Degree Conferral
Policy Summary
Degrees at Stanford University are awarded four times a year, and students must apply for conferral of their degree through Axess by the deadline for each term, with requests for conferral being reviewed by the Office of the University Registrar and the student's department to verify completion of degree requirements.
Policy Statement
Upon recommendation to the Senate of the Academic Council by the faculty of the relevant departments or schools, and the Committee on Undergraduate Standards and Policy or the Committee on Graduate Studies as appropriate, degrees are awarded four times each year, at the conclusion of autumn, winter, spring, and summer quarters. All diplomas are prepared and distributed after degree conferral in accordance with the listed distribution dates.
Applying to Graduate
Students must apply for conferral of a degree by filing an Application to Graduate through Axess by the posted deadline for each term. This deadline, and all deadlines referenced in this policy, are published in the Academic Calendar prior to the start of an academic year. Students who file an application to graduate after the first application deadline will be subject to a late application fee thereafter, up until the late application deadline, in which the application closes for all students. Students wishing to apply after that date must petition their academic department to submit the request on their behalf.
Students must be enrolled in courses or on a special registration status during the quarter in which they apply to graduate, including Summer quarter. A separate application must be filed for each degree program the student intends to complete. If a student does not complete their degree by the end of the quarter in which they initially applied, they must submit a new application for an upcoming quarter.
Students must complete all intended program changes and declarations prior to applying for graduation, as changes may not be made after the application is in place. Therefore, the application to graduate timeline should be factored into senior year academic planning.
Withdrawing an Application
Students who wish to withdraw an active application to graduate may do so in Axess until the late application to graduate deadline for the relevant quarter. After that date, students who do not wish to confer must request an emergency withdrawal of their graduation application via support ticket.
Students may not withdraw an application, then re-submit for the same degree within a single quarter; they must re-apply for graduation in the subsequent term or later.
Students who change their mind after submitting an application to graduate and no longer wish to confer as requested must withdraw their application per the stated deadlines. If the application is not withdrawn, it will be reviewed for degree conferral.
Conferral of the Degree
Students who have applied to graduate are reviewed and monitored by the Office of the University Registrar and the student's department(s) to verify completion of degree requirements. After all requirements are verified to be met, the department will submit a final list of students recommended for degree conferral to the office of the University registrar. Students who receive approval by both offices will receive their degree(s). Failure to meet University and/or departmental degree requirements will result in the denial of the application to graduate, and students must reapply to graduate in a subsequent term.
Students with unmet financial obligations resulting in the placement of a hold on their registration cannot receive a diploma until the hold is released by Student Financial Services. An academic record where no other degree objective is being pursued is permanently frozen after the final degree conferral, and all subsequent grade change requests or changes to the student record are not permitted.
Students are typically expected to apply to graduate when they have completed their degree requirements. The university, however, reserves the right to confer a degree on a student who has completed all of the requirements for a degree even though the student has not applied to graduate; such an individual would then be subject to the University's usual rules and restrictions regarding future enrollment or registration.
Stanford University awards no honorary degrees.
Degree Conferral and Commencement Participation
Students should refer to the Commencement Participation information page to check their eligibility for the University's Commencement ceremony. Students are not required to submit an application to graduate to participate in the ceremony. However, participation in Commencement, or stated eligibility to do so, does not signify completion or conferral of a degree. A student who intends to confer their degree during the quarter in which they participate in Commencement must submit the application to graduate.
Implementation Information
All applications to graduate prior to the final deadline on the academic calendar must be submitted by the student in Axess. Written requests of any kind will not be considered.
Students may review the graduation website for resource links about application preparation, deadlines and diplomas.
Department staff and faculty should refer to the Inside Student Services guidelines for Graduation.