Program Review Process

The program review process begins when a student submits the online Graduation Application. Once a student submits the Graduation Application, the following processes are triggered:

Academic Audit – An Associate Registrar must review the student record and confirm that all program requirements for completion have been met.
Finance Audit – The APUS Finance Office must confirm that the Student Account has no outstanding balance or monies owed.
Library Audit – The APUS Librarian must confirm all books or materials reserved from the library have been returned to APUS and there are no outstanding fees.
Direct Loan Exit Counseling - If students have used Federal Student Aid to cover any portion of their college costs, they may be required to complete Direct Loan Exit Counseling. Our Financial Aid Office will contact students by email to provide the link for exit counseling. Exit counseling provides important information students will need as they prepare to repay their federal student loan(s).

If the Associate Registrar confirms that academic requirements have not been met by the intended conferral date, the student will be notified by email that their conferral has been moved to the next available date.

If a student is academically cleared for graduation but does not meet all requirements before their conferral date, they will remain assigned to the declared conferral. However, the final diploma will not be mailed until the student completes all of the program audit requirements.

Tracking Graduation Information Online

Students may track their graduation process in the ecampus under “My Graduation Info.” The information in this section is updated once a student applies for graduation. The information below will explain each of the fields listed under the graduation audit section.

Auditor: An Associate Registrar will be with the student throughout the graduation process.
Projected Conferral Date: This is the date selected by the student during the application process, identifying when they anticipate graduation from the American Public University System.
Declared Conferral Date: This is the date that the Associate Registrar confirms as the conferral date the student is eligible for graduation once the academic audit has begun.
Graduation Application: Once the Graduation Application has been submitted electronically, the status will state, “Submitted“, and a date will post.
Academic Audit: This field will remain blank until the initial academic review has been completed. Once the initial academic review is completed, one of the following statuses below will be listed:

Status Definitions

Clear: The student has successfully completed all academic requirements for their current degree.
Grades not posted: The student has registered for all courses needed to complete the current degree; however, not all course grades have been posted.
Incomplete Grade: The student is currently on a course extension or has additional courses to complete their program.
Ineligible: The student failed the final course requirement or does not meet the minimum GPA requirement for their degree.

Finance Audit and Library Audit: These will be completed once the student has been cleared academically for graduation. A status of “Not Clear” will show if they have an outstanding issue with any of these reviews. Students will not be able to receive any transcripts or have their diploma shipped if they have any outstanding balance or monies owed.

End of Program Survey: If students are required to complete the End-of-Program (EOP) survey, they will be emailed the survey on a weekly basis after submitting their Graduation Application until it has been successfully submitted. Questions about this EOP survey can be sent to [email protected]. Students should ensure their current email is listed in their Online Campus to ensure a timely delivery of this survey.

Once all graduation requirements have been successfully completed, students will be notified by email with their final clearance date.

Questions regarding a student's academic audit status should be directed to [email protected].