Guidelines for Completing Applications for Candidacy for Doctoral or MFA Degrees
Instructions for filling out this form can be found below and in this illustrated guide.
Please contact Grad Studies (grad@unm.edu, 505-277-1206) with questions about this form, issues with online submission of the electronic form, or to submit the PDF version. Use of the PDF version is limited to dual degree students; submitting it with your UNM email will serve as your signature on the document.
Overview
As part of doctoral or MFA degree requirements, students must apply for doctoral or MFA candidacy. The Application for Candidacy (AC) for the Doctoral or MFA degree serves as formal documentation for completed, in progress, and future courses fulfilling degree requirements. This form serves as the official record of courses approved for degree completion by your program and must align with the UNM Catalog for your chosen catalog year (more details below).
Here are some important planning details to consider:
- Students must be in good academic standing and registered in either graduate-level courses and/or dissertation hours to be able to fill out and submit the AC.
- It is highly recommended that students submit the form after they pass their comprehensive exams. The AC must reach the Graduate Studies queue no later than the last day of the term before the student intends to graduate.
End of the term dates can be found at the Office of the Registrar's Semester Deadline Dates.
- *Please note that the form must be approved by the student's major advisor and then the department before it reaches Graduate Studies, therefore students should submit their AC before the deadline date.
- Students are Advanced to Candidacy (All But Dissertation/ABD) by the Dean of Graduate Studies in the term when all the following criteria have been met:
- The doctoral comprehensive examination has been passed;
- Graduate Studies has approved the Application for Candidacy;
- Certification of Language or Skill Requirement (if applicable) is satisfied.
- Prior to completing an Application for Candidacy, you should consult your graduate faculty advisor about your academic plan. This plan will consist of courses you have completed, are taking, and will take that apply to your degree based on the UNM catalog year you have chosen. You must meet all requirements specified in the UNM catalog in effect since your admission/readmission to your program.
- If you have questions about how to fill out the AC, departmental requirements, and how to navigate the UNM catalog, you can also reach out to your department's staff graduate advisor or coordinator. If you are not sure who that is, you can find your respective staff advisor/coordinator by going to Graduate Studies Degree Programs and clicking on the link for your program. The link will take you to a page that lists your department's faculty chair, graduate faculty contact, and graduate staff advisor/coordinator if applicable.
- Doctoral candidates have five (5) calendar years from the semester in which they pass their doctoral comprehensive examination to complete the degree requirements.
- Students may submit a petition to the Dean of Graduate Studies to request an extension to their time to degree if they exceed the five-year limit. In addition to a personal statement from the student, a letter of support written in department letterhead is required from either the graduate director, associate chair, chair or director of the department or program.
Selecting a Catalog Year
Your catalog year generally aligns with your time of admission (or readmission) to your program. Academic and catalog years are Fall, Spring, and Summer. For example, students who begin their degree in Fall 2024, Spring 2025, and Summer 2025 all fall under the 2024/2025 catalog. Your department may advise the use of a newer catalog, since any catalog year from the time you began your program to the time you fill out your AC is eligible for use. However, you cannot choose a catalog year from a year before you were admitted to your program. If your program advises use of the catalog for an upcoming catalog year, it must be published before you can use it and may not fall after your intended term of graduation. Current and previous UNM Catalog Years are located on the Office of the Registrar's webpage.
Coursework Credit Hour Requirements
Per the UNM Catalog's Doctoral Degree Policies, all doctoral and MFA degrees require at least 48 non-dissertation graduate-level coursework hours (certain graduate programs require more credit hours). Please be aware that even if some programs' published course requirements total less than 48 hours, you still must meet the mandatory minimum 48 non-dissertation graduate-level coursework hours.
You must also meet the following requirements:
- At least 24 credit hours of graduate credit coursework must be completed at the University of New Mexico.
- At least 18 credit hours graduate credit coursework must be completed at the University of New Mexico after admission to the after admission to the program.
- Students pursuing a Master's enroute to a doctorate must complete 18 credit hours of graduate coursework at the University of New Mexico that are exclusive to the doctoral degree.
- No more than 6 credit hours of coursework in which a grade of "C" (2.0), "C+" (2.33) or "CR" (grading option selected by student) was earned may be credited toward a graduate degree. Courses offered only on a CR/NC basis and required by the graduate program are excluded from this limitation.
- No more than 50% of the required course credit hours can be taken with a single faculty member (coursework that has been completed for a master's degree that is then used for a doctoral degree is included in this limit).
Dissertation Hour Requirements
All doctoral students must successfully complete a minimum of 18 dissertation hours, and all MFA students must successfully complete at least 6 dissertation hours. Programs may require more dissertation hours.
Dissertation hours start counting towards the mandatory 18 (or 6) hours in the semester you pass your Comprehensive Examination. Pay attention to the Office of the Registrar's Semester Deadline Dates, which lists the beginning and end dates for each semester. For example, if the Fall 2026 semester ends on December 12th, and you officially pass your comprehensive exam on December 13th, your dissertation hours will start counting in the Spring 2027 semester. Any dissertation hours taken before that date will not count towards the 18 (or 6) required dissertation hours.
Once enrollment in dissertation hours begins, you must maintain continuous enrollment in 699 dissertation hours through the term of graduation. Continuous enrollment is required in fall and spring semesters. Summer semester enrollment is only required if graduating in the summer or if enrolled in any summer coursework.
Applied (including Non-Degree)/Transfer Credit
Per the UNM Catalog's Doctoral Degree Policies and MFA Degree Policies, all courses for the degree must be taken at the graduate level. Undergraduate courses or courses taken in undergraduate status cannot count towards a graduate degree. Credits cannot be applied to more than two programs. For example, you cannot apply the same course from a shared-credit undergraduate program toward a master's, and then a doctoral degree. Coursework that has been counted toward a previous degree may not be counted toward any subsequent degrees, with the exception of a master's degree to a doctoral degree. Applied credits (transfer or non-degree-seeking graduate credits) may not constitute more than 50% of the coursework fulfilling degree requirements.
The following regulations apply to the application or transfer of credit hours from another institution toward a UNM graduate degree:
- Coursework must be from an accredited institution.
- Student must have obtained a grade of "B" or better.
- If credits were not semester hours at the other institution, UNM will convert these to UNM credit hours.
- A maximum of 6 credit hours of thesis from a completed master's degree or other coursework graded Pass or Credit (CR) is transferable.
- The number of transfer and/or applied (including non-degree) credit hours used toward a graduate program may not exceed fifty percent of the required coursework for the degree; departments may impose even more restrictive limits on transfer and/or applied credit hours.
- All courses must have final approval from the Dean of Graduate Studies.
For more detailed information and guidance, please visit Graduate Studies' Applying Credits Towards Your Degree and Graduate Transfer Credit pages.
Instructions to Complete the Application for Candidacy Form
1) Open the AC Form
- Go to unm.edu and sign in with your UNM credentials.
- Select the "Show" button next to Application for Candidacy.
- Select "Create or view your Application for Candidacy." (Please note sometimes this can take a few seconds to generate on the screen.)
2) Complete Student Details
Your name, UNM ID number, date, email address, and primary program will autogenerate.
Select the following:
- Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Master of Fine Arts (MFA), Doctor of Education (EDD), or Doctoral Degree plus Graduate Certificate
- Can only submit for Doctoral Degree plus Graduate Certificate if both are in the same department. If they are in different departments a PDF AC is required.
- Generally, a separate Program of Studies (POS) is submitted for a Graduate Certificate.
- Catalog year (select a qualifying year)
- Semester & year expected to complete all degree requirements (intended graduation term)
- Concentration (if required by your program in the catalog, either select one or add concentration waiver note)
- Major Advisor (type the name of your major faculty advisor at the bottom of the form). Note: You cannot save the form if you haven't selected your advisor.
3) Select courses to be used to fulfill degree requirements
Start by reviewing your transcript and/or the degree plan you made with your program.
When reviewing your transcript, first ensure that all your intended graduate-level courses are counted in your earned hours. Look for the "R" column to the right of the "Start and End Dates" column. If there is an "I" in this column next to a course, it means that this course is repeated and included in your earned hours. However, if there is an "A" it means that you have exceeded the max allowable credits for this course according to the catalog and it is not included in your earned hours. Therefore, it cannot be a part of your AC.
Using the list in the AC form:
- Check the box in the first column to select your completed courses being used for the program.
- Be sure to check the box to the left of the course name and number, or the course won't be seen at other stages of review!
- If any courses were used for a previous master's degree check the box in the "Previous Master's" column.
- Since the MFA is a terminal degree at UNM, those courses cannot be used for the doctoral degree. Previous master's courses also cannot be used toward an MFA.
- Based on your selected catalog year, check the box for your program's core required courses in the "Core" column.
- The total hours selected will auto-calculate.
- If you are including dissertation hours in the completed course section, the "Total Credit Hours Selected" section will not differentiate between coursework and dissertation hours. Make sure you have at least 48 graduate-level non-dissertation coursework hours selected on your AC.
Important note: If there is any potential that you will pursue another graduate credential at UNM, only include the courses (completed and future) that are needed to complete this specific degree. That will allow for any courses not listed on the AC to be used toward another credential.
4) Add Current and Future Courses
In the "List courses you plan to take to fulfill your degree" section you will write your planned and current (not yet graded) courses. This section will include your planned continuous dissertation hours enrollment through graduation.
- Complete all fields for current and future courses on the form.
- Dept/Course Number
- Course Title
- Credit Hours
- Semester and Year
- Instructor (If you don't know an instructor, put TBD.)
5) Transfer Courses
If you are using transfer courses to fulfill some of your degree requirements, write them in the "List courses completed at other institutions to be used to fulfill requirements for this degree" section. You must have an official transcript on file with UNM admissions from your previous institution with the transfer courses listed. Transcripts only on file with the department or program cannot be used for transfer eligibility reviews. You can have an official transcript sent to UNM at apply@unm.edu or mailed to UNM admissions. Please note that if you, the student, email an official transcript to apply@unm.edu, it will not be considered unofficial. It must come directly from the school or from an online transcript service such as Parchment or National Student Clearinghouse.
It is strongly recommended that you submit your transfer courses for eligibility pre-approval prior to submitting the AC; however, this is not required. Visit the Graduate Transfer Credit page for more details.
When completing your AC form, you must list the courses with the course prefix, number, and title exactly as they are listed on your official transcript from your previous institution.
- Complete all fields exactly as they are listed.
- Dept/Course Number
- Course Title
- Credit Hours
- Semester and Year
- Institution
- If these courses are from a previous master's, check the box in the "Previous Master's" column.
6) Compare your Selected Courses to the UNM Catalog
The required course requirements for a doctoral degree in your program will be listed in the UNM Catalog. Please note that when Graduate Studies reviews your AC, we go by the UNM Catalog, not your department's handbook. Therefore, you must compare your selected classes to your chosen catalog year requirements. If you have a concentration/s, you must also make sure that you list the required courses for your concentration/s on your AC.
If you are missing any required courses per the UNM Catalog, work with your faculty advisor to determine the next steps. This is usually amended with a program-approved substitution or waiver comment.
Substitutions:
If any previous courses, current/future courses, or transfer courses are meant to serve as a substitute for a required course listed in the catalog, you must add a comment to your AC stating that your department has approved that course as a substitution for the required course. For example, if HIST 664: Advanced Historiography is listed as a required course in your selected year of the UNM Catalog, but your department approved another UNM course or transfer course to fulfill this requirement, add a comment stating, "my department (or committee) approved ENGL 698 as a substitute for HIST 664."
Waivers:
Department waivers of requirements are rare but must be noted on this AC if applicable. If your program has waived any requirements: courses, credit hours, concentration, add a comment stating that your program waived that specific requirement. For example, if the catalog says that your program requires a concentration, but your department has waived this requirement, add a comment stating, "my department has waived the concentration requirement." While credit hours can be waived by your department, students must still complete at least 48 graduate-level required coursework hours even if waived credits reduce the required coursework to below this minimum.
*Please note that one of the main reasons ACs are sent back for revisions is due to a lack of comments clarifying department-approved substitutions and waivers. If you add these comments the first time you submit your AC, it will cut down on revision requests from Graduate Studies. Be aware that your major faculty advisor and your department must approve everything on your AC before it reaches Graduate Studies.
7) Submit your AC for Approval
Once you have finished filling out your AC with all your information, courses, dissertation hours, and comments, click on the "Submit for Approval" button.
After you submit your AC, it will first go to your major advisor, and then your department for approval. Since the department approver varies by program, if you have questions regarding who this is, please reach out to your department. After approval from your major advisor and department, your AC will enter the Graduate Studies queue.
Each AC is reviewed in the order they are received. Please allow up to two weeks for your AC to be reviewed by Graduate Studies. If revisions are requested or your AC is approved, you will receive an email to your UNM email address.
