University of Colorado Denver College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Filling out the Admission to Candidacy form

This four-page form is used to list all the credits (courses, thesis, project, independent study, internship, and transfer) you wish to apply toward your degree plan, which is then signed by your graduate advisor, department chair/program director, and yourself. Please fill out as completely as possible, including: instructor's name, course title/number, semester taken and grade received for every credit. All UC Denver students are expected to have completed a minimum of 30 credit hours, including thesis/project/report, toward graduation to earn a master's degree; some programs require more hours.

There is a 12-credit limit on non-degree or other transfer credits on your degree plan. To transfer course credit from a non-CU institution, a Request for Transfer of Credit is completed and sent to the Graduate School Office for approval and forwarding to the Records Office. This form must also be accompanied by an official transcript from the transferring institution. (NOTE: Courses taken at UC Denver or other CU campuses do not require the transfer form and official transcript to be transferred to your program, since they already appear on the CU transcript.)

If you have taken longer than the allowed period to complete your degree [seven (7) years for students originally admitted before January 2009); five (5) years if admitted after January 2009], your graduate advisor must write a memo addressed to the UCD Graduate Dean indicating why your degree progress was interrupted and asking for an extension of this time limit for a stated amount of time (usually one year).

Students who want to include a course taken more than ten (10) years prior to their graduating semester must have the course validated by the instructor or by arrangement with their graduate advisor. Use the Course Validation Form (PDF) and forward to the Graduate School Office.

PLEASE NOTE:

If you were previously admitted to one department/program, then transferred to another department/ program, please check with your department or Admissions to make sure you are currently listed as a student in the correct degree program.

Also, if you have signed up for thesis/project/report hours in previous semesters, be sure to have your major advisor change all IP grades to a final letter grade when you have completed the work and are approved for the degree. Deadlines apply, so check the academic calendar.

Filling out the Request for Examination form

You fill out the Request for Examination form, in consultation with your committee chair (graduate advisor) to set the date of the exam. List all members of your committee and indicate the committee chair. Plan to schedule the exam prior to the posted deadline so that any revisions required by the committee can be completed by the end of the semester. It's advisable to have your advisor/committee chair initial the date of exam, since no signature line is included.

The graduate advisor will give the student permission to proceed with scheduling the comprehensive exam/defense. It is then the student's responsibility to schedule the exam and make sure that all committee members agree to the date, time and place it will be held. The Request for Examination form is then submitted to Jessica Halliday in LSC 1249, who will prepare a signature form and send it directly to the committee chair. 

Degree and Major Codes

Following is a list of all degrees with major codes. Option codes are also available for some programs, and are listed next to major codes below. If your degree and option do not appear correctly on the record pulled up in the Application for Graduation in your student portal, contact Jessica Halliday at 303-315-5879.
Also, make sure your name is entered as you'd like it to appear on your diploma, and that your phone, e-mail and mailing address are correct.