Enrollment Terminated/Degree Candidacy Continues (ET/DCC)

Students who are continuing to make satisfactory progress toward completing their degree may enter Enrollment Terminated/Degree Candidacy Continues (ET/DCC) status if they are beyond the defined program length; have exhausted DCE status, chosen not to enter it, or must leave it to pursue other opportunities; and have not graduated. With the approval of their department, Ph.D. students who have successfully completed the general examination may also enter ET/DCC status before the end of the defined program length if they will be pursuing opportunities that are incompatible with full-time enrollment, but will still be making progress towards completion of the degree. ET/DCC is an unenrolled status, and ET/DCC students are not eligible to return to an enrolled status. ET/DCC students are still eligible to receive a degree after successfully completing all degree requirements. 

A student in ET/DCC status does not receive any benefits reserved for enrolled students, but will retain network and library privileges for up to one year after entering ET/DCC status to aid in completing degree requirements. Because ET/DCC status is an unenrolled status, the Graduate School can neither provide nor administer any form of student financial support for individuals in this status.  A student in ET/DCC status may present a dissertation for consideration by the department without special approval from the department or the Graduate School for up to five years following the successful completion of the general examination.  
 
ET/DCC students may have their degree candidacy terminated for any of the following reasons:
  • The student has not submitted work or has not been in regular contact with the adviser, committee, or academic department or program;
  • The department no longer assesses the student’s work to be of sufficient quality or relevance for the discipline; 
  • More than five years have passed since the student has successfully completed  the general examination;
  •  The student has lost degree eligibility for disciplinary reasons.
The termination is recorded on the transcript. If a former ET/DCC student does eventually submit a dissertation, and that former student’s department or program votes to consider it and to form an examining committee, the former ET/DCC student may request to be moved back to ET/DCC status in order to schedule the final public oral examination (FPO) and, if the FPO is successful, receive a degree. The department or program is not obligated to review dissertations from former ET/DCC students or consider requests to return such students to ET/DCC status. Requests to return former ET/DCC students to ET/DCC status always require the approval of the Graduate School.
 

ET/DCC End of Enrollment Process

Ph.D. students who continue to make satisfactory progress towards the degree and are at the end of their enrollment eligibility because they have completed two years of DCE status are moved automatically to ET/DCC status at the completion of their final DCE year; they need do nothing to initiate this move to ET/DCC status.  All other students who wish to enter ET/DCC status, especially at points in time that do not coincide with the end of a second DCE year, should:

  • Discuss the timeline for dissertation/thesis completion with your adviser and/or DGS;
  • Submit an end of enrollment request through the online status system accessed via TigerHub
  • Attach the completed Checklist for Students Departing the University form to the end of enrollment request