Graduate Time Limit Extensions

A link to request Time Limit Extensions will be available on the Forms page.
For a preview of the form, review the guide on our Ellucian Workflow Resources page.


Determine your graduate degree or certificate program initial deadline. See AP.6 Graduate Policies for additional graduate degree and certificate program requirements.

Masters, Certificate (stand-alone) Graduation and Doctoral Advancement Deadline: Students have six years to complete their master’s degree or stand-alone certificate program. Doctoral students have six years to advance to candidacy. This is calculated based on the semester you were admitted plus 6 years. The deadline to graduate or advance to candidacy, as applicable, is the end of the semester. Example:  If a Master’s student is admitted in Fall 2019, their time to degree deadline is Fall 2025.

Students in Master’s or Doctoral Programs also Pursuing Graduate Certificates (Secondary Certificate): The time limit for certificate conferral coincides with the six-year time limit for master’s degrees or the six-year time limit for advancement to candidacy in a doctoral degree. Master’s and doctoral degree time limit rules still apply.

Doctoral Graduation Deadline:
Students have nine years to graduate from their PhD program, regardless of when they advance (within the six-year time limit). This is calculated based on the semester you were admitted plus 9 years..  The deadline to graduate is the end of the semester. Example:  If a Doctoral student was admitted in Fall 2019, their time to degree deadline is Fall 2028.

Doctoral Students Also Pursuing a First Master’s Degree:
Time limit may derive from the doctoral requirements, although programs may reject coursework that is not sufficiently current. Students must be officially admitted to degree status in the master’s program a full semester before the one in which they will complete master’s degree requirements, i.e. admitted in fall for graduation the following spring.