Policy - Program Completion and Graduation

Completing an Undergraduate Certificate

Undergraduate certificate courses must be completed within a five-year period with a minimum 2.0 grade point average. If you have completed an undergraduate certificate program, you must fill out a Certificate Petition Form and submit it to the Division of Graduate, Online & Professional Studies in order to have the certificate formally noted on your transcript. Before you complete and submit the Certificate Petition Form, please make sure you have either completed the Online Application Form or completed and submitted the Certificate Application Form.pdf file.

Completing a Graduate Certificate Program

Graduate certificate courses must be completed within a five-year period with a minimum 3.0 grade point average and no more than one course with a grade below B. Once all courses for a graduate certificate have been completed, students must complete and submit the Graduate Certificate Clearance Form. Students must submit their clearance form to their coordinator. The coordinator will apply them in SIS, Graduation Tracking.

Completing an Undergraduate Degree Program

Business, Criminal Justice, Engineering Technology, Information Technology and Mathematics students need to submit a Declaration of Intent to Graduate (DIG) form to the Division of Graduate, Online & Professional Studies. The completed form can be emailed to OCEgraduation@uml.edu or faxed to 978-934-4006.

Bachelor of Liberal Arts students should email Andrew Drenas to apply for graduation.

Students enrolled in the Bachelor of Arts in Psychology need to apply for graduation through the Psychology Department using the Psychology Department DIG form.

Students enrolled in the Bachelor of Arts in English must submit a DIG form to the English Department for clearance. Students should work with their assigned advisor, or with Dr. Todd Avery, to complete and submit their form. Dr. Avery can be reached at Todd_Avery@uml.edu.

Completing a Graduate Degree Program

Students earning a Master's, Ed.S. or Doctoral degree must complete this Declaration of Intent to Graduate form. Your form must be submitted by the deadline indicated in the Academic Calendar for the appropriate semester. Completed forms should be sent to the graduate program coordinator for your degree program.

Awarding of Degrees

The University confers degrees three times a year:

1. For students completing degree requirements during the Spring, degrees are conferred on the commencement date in May and mailed out in June;
2. For students completing degree requirements during the Fall Semester, the degrees are conferred in February and mailed out in March;
3. For students completing degree requirements during the Summer term, the degrees are conferred at the end of August and mailed out in October.

Letters of Completion

Undergraduate students in online and evening programs offered through the the Division of Graduate, Online & Professional Studies who wish to submit verification of degree completion to their employers or to graduate schools during the transitional period between the end of final grading and when the degree is officially awarded, may request a "Letter of Completion" by emailing rebecca_santiagolatulippe@uml.edu. In your email, please include your UMass Lowell ID# and the program you are completing. Graduate online students requiring a letter of completion prior to their official graduation date may contact thesolutioncenter@uml.edu with this request in writing.

University Honors

University honors are officially entered on the permanent record of students. To graduate with honors a student must have achieved a minimum grade point average of 3.25 for all courses completed at the University and must have earned a minimum of 60 semester credits at the University as an upper-class student. A total of nine (9) credits of departmental exam and/or courses graded "S" may be used toward the 60 credits needed to be considered for University Honors. Credits taken on a Pass/Fail basis may not be counted toward the 60 credit requirement.

The University awards degrees with three levels of distinction upon those graduating students who have attained exceptional scholastic distinction. Three levels of distinction are noted at commencement:

• Summa Cum Laude: 3.850 - 4.0
• Magna Cum Laude: 3.500 - 3.849
• Cum Laude: 3.250 - 3.499

National Honor Society

The Gamma Delta Chapter of Alpha Sigma Lambda is a national honor society for undergraduate non-traditional students. The aim of Alpha Sigma Lambda is to recognize adult students who achieve academic excellence in their course work while performing the many responsibilities associated with their families and careers. Eligibility for membership requires that students rank in the top 10 percent of all students who meet certain academic requirements. Selections for membership are made during the Spring, and students who are invited to become members are inducted into the Society in April or May. Find out about UMass Lowell's Alpha Sigma Lambda Honor Society, a nationwide organization that recognizes the academic excellence of undergraduate non-traditional students.

University Commencement

Commencement is held once a year in May. Undergraduates who have completed requirements during the preceding Fall Semester, who complete degree requirements during the current Spring Semester, and who anticipate completion of degree requirements during the next immediate Summer term are encouraged to attend commencement exercises, and their names are listed in the commencement booklet.

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