Eligibility for Graduation
You will be eligible to graduate and earn your degree when you have satisfied all the requirements and completed all the coursework for your degree.
It is your responsibility to know what your degree requirements are, and that you have met them. If you are an undergraduate student, you can run a DARS report to monitor your progress toward your degree.
Descriptions of undergraduate and Graduate School degree programs and their requirements are listed in Guide. Other schools are listed below. As always, you are encouraged to talk with your advisor about your plan and timeline for your degree.
Links to school/college degree pages in Guide. If your school/college is not listed here, contact them for degree requirements:
Why Your Degree May Not Be Posted
Coursework Completed After Your Last Term
To earn your degree in a particular term, you must finish all work for the degree by that term’s conferral date. If you have met all graduation requirements, you might get a degree completion letter (graduate students only). Undergraduate students, reach out to your academic dean’s office.
Example: You expect to graduate in Spring 2026 but receive a grade of Incomplete for a Spring 2026 class that is required for your degree. You complete and submit the required work during the summer. You are now eligible to receive your degree, which will be posted and dated with the degree conferral date for Summer 2026, not Spring. You may still choose to participate in the Spring 2026 Commencement ceremony
Completed Degree But Not Yet Graduated
If you are an undergraduate student who has completed all requirements and coursework for your degree(s), and you did not apply to graduate (basically, if you are still enrolling in classes even after you have completed your degree requirements), your school/college may award your degree(s) and graduate you retroactively back to the appropriate graduation date. UW–Madison does this to keep classes available for students who are still working toward their degree and to help students meet deadlines for financial aid and state/federal benefits.
If you intend to pursue a second undergraduate degree and have not declared this, consult with your advisor.
If you have completed your undergraduate degree, graduated, and now want to return to earn another undergraduate degree, refer to the Office of Admissions and Recruitment’s website.