100. Students with unpaid balances should contact the Office of Student Accounts for information on how to clear their accounts. Similarly, students who have not completed required training, such as the “Scholarly Research and Academic Integrity” (Honor Council tutorial) or the “Sexual Assault and Prevention for Graduates” training will be required to complete the training before they can receive their diploma or final transcript. Students should contact the Graduate School at gradstudentservices@georgetown.edu to resolve these holds.

V.D.  Annual Commencement Ceremony

The Graduate School Commencement ceremony is a festive event held in May of each year at which earned and honorary degrees are awarded and degree candidates are hooded.  Diplomas are distributed as part of the Commencement ceremony.

Participation in the Graduate School Commencement ceremony is limited to those who have been awarded graduate degrees between August and May of the current academic year. A master's degree candidate who will complete their degree requirements by August 31 of the following academic year may be permitted to walk in the May commencement ceremony, but they will not have their name listed in the official May Commencement Program or receive a diploma at the May ceremony.

Graduates who were awarded degrees in August and December of the current academic year will be eligible to participate without further application. As stated above, those who intend to graduate in May must file the "Application for Graduate Degree" no later than February 1.

All participants are required to wear appropriate academic regalia (cap, gown, and hood). Information on ordering academic regalia will be posted early in the spring semester of each year on the Graduate School website at https://grad.georgetown.edu/academics/commencement/regalia/.

The names of all degree candidates for the current academic year (July - May) are published in the Commencement Program. Graduates who were awarded degrees in August or December will be automatically included in the published Commencement Program. Those who intend to graduate in May must apply to graduate no later than February 1 in order for their names to appear in the Commencement Program.