Graduating - Doctoral Candidates:
Step 1: If you intend to complete your doctoral degree this semester, apply to graduate through the Graduate School online application by July 25, 2025November 14, 2025. Students who do not submit a Doctoral Degree Candidate Form by this date will not be eligible to receive their degree this semester.
You must be registered in C E x99W – DISSERTATION during the semester of graduation. A minimum of 6 hours CE X99W Dissertation is required over the course of your degree in order to apply for graduation.
Graduate School online application and instructions: https://gradschool.utexas.edu/academics/graduation/deadlines-and-submission-instructions#Doctoral
Graduating students submit their Graduation Application online no later than July 25, 2025. Students who do not submit a Doctoral Degree Candidate Form by this date will not be eligible to receive their degree this semester.
Graduating students
Step 2: Graduating students should circulate a draft of the dissertation to their committee about 1 month prior to the final defense meeting.
Step 3: Final Defense meeting:
Officially schedule your Final Defense meeting: the form must be emailed to the Graduate School
Reserve a conference room or classroom on campus where the public may view your presentation. While you may hold the defense virtually, you are required to provide a computer and a room where anyone can come to UT campus and see the defense.
Students must submit the Request for Final Oral Defense to the Graduate School via email at least 2 weeks in advance of the defense.
You must submit the following draft documents with the Request for Final Oral Examination form:
☐ A copy of your dissertation committee membership page
☐ A copy of your dissertation title page
☐ A copy of your dissertation abstract page
☐ A copy of your dissertation table of contents and lists of figures and tables
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Target deadline for scheduling the dissertation defense: July 21November 11, 2025.
Last day to hold a dissertation defense: August 1November 21, 2025
Final defense Oral Examinations
Upcoming Final defense meetings at UT Austin.
The Graduate School will acknowledge the date of the defense and will follow up with an email including the final committee signature page, also known as The Report of the Dissertation Committee.
All required forms and final dissertation upload MUST be submitted to the Graduate School by August 15December 5, 2025 before 3:00 pm Central time for graduation.
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Please see the Graduate School’s website for instructions along with more information on the process and deadlines:
https://gradschool.utexas.edu/academics/graduation/deadlines-and-submission-instructions ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
PhD Graduation Letter for CPT, OPT or employers before the diploma is sent, this DocuSign form routes to the Graduate Coordinator.
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