Certification of Graduation policy
If you have completed all degree requirements and deposited your thesis or dissertation and are waiting until the next degree conferral date to receive your degree, you may request from the Office of the Registrar a Degree Completion Letter (Degree Verification) indicating that all requirements have been completed. Important: All grades from the semester in which you are depositing your dissertation (and all other outstanding grades) must be reported before you can receive a completion letter.
Since master’s and doctoral degrees do not appear on transcripts until 4 to 6 weeks after the end of a semester, students may wish to obtain this letter from the Registrar’s Office to provide to employers or other universities to verify degree completion before the transcript posting, but after all grades are finalized and their dissertation (doctoral degree) or thesis (if required for the master’s degree) is approved and deposited.
See Degree Conferral/Payroll End Dates, Holds
Certificate of Doctoral Candidacy policy
Dissertators who do not plan on finishing their degree may request a Certificate of Doctoral Candidacy in recognition of their completion of all requirements toward the doctoral degree except for the dissertation (sometimes called all but dissertation/ABD at other institutions). The certificate shows the date of the preliminary examination as well as the issue date, but does not substitute for an official transcript from the Office of the Registrar. To obtain the certificate, students, advisors, or graduate coordinators should contact the Graduate School Degree Coordinator.
See Dissertator Status
Breadth policies
Breadth is a required component of doctoral training at UW–Madison. Given there are multiple paths to breadth, the Graduate School leaves the choice of whether students achieve breadth through a minor or other means up to the specific program.
See Minors
Applying to Add/Change Program, Plan, or Named Option
Currently enrolled graduate students who want to apply to add, change, or discontinue a program of study, or add a certificate, do so through the Graduate Student Portal (in the MyGradPortal in MyUW). An admissions application and fee are not required.
Students must check with the intended program concerning admission requirements (for example, letters of recommendation or statement of purpose) and eligibility. Upon receipt of a recommendation from the program, the Graduate School will notify the student of the decision. Note: Changing programs between a service based pricing program and a pooled program during a term are not allowed, so students should always indicate the next academic term when requesting to change between these types of programs. Adding minors, certificates, or discontinuing a program is allowed during a term. Questions regarding the status of an application are best directed to the program.
If dissertators want to add a program, typically a master’s program or a certificate program, they cannot concurrently hold dissertator fee status while pursuing the graduate degree or certificate. Dissertators who add a program or a certificate program will be removed from dissertator status and must enroll and pay fees as a regular graduate student.
International students who add/change a program or a certificate program should contact International Student Services to discuss the possible effects this change of program could have on immigration status.
Steps to Add/Change Program, Plan, or Named Option
Access MyUW and the Graduate Student Portal:
- Go to my.wisc.edu.
- Enter your NetID login information.
- Click on the tile “Graduate Student Portal”. If you do not see the tile, you can search for it in the top search bar and add it to your page.
Initiating a request:
- Once in your Portal page, select the tile on the home page titled “Add/Change Programs.”
- In the “Enrolled Programs” section, you will have options to add a Graduate/Professional certificate, doctoral minor (PhD students only), or major. You also have the option to discontinue a program in which you are already enrolled.
- Choose an action button, which will display an associated window and show fields appropriate for the type of request.
- Fill out the fields and click the “send” button to complete the initial request.
The request will show up as “In Review” in the Requests section on the Add/Change Programs page. Your Graduate Program Coordinator will follow up once your request is decided. More detailed instructions on this process, including example screenshots, can be found in the Add/Change/Discontinue Program Training.
See Change of Degree Level (Plan), Change of Degree Named Option, Dissertator Status, Named Option, Programs (or ‘Majors’)