Apply to Graduate

• Degree Works:
  • Graduate students now have access to view Degree Works through MyISU. Degree Works is an advising resource used to audit students’ degree requirements. Students and advisors may view it to track academic progress and monitor outstanding coursework. Students must contact their program to revise and update their degree requirements for any exceptions or changes, such as substitutions, waivers, or transfer credits.
• Graduation Application:
  • Submit a graduation application through MyISU. Students who miss graduation application deadlines will need to apply for the following semester.
• Comprehensive Examinations: 
  • Deadline varies by department. Must be completed before the final oral defense.
• Scheduling your defense:
  • Students who are defending a thesis or dissertation must meet the deadlines. Students who have non-thesis defenses must defend and complete all the requirements by the last day of the term. Talk to your advisor or department chair to schedule your oral exam with the Graduate School.

• * Some programs no longer require programs of study. Please contact your academic advisor to know whether or not your program requires a program of study.
• ** Graduation Application is due 05/16/25 for August (Summer) - If you wish to have your name included in the commencement program, you must observe the date listed in the university's academic calendar (4/01/25). 

Preparation

As you are working towards completing your degree, make sure you have completed other tasks that may be required for graduation.

• Performance and Admission Requirements:
  • Must be completed by the deadline stated in your admission letter. 

• Transfer Credits: 
  • Must be completed within the 1st year of program enrollment, prior to submission of the program of study. One Graduate Transfer Credit Approval Form must be submitted for each course.
• Petitions: 
  • A student may petition the Dean of the Graduate School for exceptions to the rules and procedures stated in the Graduate Catalog. You may need a petition to use outdated credits, or to transfer more than 12 credits towards your degree. Please refer to the Graduate Catalog to review a list of common petition requests.

• Change of Grade forms for all incomplete (I) and in progress (IP) grades:
  • All incomplete grades must be cleared prior to the posting of degrees. Talk with the instructor of the course to submit a complete grade. Faculty are responsible for submitting final grades. 

• Dates & Deadlines:
  • Meet important dates and deadlines outlined by the University.

• Theses & Dissertations:
  • As you are working on your thesis or dissertation, refer to the Thesis and Dissertation Manual to ensure your final draft is approved for graduation. A student’s final draft must meet Graduate School guidelines outlined in the manual. Students must submit the final PDF draft online to the Graduate School two weeks following the final oral defense.

SUBMIT THESIS/DISSERTATION

Commencement & Diplomas

• Caps and Gowns:
• Attend Grad Finale to pick up everything you need. You can also order your regalia. Contact the ISU Bookstore or Jostens for more information.
• Commencement:
  • Please continue to check your email and the university’s commencement webpage for updates. 

• Verify Your Official Mailing Address:
  • Address updates in your MyISU will not change where your diploma is mailed. You must notify your Graduate Program Manager, or email gradschool@isu.edu, as soon as possible to change the address you wish to mail your diploma.

• Diplomas:
  • Degrees will be processed after grades have been posted. We review each student’s record to confirm all the degree requirements have been met. The review process takes about 4-5 weeks to award all degrees. After your degree has been posted, you will receive an email when your diploma has been mailed.

Theses & Dissertation Submission Process

1. Formatting: Please ensure your thesis/dissertation meets the format guidelines outlined in the manual. Students may use any software to format their documents, as PDF is the final format and should be the format necessary to be consistent with all ISU outputs.
   • Refer to the 2024 Thesis & Dissertation Manual for instructions on formatting, pagination, mandatory items to be included, example pages, etc.
2. Register for ProQuest - Your dissertations and theses are a part of the Idaho State University electronic repository using the ProQuest ETD Administrator System. Your work will be available to be cited by other scholars around the world.
3. Deadlines:
   • Electronic PDF submission of the thesis/dissertation is due in the Graduate School 2 weeks (14 days) following the successful defense. 
   • The deadline for submission of all documents is 11:59 p.m. on the last day of the semester (see academic calendar).
4. Naming Your ETD: Your last name, an underscore, your first name, an underscore, and your degree. (Example: Smith_John_MS.pdf)
5. Submitting: Upload your manuscript and ancillary/supplemental documents in PDF format to the ProQuest ETD Administrator website using the filename format as shown below.
6. Review: Your thesis/dissertation will be reviewed in the order it was received. Please allow 5-7 business days from draft submission for the Graduate School to review your thesis/dissertation. This time frame may be extended (10-14 business days) during periods of high submission volume (April - May). If needed, revisions will be sent back to the student to ensure the document complies with the submission standards as reviewed in the manual.

*PLEASE NOTE: These guidelines for the formatting and submission of your thesis or dissertation are in place to ensure consistency and professionalism in the work that represents Idaho State University. These guidelines are not formatting suggestions, but requirements, and must be followed accordingly.

To Upload Your Ancillary/Supplemental Documents

1. Naming Your Documents: Your last name, an underscore, your first name, an underscore, and document type. (Example: Smith_John_use authorization.pdf)
• Signed Use Authorization Page [Required]
• Signed Committee Page [Required]
• SED Certificate of Completion [Doctoral Students Only]
2. Upload your documents the supplemental documents category.

To Upload Revisions (Second Draft or More)

1. Any edits made by the graduate school should be updated and submitted back to the graduate school within 48 hours. 
2. Naming Your Revised ETD: Your last name, an underscore, your first name, an underscore, and the number of the revised draft. (Example: Smith_John_Draft 2.pdf)
3. Reupload your ETD in PDF format. Do not make a new submission, but instead replace the previous document in the original submission.
4. Final Submission: This submission should be in a final error-free form. If needed, the Graduate School will return the document for corrections up to 3 times. If by the fourth submission, the document is not error-free, the graduation term will be moved to the following term.

Schedule Defense (Must be submitted by the Committee Chair or Department Chair)