Department of Education and Human Development

Information on the Graduation Process
for students in Programs leading to the MSEd

The following summary is intended to assist Department of Education and Human Development graduate students in the graduation and certification process. It may also provide helpful information for employers who are seeking to understand the timeline involved in the graduation and certification process.

Graduation and Commencement

Graduation, or the granting of degrees, occurs in January, May, August, and December each year. All graduates are encouraged to participate in the graduate commencement ceremony. Commencement is held each May on the Saturday following finals week. Eligible participants include December or January graduates, May graduates, and anticipated August graduates.

Students must complete a Graduate Graduation Data Card to apply for a degree. This card must be completed 3 months before the student anticipates completing degree requirements. In addition, if the student wishes to participate in the commencement ceremony, he or she should complete this card no later than mid-January to notify the Commencement Office of those intentions.

If the student completes a Data Card indicating he or she will graduate, but fails to meet the requirements for graduation in that term, he or she will need to re-file another Data Card to update the Office of Registration and Records and the Department of Education and Human Development with his or her new anticipated graduation term.

Conferring of Degrees

Only students who have completed a Graduate Graduation Data Card will be audited for graduation. The degree auditing process is a manual process and takes two to three weeks after all grades are posted from the end of the previous term. By the 15th day of the month following the month in which degrees are granted (i.e. February 15, June 15, September 15, January 15), the Department of Education and Human Development will send a list of all graduates (those who have completed all of the requirements for the MSEd degree) to the Office of Registration and Records. It may take up to two weeks for the Office of Registration and Records to post all degrees. The graduate will receive written notification from the Office of Registration and Records when the degree is posted.

Certification Process

The same list that is sent to Registration and Records is submitted to the Office of Certification. The Office of Certification will check its records for a local application for certification from each graduate. If a local application is not on file, one will be mailed to the graduate. After the local application is received in the Office of Certification, the applicant will be mailed directions regarding the online application process. Candidates are strongly urged to wait for these directions as they contain important information that is critical to applying correctly.

As soon as the degree is posted to the candidate's transcript, the Office of Certification will make the endorsement for the certificate online as well.

The applicant will receive a letter from the Office of Certification notifying him or her that the endorsement has been given. If an employer or prospective employer needs proof of the pending certification, a copy of this letter may be shared with them. Please note that this letter can only verify that the applicant has met the academic requirements for the certificate. The College cannot attest to the completion of the state testing requirements, fingerprinting requirements, or professional experience requirements. If everything is in order and all ancillary requirements have been met (testing, fingerprinting, etc...) the certificate will be issued immediately after the candidate's application and the College endorsement is matched by the online system. It will then take approximately 3-4 weeks for candidate to receive the certificate in the mail. However, if it is taking longer, for whatever reason, please note that only a school district may request expedited service on the processing of an Application for Certification.

Effective Dates of Certificates

The New York State Education Office of Teaching Initiatives issues certificates on a continuous basis. However, they make each certificate effective either February 1 or September 1. In most cases, if an applicant meets all of the requirements for the certificate before February 1, then that will be the date on the certificate. If an applicant meets all of the requirements for the certificate before September 1, then that will be the date on the certificate. Regardless of when the certificate is printed, it can only have one of those effective dates.

[Please note that if an applicant fails to apply online in a timely manner (more than 5 months) the State may choose to issue the certificate with the closest past effective date. (e.g. all requirements were completed for a September 1, 2005 certificate, but the application was not made until the following March. The State may choose to issue the certificate effective February 1, 2006.) Further, if the applicant has not met all testing requirements, the application will be held until those requirements are met, which will delay the effective date of the certificate.]