What is a grace semester?

After you defend your Plan A or B thesis, or complete your final course for a Plan C degree, the Graduate School allows you the following semester to complete your paperwork without incurring a fee. This is called the “grace semester.”

For example, if you defended your Plan A or B thesis, or completed your 33 credits of coursework for a Plan C degree, during Spring semester, but you didn’t manage to get your thesis finally approved or all the paperwork filed before the end of that semester, the Grad School would give you the Summer semester as a grace semester to tie up the loose ends. Similarly, if you finished academic work in Fall, Spring would be your grace semester.

However, be sure to tie up all the loose ends by the end of your grace semester. If you don’t, you will have to pay a $100 Late Completion fee for each semester after your grace semester until you complete. It’s the Grad School’s way of motivating you to finish. For example, if you defended or finished coursework in Spring but didn’t complete paperwork requirements by the end of the summer grace semester, you would have to pay $100 if you completed by the end of Fall or $200 if you completed by the end of Spring. Each semester after your grace semester would add another $100 fee until you completed. The moral is to keep your head down and follow through with the paperwork, not let the final details drag on indefinitely.