Jump to content
School of Medicine Virginia Commonwealth University VCU Medical Center

Student Policies and Procedures

Graduation Requirements

Graduate students, graduate student advisors and/or Graduate Program Directors should check coursework records to ensure that the candidate has completed all major degree requirements, as well as the following University Graduate Council criteria for graduation:

  • All provisional or probationary conditions of admission have been met.
  • Candidate enrolled at the time of application/reapplication to graduate (i.e., the semester in which the candidate plans to graduate).
  • Overall graduate GPA is greater than or equal to 3.0.
  • Graduate GPA based on all graduate coursework attempted for the degree.
  • For repeated courses, both the original grade and the repeat grade included in the calculation of the GPA.
  • No more than six credit hours or 20 percent of total credit hours attempted (whichever greater) at C or below level (C, D, F). Individual programs reserve the right to establish more stringent requirements regarding the acceptance of C grades. Specifically, students may not present courses receiving grades less than C for fulfilling degree requirements.
  • No coursework approved for transfer below the grade of “B”; no coursework approved for transfer included in the calculation of the GPA.
  • Graduate course work only (500 level or higher) may be applied to a graduate degree with at least one half of required course work designated exclusively for graduate students (600 or higher).
  • All Incomplete (I) grades converted to a letter grade by the last day of class of the semester in which the candidate plans to graduate
  • All grades of Continued (CO), No Grade (NR) or any Missing Grades converted to a letter grade by the last day of class of the semester in which the candidate plans to graduate.
  • All coursework taken within prescribed time limits (Master’s, six years; Ph.D., eight years).
  • All requirements for theses/dissertations must be completed by the deadline published in the Academic Calendar of the semester in which the candidate plans to graduate, including:
    • Final defense of thesis / dissertation.
    • ETD Approval Form with original signatures from all Advisory Committee members and Department and, if applicable, documentation of IRB or IACUC approval number. The signature of the Dean of the School of Medicine is obtained through the Office of Graduate Education, School of Medicine. After receipt of the School of Medicine Dean's signature, the Dean of Gradute Studies (Moseley House, Monroe Park Campus) signature is obtained by the student.
    • Submission of the ETD to the VCU Digital Archives according to instructions on the VCU Graduate School Thesis and Dissertation webpage (Candidate should confirm with adviser/program director all internal schedules for submission of copy, defense and approval.)
    • Electronic submission of "Survey of Earned Doctorates" to Graduate School Dean with receipt of completion copy to the Office of Graduate Education, School of Medicine (Doctoral students only).
    • Publication with ProQuest (All doctoral dissertations must be published with ProQuest. Dissertations are submitted directly by the student through the UMI/ProQuest’s ETD Administrator site for VCU. Submitting to ProQuest does not satisfy the university’s requirement of submission. You must submit to the VCU Digital Archives separately in order to fulfill this requirement for graduation.)
  • Student must settle all financial obligations with VCU Office of Student Accounting