Skip to main content

Graduate School Forms

Faculty and student studying sample

All Graduate School forms are electronic and should be routed with appropriate signatures via DocuSign. Once all signatures are collected, the form will be sent automatically to the Graduate School for processing.

Master's Students

Master's Plan of Study

States the courses a student will take to complete their program. All graduate students must file a plan of study. Plan of study must meet catalog requirements set forth by the department.

Change in Plan of Study

Informs the graduate school of changes to the original plan of study.

Advisory Committee Request Form

Notifies the Graduate School of your advisory committee members. It is recommended that students select their own GFR, however, if left blank, the Graduate School will make a random selection. GFRs must have graduate faculty status and be from an outside department. This form is only required for students completing a thesis.

Oral Exam Request Form

Notifies the Graduate School that the oral exam has been scheduled. Must be submitted two weeks prior to the exam date. This form is only required for students completing a thesis.

Doctoral Students

Doctoral Plan of Study

States the courses a student will take to complete their program. All graduate students are required to file a plan of study. Plan of study must meet catalog requirements set forth by the department. The doctoral plan of study requires the signatures of all advisory committee members.

Change in Plan of Study

Informs the Graduate School of changes to the original plan of study.

Advisory Committee Request Form

Notifies the Graduate School of your advisory committee members. It is recommended that students select their own GFR, however, if left blank, the Graduate School will make a random selection. GFRs must have graduate faculty status and be from an outside department.

Comprehensive Oral Exam

Notifies the Graduate School that the comprehensive oral exam has been scheduled. The written exam must be successfully completed before scheduling the comprehensive oral exam. Form must be submitted two weeks prior to the exam date. 

Ph.D. Final Oral Exam (Defense)

Notifies the Graduate School that the final oral exam has been scheduled. Must be submitted two weeks prior to the exam date.

Doctor of Nursing Practice Oral Exam

Notifies the Graduate School that the final oral exam has been scheduled. Must be submitted two weeks prior to the exam date.

General

General Petition

General petition form for adding and dropping courses or other general requests.

Past-Term Petition

Past term petition form for adding and dropping courses in previous semester(s). Please provide proper documentation as to why this request is needed. Approval is required by impacted course instructor and academic advisor.

Withdrawal Petition

Petition used to drop all courses in a previous semester or after the drop deadlines for the given semester. Students withdrawing from the current semester must contact the Registrar's Office at 605-688-6195.

Graduate Student Letter Request

An official letter request is for students who need a formal letter from the SDSU Graduate School as a means to officially demonstrate their academic status to an external stakeholder or sponsor or for other miscellaneous needs.

Plan of Improvement - Probation or Academic Decision

Completed by students who earned below a 3.0 cumulative plan of study GPA following completion of a Fall or Spring semester. Must be completed and approved by the Graduate School prior to removal of the registration hold.

Load Certificate

Used to verify loan eligibility and insurance eligibility. The form verifies if the student is a full-time or half-time student. Time is based on 4 hours per registered credit hour plus additional time incurred from graduate assistantships, internships, practicum experiences, etc.

Senior Permit

Undergraduate students who have completed at least 90 credits of a bachelor's degree can apply to take graduate coursework using this form. Undergraduate students who plan to utilize graduate credit as part of an approved accelerated master's program should apply directly to that degree program.

Course Validation

Validating SDSU courses from the plan of study that have expired.

Course Validation Payment Portal

Students who have approved course validation forms should submit payment using this link. To access, you must be logged into MyState. Validations will not be finalized until payment has been received.

Change in Advisor or Committee Member(s)

Informs the Graduate School when there has been a change in advisor and/or committee members.

Request for Extension

Notifies Graduate School of a student's need to extend the time-frame required to complete their degree.

Thesis/Dissertation

Acceptance Page - Thesis(master's students only)

Second page in a master's student's thesis. Please contact the Graduate School if you have two advisors and a separate document will be provided.

Acceptance Page - Dissertation (doctoral students only)

Second page in a doctoral student's dissertation. Please contact the Graduate School if you have two advisors and a separate document will be provided.

Copyright Form

Protects the exclusive right of the author to benefit from their works of authorship

Thesis or Dissertation Hold Request

For students completing a thesis or dissertation whose document release needs to be delayed.

Graduation

Graduation Application

Graduation applications are completed online through MyState. Application can be found under 'Forms List'. If graduation requirements are not met during the semester the graduation application is submitted a $50.00 charge and registration hold are placed on the student's account until charge is paid.

Early Walk RSVP for Spring Commencement Ceremony

This RSVP form is ONLY for students who will be completing degree requirements the summer or fall semester following the spring commencement ceremony. Students who have already graduated or will be graduating during the spring semester will need to complete the online RSVP through MyState.

Did Not Graduate Payment Form

This payment form is ONLY for students who applied for graduation, but did not meet the graduation requirements for that given semester. The $50 charge will not appear on a student's bill and must be paid here. The registration hold will be removed once the charge has been paid. You must be logged into MyState to access the form.