PhD | Petition for MS Degree

Overview

After satisfying the following requirements:     

1. Foundation and Breadth  
2. Aligning with faculty  
3. Candidacy  
4. Qualifying examination  
5. Minimum of 45 units (and a 3.0 GPA)  

The student is eligible to petition for a Master's degree. To do so, you need to fill out the "Graduate Program Authorization Petition" which is available via Axess. From the Academics panel in your Student Center, select "Petitions and Forms" from the drop down menu to submit the Grad Auth electronically. The form needs to be completed before the apply to graduate deadline, so do not wait until the last minute to complete it. 

There is a $125 application fee to add the Master's program to your PhD program. Do not forget to "Apply to Graduate" for your Master's program, as well as your PhD program in Axess, when it's time to graduate.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The University places a limit on the number of transfer units and units that you can ‘double-count’ towards your MS and PhD degrees. You can use up to 45 units of transfer units or MS units. You can not utilize both towards the 135 units that are required for the PhD degree.

Graduate Minimum Progress Requirements

Guidelines to add the MS CS degree

1. Log onto Axess.    
2. Click "Student" tab.    
3. Under the "Academics" header, there is a drop-down menu; select "Petitions and Forms"    
4. On the next page, select "Graduate Program Authorization Petition"    
5. Do not click the box by "I wish to discontinue this program..."    
6. Click the quarter that you wish to receive your MS    
7. Click "No" to the question asking if you are enrolling in an official joint program    
8. Under "Requested New Program", indicate "CS"    
9. Under "Degree", indicate "CS-MS"    
10. Click "Submit"

Your application will be routed to Meredith Hutchin, hutchin@stanford.edu, MS CS program administrator. Once your application is approved by Meredith, you will be able to apply for MS conferral on Axess.

In order to confer your MS CS degree, please go on Axess and choose "Apply to graduate" and pick MS degree and submit it. Meredith Hutchin will review and approve it for conferral.