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.
You should review the following information:
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 that the deadlines to apply for graduation are as follows:
Winter (February) in-absentia graduation: January 1, applications opening on November 1 of the preceding year.
Spring (May) graduation: January 15, applications opening on November 1 of the preceding year.
Fall (October) graduation: July 15, applications opening in early June.
Late applications to graduate would be 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.
If you are an international student, and wish to request an invitation letter for family members to attend convocation (as part of a visa application), please e-mail graduation@mun.ca.
3. You would be automatically registered for your SUBJ 9000 (MED 9900).
Graduate fees are subsequently added to your student account each semester, roughly 5 weeks prior to the start of classes for the coming semester.
It is possible, then, for you to have completed your program, and still momentarily be registered and charged for the upcoming semester, until you 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 us for review.
We will conduct academic and financial audits to make sure academic requirements have been fulfilled, and funding has stopped as of the date of completion.
Notifications are then sent to the Office of the Registrar, and the Cashier's Office, of graduate program completion. Then, we will e-mail you a completion letter, to your @mun.ca e-mail account.
- If you are in a course-based program, completion letters are typically sent around 10 business days after the release of final grades on Self-Service.
- If you are in a research-intensive program (i.e. requiring a thesis), completion letters are typically sent around 2-3 business days of the final submission of your thesis.
Please be advised that transcripts are updated only after graduation has taken place (i.e. in either February, May, or October).
5. Upon completion of a graduate program and final adjustments to registration and fees, you must pay any outstanding balance on your student account.
You can pay your balance through Self-Service, or at the Cashier's Office, using any of these Methods of Payment.
If you are still within the duration of your payment plan, you will be charged the total remaining program fees owing. This occurs a few business days after you receive your completion letter. In this case, please continue to monitor your Memorial student account for appropriate adjustment of fees. Please refer to the following chart:
- Graduate Diploma: 3 (three) semesters
- Masters Plan A: 6 (six) semesters
- Masters Plan B: 9 (nine) semesters
- Masters Plan C: 3 (three) semesters
- Masters Plan D: 4 (four) semesters
- PhD/PsyD: 12 (twelve) semesters
If you are beyond the duration of your payment plan, and have been charged continuance fees for the upcoming semester, you may have all, part, or none of those fees reversed - depending on the actual completion date. Please refer to the University Diary for a list of relevant program completion deadlines, for graduate fee refunds.
6. For international students: after you receive your completion letter, you may be eligible to apply for a Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP).
The PGWP is an immigration status document that grants you permission to live and work temporarily in Canada.
- To determine your eligibility to apply for a PGWP, please visit the relevant Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) page.
- You should also review the Immigration Information and Resources page, maintained by the Immigration Advising Team (IAT).
In the application, you would be required to include a PGWP Support Letter. A PGWP Support Letter will be sent to you shortly after you receive your completion letter.
- The letter will note the date you completed all academic requirements for your program, and the standard duration for that program.
- If you completed your program in an accelerated form, and wish for this to be noted on the letter, please email sgs@mun.ca, making reference to your name and student number in the email.