Graduate Support Office

The College of Education offers a variety of programs across several academic disciplines. There is a program that fits most interests. Please see the current College of Education Graduate Programs List, or check the Graduate Degree Programs webpage for links to all program and department pages. You can also contact the Graduate Recruiter for the College, Joycelin Bruno (joycelin@usf.edu) for more information about our programs.

2023-2024 Graduate Programs List

Students can check their application status in a few ways. You can log back into your VZ College Application with your email and password, and your current application status will be listed on the homepage. Or, you can check your admissions status through the Student Self-Service portal (formerly Student OASIS), which you can access via the MyUSF homepage. The link to Student Self-Service can be found as a tab on the MyUSF homepage (under "Quick Links") or under the "My Resources" dropdown menu. 

Please email the Graduate Admissions Office at GradAdmissions@usf.edu with any questions. This email address is used across all three USF campuses and will ensure the fastest response. You can also check the Office of Admissions website for office locations, hours, and phone numbers located on all three campuses.

All graduate students are assigned a faculty advisor who will help them determine an academic course of action and complete their planned program of study. The faculty advisor is typically the Graduate Program Director or Coordinator for your chosen program. Master’s students typically continue to work with their Program Director throughout their studies, while Specialist and Doctoral students will choose a Major Professor to serve as their primary advisor. Your faculty advisor or Major Professor can help you determine which courses to register for each semester.

To identify the Program Director in your chosen program, contact your department or visit the College of Education Programs listing.

Think of the Planned Program of Study as a contract between you, your graduate program, and the University that outlines all of the program requirements you must complete to earn your degree. The planned program of study lists all the courses you must take to fulfill your program requirements, as well as any additional requirements like state subject area exams, internship hours, or a final thesis/project.

Students will work closely with their Program Coordinator or other program advisor to put together a planned program of study appropriate for their program requirements and research interests. Once you submit your planned program, no changes can be made unless you and your advisors file a formal request for course substitution. If you’re enrolled in a program that leads to state teacher certification, and the requirements for certification change, your department will work with you to select alternative coursework that fulfills all state requirements.

The planned program of study is kept on file in the Graduate Support Office and is used to verify that you have completed all degree requirements when you apply for graduation. Once you have submitted your planned program, we will contact you and your program advisor in case of any issues. The rule of thumb for submitting the planned program of study is as follows:

• Master's and Specialist Students: by the end of your first semester of coursework
• Doctoral Students: by the time you have completed 18 credit hours in your program and before you apply for the Qualifying Exam

To get an idea of what courses are required in your chosen program, you can visit the USF Graduate Catalog and search for "Programs by College". All active graduate programs in the College of Education and their course requirements are listed there.

If you are unable to take a course listed on your planned program of study, or if you wish to complete a different elective course in its place, you can apply different coursework to your degree program with a Course Substitution Form. The course instructor or your program advisor must provide rationale for why you are substituting a course and which alternative course can be substituted to fulfill program requirements. Once you have formal approval from your program to substitute a course, your advisor must send the Course Substitution form to the Graduate Support Office for final approval.

Please note: Course Substitution forms can only be used for courses taken at USF. If you want to transfer in a graduate course that you took at a different institution, you will need to file a Graduate Course Transfer Form instead.

Students should consult with their program advisor to determine the sequence of courses to take for their major. All courses required for your major will also be listed on your planned program of study. If you are unable to reach your program advisor, you may also contact the Academic Program Specialist in your program or department. Academic Program Specialists provide general academic support within each department of the College of Education. They can assist you with any questions you may have about program-specific requirements and class registration. Current lists of all program coordinators, advisors, and Academic Program Specialists can be found on the GSO General Information page under "Faculty/Staff Listings".

For a general overview of what courses are required in your degree program, you can also review your planned program of study, the major requirements as listed in the Graduate Catalog, or your program's homepage on the College of Education website. 

Students can look up what courses are being offered in the current semester or the next upcoming semester with the Student Schedule Search function created by the Registrar. To look up a specific course, you will need to know the course prefix (three letter code) and course number (four digits). When you run the search for your chosen course, the results screen will have a column for the five-digit Course Registration Number (CRN). You will use this specific CRN number when you go to register in Student Self-Service.

Permits are granted by the academic department offering the course. If a course requires a permit to register, you will need to contact the Academic Program Specialist in the department the course is offered through. Generally, if a course requires a permit, there will also be a corresponding note in the Student Schedule Search that indicates who to contact for a course permit.

If you have other holds on your record that prevent you from registering, please see the Registrar's list of common holds for instructions on how to clear them. Many common holds are related to missing documents from the admissions process or missing/late payments in Student Self-Service. Uploading any missing documents or payments should clear the hold and allow you to register.

A comprehensive examination is required in all master's and Specialist degree programs in the College of Education. Comprehensive exams can take various formats. Some programs utilize a traditional written or oral exam that students take near the end of their program. Other programs use alternative exam options, such as creating an academic portfolio of previously completed assignments or completing a teaching internship or practicum course.

Typically, students complete the comprehensive exam near the end of their graduate program, often in the same semester they apply to graduate. However, some programs have their students work on the comprehensive exam over multiple semesters throughout the course of their program. Regardless of when you complete the exam, you must have a passing exam score to be certified for graduation. 

To find out what format the comprehensive exam takes in your chosen program, please see a program advisor or the Program Coordinator. Some programs will also list information about the exam in the Graduate Catalog.

The Doctoral Qualifying Exam can be taken once you have completed all coursework for your doctoral program, or if you are in your last semester of coursework with less than nine (9) hours left to complete. You must apply to take the Qualifying Exam by the application deadline for the semester you wish to take the exam in. The final deadline to apply is usually around the second week of the semester for fall and spring exams, or the final week of spring semester for summer exams.

To be cleared to take the Qualifying Exam, you will need to submit (or already have submitted) a Qualifying Exam Application, an approved planned program of study, and a Supervisory Committee Appointment Form to the Graduate Support Office. We will review your application and notify you once you have been cleared to take the exam.

Yes, you must be registered for a minimum of two (2) credit hours in the semester you take the Qualifying Exam and apply for doctoral candidacy. If this process takes more than one semester, you will need to be registered for at least 2 credit hours in each semester until you are admitted to candidacy and begin the dissertation. See the Qualifying Exam and Candidacy page for more information.

You can begin to register for dissertation hours in the semester immediately after you are formally admitted to doctoral candidacy. Check your Student Self-Service account frequently for updates on your student status. Once the Registrar approves your candidacy application, your status will be updated and you will officially enter doctoral candidacy (Student Status Code 6C). In addition, all students admitted to candidacy will receive a letter from the Graduate Support Office notifying them of their updated status and their next steps. Candidacy Letters are sent via email during the last week of the semester.

Students who have officially entered candidacy (Status Code 6C) are eligible to register for dissertation hours (course code xxx-7980). You may defend your dissertation proposal once you have been fully admitted to candidacy and have begun to enroll in dissertation hours.

Please note: You must be registered for at least two (2) hours of dissertation coursework (xxx-7980) each semester you work on the dissertation. This includes the semesters of both defense sessions (proposal and final defenses), the semester in which you fully clear ETD requirements, and the semester in which you apply for graduation.

All requests for proposal or final defense sessions must be submitted to the Graduate Support Office at least ten (10) days prior to your defense date. You will need to submit several additional forms along with your request for defense to be fully cleared for the defense session.

• For the Proposal Defense, you must submit the Request for Ph.D./Ed.D. Proposal Defense form (fully signed by your committee and the Department Chair), the Dissertation Proposal Defense Guidelines Questionnaire, and a copy of your proposal manuscript with the correct title page for your program.
• For the Final Defense, you must submit the signed Request for Final Defense form, the Dissertation Final Defense Guidelines Questionnaire, and another copy of your manuscript with the correct title page. You will also need to include a Successful Defense Form and the ETD Certificate of Approval Form, filled out but not yet signed. Your committee will sign these two forms once you have successfully defended your final dissertation.

Please see the Dissertation Process webpage for downloadable copies of all required defense forms, such as title page templates and proposal/final defense questionnaires. 

Yes, you can attend a defense session. All dissertation proposal and final defense sessions are open to the public. Notices for defense sessions are posted at least 24 hours in advance of the session. You can view all defense session announcements for the current semester on the GSO Dissertation Announcements webpage, or check the COEDU Advanced Graduate Student Canvas group. (Note: Most defenses are being held virtually at this time.)

Yes, all graduate students must be registered for a minimum of two (2) graduate credit hours in the semester they apply to graduate, even if they have already completed all other program requirements. You may be able to register for an additional elective, an Independent Study course, or another section of dissertation hours if you are a doctoral student. Please see your advisor if you need help choosing a course to register for.

Graduation and Commencement are two similar but separate processes that students will complete as they near the end of their degree program. Students officially graduate from USF when they complete all degree requirements and have the "Degree Awarded" statement recorded on their official transcript. Applying for graduation indicates to your program and to the University that you will be completing all program requirements after the current semester and transitioning from a student to an alumnus. Commencement is the formal ceremony where graduating students walk across the stage in their cap and gown. You are not required to participate in the Commencement ceremony, but you must apply for graduation regardless of whether or not you attend Commencement. 

To apply for graduation, you must complete the Application for Degree found within the Student Self-Service portal (formerly Student OASIS). Every student that completes the Application for Degree will be sent their final diploma upon graduating. However, you must also formally register for Commencement if you wish to participate in the Commencement ceremony. Please see the USF Commencement website for for the current semester’s application deadlines and ceremony dates. 

Please be mindful of the priority application deadline to formally apply for graduation. Missing the priority deadline could result in a delay in having your final degree posted to your transcript, in receiving your diploma, and could possibly affect your participation in the Commencement ceremony.

The Graduate Support Office team and the Registrar's Office will not finish the graduation certification process until 4-6 weeks after the semester has ended. Your final official transcript will reflect the degree earned and be available to order through the Registrar's Office about 6 weeks after the Commencement ceremony and the end of the semester. Diplomas will be mailed out to students about 6-8 weeks after graduation.

A letter of completion verifying satisfactory completion of degree requirements is available to students who request it while they are still waiting for their degree to post to their transcripts. If you need a Letter of Completion, please complete the Request for Letter of Completion form and submit it to the Graduate Support Office. Letters of Completion are signed by your Department Chair, the Graduate Support Office, the College Dean, the Office of Graduate Studies, and the University Registrar and receive the university's seal.

Letter of Completion requests are processed once the Graduate Support Office completes the graduation certification process for each student. For master's students, the certification process will be completed once the Registrar releases final grades for the current semester, which is typically the week after final exams and Commencement. For Doctoral and Specialist students, the certification process is completed once students receive final notification from the ETD office that their thesis/dissertation has been accepted for publication. In general, students will be certified for their degree and receive a Letter of Completion 4-6 weeks after the end of classes.

Once a Letter of Completion has been fully signed and processed, it will be mailed to the student at the address provided on the form, along with an additional (unofficial) copy emailed to the student. You may also pick up the letter in person from the Graduate Support Office in EDU320. Please allow 6-10 business days for a request for Letter of Completion to be processed once final degree certification is complete.

NOTE: Once your transcript reflects the final degree earned, a Letter of Completion will longer be available.

Degree Verification requests typically take 5-10 business days to be processed. Some requests may take longer if more detailed information is required from the program, such as proof of state exam scores or certification in a certain subject area. Once the Graduate Support Office has completed your Degree Verification request, you will receive an email with a scanned copy confirming the mailing address for the hard copy to be sent to.