Title Page - Electronic signatures are optional and not required, however, if  signatures are desired the Supervisor of Dissertation and Graduate Group Chairperson are required to sign the title page. (Note: signatures are not required for the Dissertation Committee members).

All required forms for depositing:  Certification of Dissertation Defense, PhD Oral Exam, Masters Research Requirements, Certification of Teaching Requirement and all Exam benchmarks.

All degree related forms must be submitted to the Graduate Division office by your graduate group coordinator or faculty member.  

Please be advised: All Graduate Schools
Clearing for graduation is contingent upon completion of all requirements.

For May  2021 degrees only, the candidate defense and deposit process has changed:

Defending is still the final step before depositing in the Graduate Division. Students must pass their defense in order to have their electronic submission accepted.

During the remainder of the Spring and Summer 2020 semesters only, dissertation defenses must be scheduled and presented via remote conferencing. Please be reminded that defenses should still consist of a public presentation via online delivery. Students should work with the committee chair and Graduate Group to have the presentation portion of the defense accessible remotely for colleagues, students, friends, and family to participate. Guidance on using remote conferencing tools  is available from the Center for Teaching and Learning.

At this time, for the Spring and Summer 2020 semesters only, we waive the requirement that most committee members must be physically present and allow any number of committee members and/or the student to participate in thesis defenses remotely.

All other rules regarding dissertations as outlined in the Academic Rules for PhD Programs continue to apply.

May and August 2020 Degree candidates are not required to schedule a 30-minute deposit appointment.

While we will not meet in person, our office will continue to review PhD final-approved electronic dissertations uploaded to ETD Administrator (ProQuest).

Degree candidates required to submit a masters thesis in the Graduate Division will continue to submit via email to gas-degree@sas.upenn.edu for review and approval.

PhD candidates uploading to ETD Administrator and masters graduate groups who are required to submit their thesis must upload their final-committee-approved version.

Note: All edits must be made, in advance, and approved by your committee before the Graduate Division staff reviews your electronic submission.

PhD Degree candidates must follow the formatting and pagination requirements, per the Dissertation manualmandated by the Provost's office.

Graduate groups required to submit a Masters thesis must follow the directions provided in the “Masters – Formatting Instructions for groups that deposit (PDF)” section below mandated by the Provost’s office. 

Our office will review all final-approved-electronic submissions and respond. Those requiring edits from our office must complete the edits and resubmit for approval. Once your submission is approved you will receive further instructions.

Note: At this time, a printed copy will not be required. Our office will take responsibility for printing a hard copy at a later date after coronavirus precautions are no longer in place.

During this challenging time, we also encourage you to take advantage of Penn’s wellness resources.

Onsite phone and video conference services are currently available through CAPS (Counseling and Psychological Support Services).

All students are encouraged to call, 215-898-7021, in advance if you wish to be seen in person at CAPS. Press (2) for the front desk, Press (1) to speak to a clinician 24/7.

Thank you for your patience as the Graduate Division office prepared the necessary guidance for students, staff and faculty regarding the deposit process.

Depositing in the Graduate Division is the final step to obtain your degree. Degree candidates will schedule an appointment; however, this is NOT a remote meeting and physical attendance is not required. Degree candidates must confirm with graduate coordinator to that all required forms have been submitted to the Graduate Office before scheduling a deposit appointment.  Deposit appointments are scheduled to manage the flow of degree candidate submissions received from all schools. During the time of your scheduled appointment your benchmarks,  Academic Planning worksheet, bursar balance, completion of two PhD surveys and dissertations/thesis submitted will be examined to determine if you are eligible for approval and degree clearance.