Advancement to Candidacy- Graduate School

Application for Advancement

Once you have been notified of your ELP candidacy approval by the Graduate Coordinator (GC), you will then need to submit the online application to the Graduate School to apply to Advance to Candidacy. This is the last step towards your approval for Candidacy and, upon approval, allows you to register for dissertation hours. 

Please note: Students must have registered and paid tuition during the term in which the candidacy application is submitted. (IE: If you submit in the summer, you must be registered during the summer semester(s)).

You will need:

• Your committee information, including Name, EID, Email

• A CV for ANY committee member that is outside of UT Austin. 

• An abstract/summary of your dissertation

Once the Dean of Graduate Studies approves your application and you have been admitted to candidacy, you are required to continuously register for the dissertation course (_99W) or treatise course beginning the next long term. You may also change your placeholder course to dissertation hours, should you and your committee chair agree that is in your best interest. Please contact the Graduate Coordinator for assistance to switch your hours. 

Continuous Registration

As a doctoral candidate, you are required to be enrolled continuously during all long semesters until you complete your degree. You should register in the dissertation course each semester. If you fail to register and do not have an approved for a leave of absence, you will be barred from further registration. If you are requested to maintain full-time statue due to your fellowship, international student status, employment status, etc. full time status is as follows:

• 9 hours in the long semesters

• 3 hours in the summer (whole summer)

You only need a total of 6 dissertation/treatise hours, so if you do not have requirements to be full time, you can choose to take either 3 or 6 hours until your dissertation/treatise is complete.

Summer Registration

You must be enrolled during a summer session if you plan to defend, or are attempting to graduate, during the summer. You may also need to be enrolled during the summer to satisfy departmental, employment, financial aid, visa, housing or other requirements. Please check with the Graduate Coordinator, if you have questions.