ALL of the following MUST be completed in order to graduate. It is a student’s responsibility to ensure that they have met all the requirements for graduation by the necessary deadlines. The following steps are in the order in which they should be completed. 

While students may graduate at the end of any quarter, the University of Denver only hosts two commencement ceremonies: one at the end of the spring quarter, and one at the end of the summer quarter. Students who graduate at the end of the fall or winter quarters may request to walk in the spring or summer commencement ceremonies. 

• Schedule of Deadlines
• Advancement to Candidacy
• Application to Graduate

Before a student applies for graduation they must have their final Coursework Plan approved and signed by their academic advisor. Once this has been completed, students must submit the document to the Communications & Recruitment Specialist.

Coursework Plan: Media and Globalization (PDF)

Coursework Plan: Strategic Communication (PDF)

Each student must keep track of their credits and notify the Graduate Director or office staff of plans to graduate as follows:

• Deadline to apply for winter graduation: End of the first week of Fall Quarter
• Deadline to apply for spring graduation: End of the first week of Winter Quarter
• Deadline to apply for summer graduation: End of the first week of Spring Quarter
• Deadline to apply for fall graduation: End of the first week of Summer Quarter

The student must submit the online Graduation Application form by these deadlines and notify the Graduate Director of their plans. After the Graduate Director has checked the student’s records and everything is complete, the necessary paperwork to advance the student to candidacy for the master’s degree will be submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies. Shortly thereafter, the student will be sent a letter informing them that the Advancement to Candidacy has been approved. 

After a student has been “Advanced to Candidacy,” they must file a formal application for graduation with the Office of Graduate Studies. In order to do this, students will fill out a graduation application on MyDU.

If a student applies for graduation for a specific quarter but does not meet the requirements for their degree during the intended quarter of graduation, the student will be charged a processing fee for delaying graduation. Then, the student must re-submit a new application for graduation to a subsequent quarter.

The departmental advisor can choose NOT to sign a student’s application for graduation if that student is not expected to meet all the graduation requirements by the student’s intended date of graduation.

Please note: Each student assumes full responsibility for meeting the basic requirements and deadlines as set forth in the Graduate Studies Schedule of Deadlines (available online), as well as the specific requirements as outlined by the department.