GDP & GPAS

Do I use GPAS or the Graduate Degree Plan (GDP)

Students with degrees starting Fall 2020 and after will use GPAS.

Students who began degrees prior to Fall 2020 will continue to use the GDP form.

Graduate Degree Plan (GDP)

The Graduate Degree Plan (GDP), which describes the course work and other details of your degree program, must be completed, reviewed/signed by your adviser(s), the DGS, and then turned into the Graduate Program Coordinator. The DGS recommends that you complete the form as soon as possible after beginning graduate study to avoid potential problems concerning course selection and meeting degree requirements.

The Graduate Degree Plan can be found online. You should fill out the form as completely as possible in consultation with your adviser, who must approve and sign it. Then you must make an appointment with the Director of Graduate Studies. You and the DGS will review your plan and sign it. After you have the DGS signature, bring it to the Graduate Program Coordinator and she will sign off on the college approval and send it to the GSSP office. Final approval of the Graduate Degree Plan is done by the Graduate School. After approval by the Graduate School, this becomes your official program, and all items listed on the degree plan must be fulfilled before the degree will be awarded. A revised degree plan may be submitted at a later date if a number of changes are required, but only if approved by the adviser(s) and DGS. If only minor changes are necessary, a petition form should be used. In addition, petition forms can be obtained online.

The Graduate Degree Plan (GDP) milestone must be on your student record before you are eligible to access the committee workflow. This means the GDP must be approved by the college and/or program in addition to central data entry completed by Graduate Student Services & Progress (GSSP) and the Office of the Registrar (OTR).

What is GPAS?

What is GPAS?


GPAS stands for Graduate Planning and Audit System. GPAS has two parts. The planner and the audit.

The planner is where you can add courses you plan or intent to take as part of your degree and submit your plan to your department. GPAS is the replacement of the GDP. Instead of submitting your coursework on the GDP, you will submit a GPAS planner.

The degree audit is where all your degree requirements and coursework are displayed. You can view your completed courses and remaining requirements in the degree audit by clicking on the Plan by my requirements button.

What do you need to do in GPAS?

All students using GPAS need to submit their GPAS planner.


This step is a formality needed so you can move on to the next steps in your degree.


For PhD students this is before assigning the Prelim Oral Exam Committee members.

How do you get to GPAS to submit the planner? GPAS Onestop Link

1. Log into your myu and select the Academics tab, and then click the degree progress sub-t ab.

2. Click on the “GPAS” link at the bottom of the screen.

3. This will take you to a page called Grad Planning and Audit System.

4. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click submit.

5. A pop – up box will tell you that the planner has been submitted. An email will then go to your advisor on file. They will have to approve your planner. Then it routes to the graduate program coordinator to approve.

6. You may check the status of your plan at any time by logging into GPAS.

When should you submit your GPAS Planner?

PhD students need to submit their GPAS planner before they are able to assign their Prelim Oral Exam Committee.


Aside from those deadlines, students can submit their planner anytime they like.


Students do not need to enter any planned courses.


Going into GPAS and hitting the “Submit” button is the only requirement.

How do I confirm that my coursework will satisfy my degree requirements?

Students can review their GPAS at anytime on their own. This is what is known as the GPAS audit.


However, GPAS can be confusing to interpret so the best practice is to review your GPAS audit with the Graduate Program Coordinator the first time.


Please contact the graduate program coordinator at – cegesps@umn.edu

How do you get to the GPAS Audit?

1. Log into your myu and select the Academics tab, and then click the degree progress sub tab.

2. Click on the “GPAS” link at the bottom of the screen.

3. This will take you to a page called Grad Planning and Audit System.

4. Click on the Plan by my Requirements button

5. This will bring you to another pop out page with your degree requirements.

6. Review all sections of your program.

7. To return to the GPAS planner, at the bottom of the screen, click the Return to Graduate Planning and Audit System Link


Videos on how to access the GPAS Audit:

Navigating to the GPAS Audit

Understanding the GPAS Audit

GPAS and Credit Requirements

Within GPAS - there are two buckets to put your program credit requirements into

Look in the Civil Engineering Ph.D. University Catalog to see what courses are are preapproved for each bucket.


Bucket 1 - Core Courses

-All CEGE courses in this bucket

-need at least 12 course credits to fulfill this requirement

-non CEGE courses could be moved into this bucket to fulfil this requirement if necessary

-All course credits you take could be taken from here



Bucket 2 - Electives

-these courses are credits from outside of the department ex. MATH/PHYS/AEM

-any transfer credits