Graduate Graduation and Degree Conferral

Graduate Graduation Application

Graduate students who plan to graduate must submit a Graduation Application to the Office of the Registrar one year prior to graduation. The application is submitted as part of the student's completed grad plan (using Degree Audit Planner) with their major department’s guidance. Once submitted, a Degree Specialist will review it and assign each student a degree status. The Graduation Processing Fee will be placed on the student’s account at this time. In addition, students who fail to submit their application before their graduating term will be charged a late graduation application fee. This fee will be assessed for any application submitted after the last day of the Add period of the student’s desired term of graduation. No applications will be accepted after November 15th for Fall degree conferral and March 15th for Spring degree conferral/commencement during the student’s last term. Thereafter, the student must participate in the next available commencement ceremony.

Requirements for all Graduate Degrees

Refer to individual degree programs for specific requirements for graduation.

All graduate degrees require a minimum of 30 degree applicable credits for graduation. Any approved exceptions to this minimum can be found on individual degree program pages.

1. All academic requirements must be completed prior to graduation. Approval of the Graduation Application must be obtained from the department program advisor. The student is responsible for submitting the Graduation Application. An Academic Records and Degree Specialist, in the Office of the Registrar, will review.
2. All course work during the final semester, which will be applied toward graduation requirements, must be taken at Biola University. Transfer credits, via an official transcript, must be received by the Office of the Registrar by the first day of a student’s graduating term.
3. A minimum of 24 credits must be taken at Biola University in the degree program.
4. Credit for prior learning may be awarded above and beyond the minimum 24 credits.
5. A minimum of 24 distinct credits must be completed at Biola in any additional graduate degree at the same level. This applies to the second (or additional) degrees and double degrees taken at Biola for all graduate programs except Talbot (see Talbot section of this catalog).
6. All requirements (i.e. substitution request forms, Capstones, Th.M. comprehensive exams) counting toward graduation must be received by the Office of the Registrar prior to November 15th for Fall commencement and March 15th for Spring commencement.
7. Students will need to pay the Graduation Processing Fee.

Graduation Honors - Master's Programs

Honors at graduation for master's program recipients are based on grade point average, overall performance, Christian values, and a minimum 24-credit residency. Honors are not automatically granted. Faculty may raise the standards at any time. Honors are granted by the faculty and may be denied or higher standards may be applied. The university honors have been defined by the Academic Standards Committee as:

Honors recognized in the graduation ceremony may be changed based on the processing of final grades. GPA standards for honors must be met with no rounding of numbers. Graduate students should check their program section in the catalog for honors qualification and honor society recognition.