Graduate School
Receiving Your Graduate Degree
Requirements & Eligibility
Doctoral and MFA students in terminal degrees are eligible to have degrees conferred, and to receive their diploma, at three different times during the academic year: October, February and May. To receive their degree, students must complete the Application to Graduate and have their grades and dissertation/thesis recorded by the Graduate School by the deadlines specified on the Registrar’s website.
requirements and guidelines
About the Application to Graduate
The University can only graduate and generate diplomas for doctoral and MFA students who complete the Application to Graduate application. The application enables you to list your name as you would like it to appear on your diploma and be listed in the Commencement program. The default formula is first name, middle name, last name.
Once logged into Banner, students should select the Student Records menu and select the Application to Graduate menu item.
Celebration
October and February graduates are welcome to participate along with May graduates in the Commencement ceremonies held in May. The Graduate School will reach out to October and February graduates in the Spring (to their Brown alumni email address) with instructions for registering to attend and participate. Details about Commencement ceremonies and events can be found on the Commencement website.
Register to Attend the Ceremony
Registration to attend either the Doctoral or Master’s Commencement Ceremony must be completed on the Application to Graduate, as well as through the Tassel platform, which opens no later than early March. An email with further information will be sent to your Brown email address.
Purchase Academic Regalia
Regalia (cap or tam, gown and hood) or formal military attire should be worn for Brown’s Procession and Commencement ceremonies. Details about how to wear regalia can be found on the Commencement website. Doctoral students may rent or purchase regalia from the Brown University Bookstore. Master’s students may purchase regalia as part of a keepsake package during the Grad Fair, held in late April, or directly from the Bookstore.
Additional Required Steps
All October, February and May graduates should view and follow the steps:
Questions
Email gradschool-commencement@brown.edu.
BrownU App
Download the BrownU mobile app to find information on the go during Commencement and Reunion Weekend, including events, campus maps, dining and parking options, the location of water stations and restrooms, and much more. Information will be available on the BrownU app in April.
Service & Email Changes
Your Brown Google content will stay with you—your password, your Google Drive, Google Meet and all your Google email content. You’ll continue using BrownConnect, Handshake, and Rosetta Stone, with minor differences.
Student services such as software (ex: Adobe Creative Cloud, Zoom), VPN, card access, wifi, and your current library access will cease once your requirements are marked as complete by the Registrar’s office, usually within a few days of degree completion. See full details on the Computing & Information Services webpage for graduating students.
Student email accounts will be migrated to an alumni.brown.edu lifetime address (unless the graduate is going straight into a Brown staff or faculty position) 10 days after degree completion). Messages will be forwarded from your student @brown.edu address to your new @alumni.brown.edu address for 90 days after degree completion.