FAQs
It is your responsibility as a graduate student to understand how to complete your degree using the Graduate School Rules and the CEAE Department Rules, and to understand your . It is your responsibility to track your progress and milestones through your degree. We suggest meeting with your adviser prior to each semester to review and update your Academic Advising Plan, and to file a copy of this plan with the office of the Graduate Program Coordinator.
Requirements for a master’s degree can be fulfilled in two ways. Under Plan I, you must complete 30 semester hours of course work-including six thesis hours. Under Plan IIa, one of the non-thesis options, 30 credit hours of course work are required – including a 3-credit independent study report. Plan IIb, is a 30- hour coursework option with final exam, although it is not available for some programs, please check department rules and with your advisor. Time to degree limit: Master’s degree students have 4 years from the semester in which they are admitted and begin course work to complete all degree requirements. If you fail to complete the degree in this four-year period you may be dismissed from their program with the concurrence of the major advisor and/or appropriate departmental personnel.
Complete a Course Agreement Form with your faculty advisor directing the credits and return the completed form the the CEAE Graduate Advising Team at ceaegrad.advising@colorado.edu for registration. Review the form's information carefully to make sure you are requesting registration under the correct course number for your program of study.
MS Thesis Track: Students must complete six thesis credits (in addition to a minimum of 24 coursework credits) to satisfy track requirements. Students cannot take more than six thesis credits. These six credits can be broken up between semesters, or taken all at once. Discuss your thesis timeline with your faculty advisor.
MS Report Track: Students must complete three report credits (in addition to a minimum of 27 coursework credits) to satisfy track requirements. Students cannot take more than three report credits. Theese three credits can be broken up between semesters, or taken all at once. Discuss your report timeline with your faculty advisor.
MS Candidate for Degree Credits: Students should only register for this credit if they have already met all requirements but need to register to complete graduation processes, etc. Please only request registeration for this credit after discussing the need for it with your faculty advsior and the CEAE Graduate Advising Team to make sure it is necessary.
Complete an Independent Study Agreement with the faculty directing your independent study. Submit the completed form to the Graduate Advising Team at ceaegrad.advising@colorado.edu for registration.
Note: Per Graduate School rules, independent study credits cannnot exceed 25 percent (rounded to the nearest whole number) of the coursework required for the master's degree.
Prepare a Transfer of Credit Request form to initiate this process.
While Completing the Form:
Please complete all required fields on the form for accurate review. Please submit any necessary supplemental documents on the Transfer of Credit directly. CVEN and AREN students should include the current CEAE Associate Chair for Graduate Education on the form. EVEN students should enter the current EVEN Graduate Director.
Eligibility & Requirements:
Students must hold a 3.0 GPA and have completed 6 credits at CU Boulder before they are eligible to start this form. It is recommended that students initiate the form in their second semester of study. It must be submitted, processed, and approved by the department and Graduate School before students can fill out the MS Candidacy Application in their final semester.
To be eligible for transfer, credits must be graduate level and have earned a grade of 'B' or better at the institution they were completed. They cannot have been used toward satisfying requirements for a previous bachelor's degree, or a graduate degree at the same level you are currently pursuing at the 91ÖÆƬ³§¹ú²úAV (e.g. Cannot transfer credits used toward a previous MS degree at another university toward an MS at CU Boulder).
MS students can typically transfer up to nine credit hours. Connect with your faculty advisor to review the coursework you are seeking to transfer before intiating the form. Pleaes refer to the Transfer of Credit form for more information on eligibility.
You will complete the final exam process in your final semester of formal registration and must be completed according to Graduate School Deadlines for that semester. Please visit our Graduating Students page for more information
Please visit our Graduating Students webpage for more information, resources, and helpful links as you prepare to graduate from your degree program. You may also refer to the Graduate School’s webpage for graduating Master’s Degree students.
- – for rules, forms, funding information, policies, resources, professional development, research, and everything Graduate student-related
- – to register for classes, choose health insurance, learn your student ID number, and to links to all these sites and way more
- – for tuition & fee costs, bills, payments, tax info
- The Registrar’s Office:
- for all US Citizens and Permanent Residents to . This process is required if you are being funded by our department as an RA or TA:
- to for housing, etc.
- to – an approved leave of absence from the University
- if you are a TA or RA, but you don’t have the CU Resources tab on your MyCUInfo portal, go to the Registrar’s office and give them your Social Security number
- to register for concurrent or intercampus registration
- The Admissions Office – to deliver any missing credentials (transcripts or documents): Regent Administrative Center
- The Financial Aid Office: Regent Administrative Center
- – to find student services for graduate students. This site was written for graduate students by graduate students
- Graduation Information –
A PhD requires 30 semester hours of coursework plus 30 hours of thesis credit. As a PhD student, you are also required to successfully complete a preliminary exam, a comprehensive exam and a final dissertation defense. Degree Time Limit: Doctoral degree students are expected to complete all degree requirements within six years from the semester in which they are admitted and begin course work in the doctoral program. If you fail to complete the degree in this six-year period you may be dismissed from the program with the concurrence of the major advisor and/or appropriate departmental personnel.
You will take a Preliminary Examination normally not later than 12 months from the time you are first enrolled in the Doctoral Program. Each CEAE group has a designated time for PhD students to take the exam. Discuss the schedule, date, and format of the exam with your academic advisor.
No, the Graduate School does not require students to complete any paperwork prior to completing the preliminary exam. However, please check with your subdiscipline to confirm they do not require any paperwork in advance. The group will keep a copy of your exam results on file.
You must pass this examination in order to continue in the Doctoral Program.
Before admission to candidacy for the doctoral degree, you must pass a Comprehensive Examination which shall consist of a written and an oral examination in your field of concentration and related fields. At the Comprehensive Examination, you shall also present a plan for your dissertation research to the Advisory Committee for approval.
The exam may not be attempted until your last semester of formal course work.
Yes – You will need to complete the following paperwork:
Prepare this form with your faculty advisor at least two weeks in advance of your exam date.This is a DocuSign workflow owned by the Graduate School that will automatically route the document to your committee members to collect signatures after your exam takes place. The form will ask you to provide your exam date and committee members which will be reviewed/approved by the Graduate School ahead of your exam.
Submit the PhD Comprehensive Exam Form at LEAST two weeks in advance of your exam date. This is important because the Graduate School uses this form to review/approve of your exam committee which needs to happen BEFORE your exam takes place to ensure your results can be accepted. This buffer allows us to also make sure that your exam committee members are set up properly and qualify to sit on your exam.
Your committee must include a minimum of five members. At least three members (and/or a majority of your exam committe) must be resident graduate faculty in CEAE/EVEN. Your first member and committee chair will be your faculty advisor. If the Chair of your committee is not a full-time member of CEAE/EVEN's resident graduate faculty, then a Co-Chair must be appointed. Your committee must include at least one 'outside' member. Here, 'outside' is defined as someone from another department at CU Boulder, another academic institution, or someone from the field who typically holds a PhD. Please connect with the Graduate Program Team regarding your committee members to confirm their eligibility to sit on your exam including whether they hold a Graduate Faculty Appointment (GFA). If a committee member does not currently hold a GFA, the Graduate Advising Team may ask you to provide them with a CV/resume to review for next steps.
Speak with your faculty advisor for help selecting committee members. All members must agree to sit on your committee and participate in all aspects of your comprehensive exam process before you may include them on your committee.
Your faculty advisor must approve all members of your exam committee. Once you receive their approval, students must connect with the Graduate Advising Team to review your committee members with special attention to your outside committee member. They will help to determine whether that individual already holds what is called a Graduate Faculty Appointment (GFA) with the Graduate School that allows them to sit on doctoral exam committees.
If that individual does not already hold a GFA, the Grad Advising Team will ask you to provide a copy of their CV/resume for next steps. If that person does not hold a PhD, we will also ask your faculty advisor to provide a Memo of Support to reviews why they qualify to sit on your committee.
The approval process can take up to 2-3 weeks. As a result, it is important to begin this process ahead of your exam date and before submitting the Comprehensive Exam Form. If your committee cannot be approved before the exam, you risk your exam results being invalidated.
Contact ceaeoffice@colorado.edu to reserve a conference or classroom space. Reserve space as early as possible, as all departments in the College of Engineering and Applied Science have graduate students taking their Comprehensive Exam or Final Exams around the same time.
Confirm with your faculty advisor whether your subdiscipline has any deadlines related to your degree progress for completing the comprehensive exam process.
Yes, the Graduate School requires that students are registered in courses or at least one dissertation credit the semester they complete the comprehensive exam including over the summer.
Signatures will be collected automatically by the form’s DocuSign workflow. Make sure to enter correct emails for all committee members so there are no delays.
Beginning the first semester of enrollment after you A.) Successfully pass your comprehensive exam, and B.) Are approved for PhD candidacy by the Graduate School, your student registration status will update to Status 'D'. Learn more about Student Registration Statuses. You may then use resources on the Bursar's Office website to determine your expected tuition/fees.
Yes! Within two weeks of passing your comp exam, students should apply for candidacy. Apply by completing the form.
Apply by completing the form. If you are completing multiple degrees, you will need to complete the form for each separately.
After you submit the candidacy application, it will go to the Graduate Advising Team for review in coordination with your faculty advisor. It will then be reviewed by the Graduate School who will email you directly to let you know you have been approved for PhD candidacy.
The timeline for being approved for candidacy will depend on various factors including accurate completion of the form, whether you have any incompletes on record, the time of year, and more. Typical applications will usually receive approval within 3-4 weeks, but it may take longer.
Students must prepare a Transfer of Credit Request form to initiate this process. It must be completed before you can fill out the Candidacy Application for the PhD – ideally in your second semester or as soon as you have completed six credits at CU Boulder. Credits must come from an accredited university for which they are considered graduate-level. The credits must have received a grade of 'B' or higher to be eligible. Credits cannot have been used toward a previous bachelor's degree or at the same level as your current program. Doctoral students can transfer up to 21 credits from an outside academic institution. Please refer to the request form for more information on policies/requirements.
The form will ask you to include your faculty advisors information + the Graduate Director for your program. CVEN/AREN students should include the current Associate Chair for Graduate Education for CEAE; this information can be found on the CEAE People webpage. EVEN students should include the current Graduate Director for EVEN.
Please be advised: This form can take several weeks or months to be fully processed by the Graduate School. They cannot be used toward your degree requirements and/or your candidacy application until they have been approved. Please plan accordingly!
Doctoral students can transfer up to 21 credits from an outside academic institution. Credits must come from an accredited university for which they are considered graduate-level. The credits must have received a grade of 'B' or higher to be eligible. Credits cannot have been used toward a previous bachelor's degree or at the same level as your current program.
Complete a Course Agreement Form with the professor overseeing your dissertation each semester you are seeking to enroll and submit it to the Graduate Advising Team at ceaegrad.advising@colorado.edu or evengrad.advising@colorado.edu for processing.
Students may register for a minimum of one, maximum of 10 credits per semester. Post-comprehensive students must register in a minimum five dissertation credits per semester to be considered full-time.
Please visit our "Graduating Students" page for more information. You may also refer to the Graduate School’s webpage for graduating Doctoral Degree Students.
- Preliminary Exam
- Comprehensive Exam – Request for Transfer of Credit form(Optional), Candidacy Application for Advance Degree form, Doctoral Exam form (Comp)
- Final Exam – Apply to Graduate (BuffPortal), Doctoral Exam form (Final), Dissertation Upload, Original Signature Page, Final Grade Card