A student who is taking the final course(s) remaining to complete degree requirements via nonresident credit or a candidate for a degree who has completed the requirements for graduation and needs to register only for the purpose of having a degree conferred, may register in absentia. In absentia registration is not permitted for any other purpose; for graduate students, in absentia registration is allowed at the end of the summer semester for fall graduation as described below. In order for the degree to be awarded, the remaining coursework must be completed, the final grade recorded on the student's academic record, and degree requirements certified by the established deadlines for the term. Students registering in absentia must still meet in-residence requirements for a degree to be conferred.

Undergraduate Students

After registering for classes, undergraduate students may change to in absentia status only with the approval of their dean. The classes for which the student is registered should be dropped and the in absentia registration added through the normal add/drop procedure. If the change is made during the first twelve class days, the student’s tuition is refunded.

Graduate Students

Students must be registered for the semester in which they graduate and must apply for graduation by the deadline published in the academic calendar. A student who fails to complete all degree requirements or misses the deadline for acceptance of the thesis, report, recital, dissertation, or treatise must register and pay tuition the following semester in order to receive the degree.

An exception is made for students who apply to graduate in the summer semester but miss the deadline for acceptance of the thesis, report, recital, dissertation, or treatise. In this case, the student will be registered in absentia for the fall semester, only for the purpose of receiving the degree, by degree evaluators in the Office of Graduate Studies. The thesis, report, recital, dissertation, or treatise must be accepted by the deadline for in absentia registration, which falls before the beginning of the following fall semester. Additional exceptions may be granted by the graduate dean under unusual administrative circumstances. The student will be registered in absentia only once.