Incompletes and Graduation

If a student has an unresolved grade issue such as a P grade for their senior thesis or another unresolved grade (i.e., NR, I, and Q), they will not be able to graduate until they have a final grade for all of their courses.  Students should look over their final grades and contact the instructor for the course or courses in which they have an unresolved grade issue so they can get closure.

Once the student has confirmed via DARS that all major and degree requirements have been satisfied AND that they have no unresolved grades, they will then need to contact L&S Undergraduate Academic Deans’ Services  (ADS) to have their degree manually audited if their degree has not been posted.  Students should make sure they include their full name and their UW-Madison ID number so their records can be reviewed.  See graduation and degree audit deficiency for more details.

Graduation Timeline

There are only three graduate dates each year: one in May, one in August, and one in December.  Students graduate on the first graduation date that occurs AFTER they have completed all of their major/degree coursework.  (Students are considered eligible for graduation only if they have completed all of their coursework and all grades appear in the system on the last day of the term when all grades are supposed to be reported.)   Note that finishing up work in classes that are incomplete after the intended graduation date will delay a student's actual graduation until the next graduation date.

For example: A student is registered for their final course in Spring 2022 but they have received an incomplete and finished the work for that course in July 2022. The student will graduate on the August 2022 graduation date.