Graduation Candidacy Information

In order to graduate, you must declare candidacy for the semester in which you intend to graduate by the designated deadline. Announcements will be made to the graduate student mailing list ahead of the deadline. You can declare candidacy (registering for either CAND 991, 992, or 993, depending) by emailing Morgan Delaney.

CAND 991: The only candidacy in which you can be registered for any other courses and/or research.

CAND 992 (Degree-Only Candidacy): Candidacy for those that ONLY need to deposit their thesis. Earlier deposit deadlines apply. Cannot be registered for any other research and/or coursework.

CAND 993 (Exam-Only Candidacy): Candidacy for those that ONLY need to defend AND deposit their thesis. Earlier defend/deposit deadlines apply. Cannot be registered for any other research and/or coursework.

Approximate Timeline for Thesis Candidates:

For detailed deposit process and timelines please visit the Thesis/Dissertation Office’s website.

  • Declare Candidacy at the end of the semester previous to your semester in which you intend to graduate
  • Organize the details of your defense with your examining committee and schedule your defense with the Graduate School by submitting a Form 8 (available in myPurdue, where you find your plan of study) no later than two weeks before your defense date. It is recommended that you submit the Form 8 three weeks in advance.
  • No earlier than the day of your defense, submit the Electronic Thesis Acceptance Form (ETAF, previously known as Form 9) online through myPurdue. This form will need to have all departmental signatures before you can deposit your thesis. Within this ETAF you can indicate if your thesis should be confidential, should have a delay of publication, and your major professor will have to confirm your thesis has been run through iThenticate.
  • Before deposit, complete the “Graduate School Exit Survey” (MS and PhD) and the “Survey of Earned Doctorates” (PhD only)
  • Once the ETAF has been processed by the Thesis Form Head' (Grad Chair), you will receive an email containing instructions on how to proceed in the deposit process. After you upload your ETD (thesis), the Thesis Office will review for any formatting errors and will communicate with you regarding any possible corrections. When approved, you will receive an emailed receipt.

For specific semester graduation deadlines, please see the Graduate School calendar.