Graduation procedures

Students in their graduating year must apply to the Registrar to be admitted to a Degree or awarded a Diploma. Please consult the University Diary for precise deadlines and consult with the Office of the Registrar’s graduation website.

Please use the following steps to help you with the graduating process:

1.  You may apply to graduate online through Memorial Self-Service under the Graduation and Convocation menu. The graduation timeline varies depending on the semester you anticipate completing your program requirements. Please refer to the Office of the Registrar website for details. Please note the deadline to apply for February in-absentia graduation is January 1 (the application opens on November 1), the deadline to apply for Spring (May) graduation is January 15 (the application opens on November 1), and the deadline to apply for Fall (October) July 15 (the application opens in early June). Late applications to graduate are considered as time and resources permit.

2.  For information regarding attendance at the Convocation ceremony and/or graduation parchments, please visit the Office of the Registrar website.

3.  Graduate students are automatically registered for their SUBJ 9000 (MED 9900) and graduate fees are subsequently added to their student accounts each semester (roughly 5 weeks prior to the start of classes for the coming semester). It is possible, then, for a graduate student to be completed their program and momentarily be registered and charged for the upcoming semester until they are academically cleared to graduate. Please keep this in mind as you review your records and student accounts.

4.  When an academic unit deems a student to have finished a graduate program, a Recommendation for Award of Graduate Diploma/Degree is sent to the School of Graduate Studies (SGS). SGS conducts academic and financial audits to ensure academic requirements have been fulfilled and funding has stopped as of the completion date. Notification is then sent to the Office of the Registrar and Cashier's Office of graduate program completion and the student is emailed a completion letter (to their @mun.ca email account). For graduate students in course-based programs, completion letters are typically emailed about 10 business days after final grades are released on Self-Service. For graduate students in research-intensive programs (i.e., requiring a thesis), completion letters are typically emailed within 2-3 business days of the final thesis submission. Please note that transcripts are updated only after graduation has taken place (in February, May, and October).

5.  Upon completion of a graduate program and final adjustments to registration and fees, graduate students must pay any outstanding balance on their student accounts (through Self-Service or at the Cashier's Office). Graduate students who are still within the duration of their payment plan (e.g., 3 semesters for Plan C, 6 semesters for Plan A, 9 semesters for Plan B and Graduate Diploma, or 12 semesters for PhD or PsyD) will be charged the total remaining program fees owing (normally a few business days after you receive your completion letter). In this case, please ensure you continue to monitor your Memorial student account for the appropriate fees adjustments. Graduate students who are beyond the duration of their payment plan and charged continuance fees for the upcoming semester may have all, part, or none of those fees and related charges reversed depending on the actual completion date (please refer to the University Diary for a list of relevant program completion deadlines for graduate fees refund).

6. After completing academic requirements for your graduate program at Memorial University, international graduate students may be eligible to apply for a post-graduation work permit (PGWP). The PGWP is a document that gives you permission to live and work temporarily in Canada for up to three years, depending on the length of the program of study completed in Canada. To determine your eligibility to apply for PGWP, please visit Immigration and Citizenship website. To obtain a program completion letter in support of your PGWP application, please email sgs@mun.ca and request this letter be emailed to you. Please include your name and student number in the request.