Graduate Program - Deadlines & Timelines

Graduation Date Considerations

When a student is seeking to complete the master's degree and officially graduate during a given semester, the student must meet a number of deadlines. A schedule of these deadlines and the forms that should be turned in can be found on the Graduate College Web site.

An alternative to actually graduating during a term is to complete all work concerning the thesis or creative component during a semester, but not necessarily to complete all of them by the regular thesis deadlines. For example, a student in the final stages of his/her thesis or creative component may fail to finish the research or creative project for unforeseen reasons. When this occurs, the student would officially graduate the following term (spring, summer or fall), but would pay no additional fee to do so. Since Iowa State will write an official letter to any employer certifying that the student has successfully completed work and will graduate the following term, it may not be essential to meet the semester deadline. However, if the student wishes to officially participate in commencement exercises during the semester in which work is completed, all deadlines must be met.

Did you know?

The Reading Room has a media room with a DVD player, VCR, telephone, typewriter and an audiocassette player.