Graduation Requirements for Master's Students

Step 1: Check with your school or graduate support staff for deadlines and guidelines for degree completion.

Step 2: (Only for students completing a thesis-option master's degree) Review KU Thesis & Dissertation Formatting Requirements early! See our formatting page for more details. All theses must meet these requirements prior to publication in ProQuest and KU ScholarWorks. Students are strongly encouraged to attend a formatting workshop prior to the defense.

Step 3: Submit the following University-level requirements for graduation. Individual schools verify submission and completion of all graduation requirements, and maintain their own methods for collection of required materials. Contact them (see table below) with any questions.

1. Application for Graduation
   • Submission method: Enroll & Pay
   • The Application for Graduation (AFG) notifies the University of your intent to complete all requirements for a degree within a given semester. Apply early to ensure you receive important information for graduates! The AFG also provides KU with your preferences for how your name appears on your diploma, method of delivery, and privacy preferences for graduation ceremonies.
   • If you have submitted an AFG and need to postpone graduation to a later semester, contact your department's graduate support staff member to cancel your initial AFG. Once cancelled, you can resubmit the AFG for the correct semester.

**NOTE: #2 - 4 are only required for students who complete a thesis-option master's degree.** 

2. Thesis Acceptance Page
   • Submission method: Directly to your School/College contact person
   • The purpose of the signed acceptance page is to certify that your committee chair has approved the final version of your thesis. By signing the page, your chair is confirming you have completed all required edits and your thesis is ready for final electronic submission to ProQuest.
   • The acceptance page must be signed by your committee chair (and co-chair, if applicable)
   • Formatting requirements, sample documents, and templates for this page are available on the KU Libraries Thesis & Dissertation Formatting Guide.
      
3. ScholarWorks Thesis/Dissertation Release (Embargo) Form
   • Submission method: Directly to your School/College contact person
   • You own the publishing rights to your thesis; this form gives KU permission to publish your work in KU ScholarWorks
   • ScholarWorks Thesis/Dissertation Release Form
   • ScholarWorks Thesis/Dissertation Release Form for Creative Writing MFA/PHD students ONLY
      
4. Submit your final, approved, & correctly formatted thesis to ProQuest
   • Submission method:Directly to ProQuest
   • Further details about submitting the thesis electronically are available on the Submission page.

Step 4: Plan and apply to participate in recognition events and University Commencement (optional).

• Schools, programs, and departments may have individual recognition events for their students. Please check with your school/College for information about these ceremonies.
• The University's Commencement ceremony is organized by the Chancellor's Office to recognize all the KU graduates for the corresponding year. This event takes place once a year in May.