Contact the NAU Office of Graduate & Professional Studies
Important Resources
Graduation for Graduate Students
Graduation: official awarding of a Master’s degree, Doctoral degree, or Graduate Certificate, certifying that all requirements have been fulfilled.
Graduation: official awarding of a Master’s degree, Doctoral degree, or Graduate Certificate, certifying that all requirements have been fulfilled.
Commencement: public ceremony celebrating academic achievements for students graduating with a Master’s or Doctoral degree.
Commencement: public ceremony celebrating academic achievements for students graduating with a Master’s or Doctoral degree.Notes on Graduation Accordion Open
- Graduation is not automatic; all graduate students who wish to have their degree or Graduate Certificate awarded from Northern Arizona University must submit a graduation application. Please see graduation application directions below.
- A separate graduation application is required for each Master’s degree, Doctoral degree, and Graduate Certificate.
- A nonrefundable $50 graduation application fee is charged with each submission, and cannot be waived for any circumstances. This fee does not apply to Personalized Learning students.
- Students should apply for the semester in which they will complete all requirements for the individual degree or certificate.
Notes on Commencement Accordion Closed
- Commencement is held twice a year: May for the Spring commencement and December for the Fall commencement.
- Students graduating with a stand-alone Graduate Certificate are not included in commencement.
- Students graduating with a Master’s or Doctoral degree from a Spring semester are welcomed to walk in the Spring commencement.
- Students graduating with a Master’s or Doctoral degree from a Summer, Fall, or Winter semester are welcomed to walk in the Fall commencement.
- View NAU’s Commencement Webpage for more information, including regalia, guest tickets, and ceremony dates/times.
Graduation Application Directions
Applying for graduation is a two-part process.
- Part 1: Verifying Your Progress Towards Graduation.
- Due to NAU’s multi-year transition from Programs of Study to the Graduate Academic Advisement Report, there are three possible verification methods.
- Your verification method will depend on the semester you intend to graduate in, and whether you are graduating from a first-wave, second-wave, or third-wave program. (For more information, visit the OGPS Degree Tracking webpage.)
- Part 2: Submitting Your Graduation Application.
- All students will follow the same steps for this final part to submit their graduation application.
For full details, please follow the Step-by-Step Graduation Application Guide.
Graduation Deadlines
Note: Your individual program may recommend or require that you submit a graduation application earlier, such as for the purposes of enrolling into an internship.
What Do These Dates Mean?
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Recommended Date to Complete Part 1 Tab Open
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Recommended Date to Complete Part 2 Tab Closed
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End of Term Date Tab Closed
Recommended Date to Complete Part 1 Accordion Open
OGPS recommends verifying your progress towards graduation by this date to help ensure you will graduate by your expected graduation term. While reviewing your Program of Study and/or Graduate AAR (depending on the method required for you), please notify your advisor if you notice any discrepancies. The discrepancies must be resolved by the last day of your graduation term.
Recommended Date to Complete Part 2 Accordion Closed
OGPS recommends submitting your graduation application by this date, as our office will begin initial review of graduation applications for the expected graduation term at this time. Students will receive an email notification once initial review of their graduation application has been completed.
End of Term Date Accordion Closed
This is the official last day of the semester. As a result, this is the final day to apply for graduation for this term, as well as the final day to finish remaining degree requirements (including coursework, internship/practicum/student teaching hours, defense of a thesis/dissertation, final upload of a thesis/dissertation to ProQuest, and final oral/written comprehensive exams).
Commencement Booklet Deadlines
Students applying to graduate from a Master’s or Doctoral program for Spring graduation are welcomed to walk in the Spring (May) commencement. If you wish to ensure that your name will be included in the digital commencement booklet, you must submit your graduation application by February 15th.
Students applying to graduate from a Master’s or Doctoral program for Summer, Fall, or Winter graduation are welcomed to walk in the Fall (December) commencement. If you wish to ensure that your name will be included in the digital commencement booklet, you must submit your graduation application by September 15th.
If your name is not included in the digital commencement booklet, it will not impact your ability to walk or participate in commencement.
Graduation Review Process
Initial Review Accordion Closed
Initial review of graduation applications is completed on a rolling basis, in order of application submission. Typically, initial review begins in:
- September for Fall and Winter graduation.
- February for Spring graduation.
- May for Summer graduation.
Students will be notified via email if any further action is needed upon completing initial review of their application.
Final Review Accordion Closed
Final review of graduation applications is completed program-by-program, with prioritization for programs that lead to professional licensure/state certification. Final review cannot begin until all grading processes have been completed for the semester:
- 5/19/25 for Spring 2025, per the Spring 2025 Academic Calendar.
- 8/13/25 for Summer 2025, per the Summer 2025 Academic Calendar.
Degree Awarding Accordion Closed
See “Final Review” to find the date in which all grading processes will be completed for each semester. OGPS cannot begin awarding degrees for the semester until grades have finalized on this date.
Depending on the volume of graduation applications, it may take up to 2-3 weeks to complete final review and degree awarding for all students.
Once a graduation application has undergone final review with no issues found, the degree will be immediately awarded. At that time:
- The student’s graduation application status will update to “Degree Awarded.”
- The student’s degree or Graduate Certificate will post to the student’s transcript.
- The student’s diploma will be ordered by NAU to be delivered to the student’s diploma address.
Students will be notified of their awarded degree and/or Graduate Certificate via email.
Graduation Deadlines for Theses and Dissertations
View NAU’s Thesis and Dissertation Webpage to find the last day to hold a thesis/dissertation defense, and the deadline to upload the final version of your thesis/dissertation to ProQuest.
Academic Recognition
At the time of graduation, if you have earned a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.90 or higher for all courses taken as a graduate student at Northern Arizona University, you will be recognized with the notation of “with distinction” on your transcript and diploma.
What if I do not meet the requirements to graduate?
Students may request their application to be withdrawn by contacting GradGraduation@nau.edu. If an application is not withdrawn and OGPS finds that the student does not qualify for graduation during final review, the application will be denied.
The student will need to submit a new graduation application for their updated graduation term. Please note, the $50 graduation application fee is nonrefundable whether an application is withdrawn or denied, and will be charged again with the new graduation application submission. This fee does not apply to Personalized Learning students.