Making Changes to Your Graduate Program

Overview

The Graduate Program Authorization (“Grad Auth”) petition may be submitted once per quarter by graduate or professional students have attended Stanford for at least one quarter and are in an active enrollment status. Students should thoroughly discuss all potential program changes with current and prospective program advisors before submitting the petition, in order to understand all possible impacts of the change.

The grad auth petition can be used to request the following changes:

• Switch to a new degree program in the same department
• Switch to a new degree program in a different department
• Add a new degree in the same or a different department alongside an existing program
• Discontinue a graduate degree program while remaining active in at least one other.

Discontinuing all active graduate programs is considered a permanent withdrawal, and should be requested via the Request to Permanently Withdraw from Degree Program eForm. The grad auth petition will not prevent you from dropping all programs, but doing so will result in tuition and enrollment discrepancies.

When adding a new program, some departments may require you to apply via the standard admissions process. Additionally, students who wish to add a Ph.D. Minor must do so via the Student eForms portal rather than the Grad Auth petition. 

Eligibility and Residency

In order to submit a Grad Auth, you must meet all of the following requirements:

• You have completed at least one quarter of graduate enrollment at Stanford
• You have at least one active degree plan (not discontinued or on leave of absence)
• You are enrolled in classes or on a special registration status for the quarter you are selecting on your petition.
• You have no active undergraduate careers. 

Eligibility to submit a grad auth petition does not guarantee it will be accepted or approved by a given department. 

The minimum units required for you to graduate with terminal degrees may increase when adding additional programs. Review the Residency Requirements for Graduate Students for full information on minimum units for various degree combinations.

Timing of Program Changes

Adding Programs: The effective start date of an approved new program will be the same date that the Grad Auth was approved.

Discontinuing Programs: A program discontinuation via grad auth petition will be effective at the beginning of the selected quarter if approved before the Preliminary Study List Deadline. If approved after the Preliminary Study List deadline, you will remain enrolled in the program through the quarter and discontinued as of the end of the term. If you need to have your discontinuation effective earlier, you must submit a Request to Permanently Withdraw from Degree Program to have Degree Progress amend your withdrawal to the appropriate date. 

Grad Auth Petition Dates and Fee

The grad auth petition is open for a given quarter starting on the course planning date and ending on the course withdrawal deadline as stated on the academic calendar.. Petition dates for academic year 2025-26 are as follows:

• Autumn 2025: 8/26/25 - 11/14/25
  (Petition unavailable between 11/15 and 11/24)
• Winter 2026:   11/25/25 - 2/27/26
• Spring 2026:    2/24/26 - 4/10/26
• Summer 2026: 3/31/26 - 7/31/26

The petition will be accessible on any given date within the ranges above, but only valid terms will be available for selection.

A $125 fee is assessed for each Grad Auth petition, regardless of the outcome. The Grad Auth fee will appear on your university bill within one month of the Grad Auth receiving final approval or denial. The application fee for the submission of a Grad Auth petition can be waived upon department request in the following circumstances:

• Doctoral students in the Biosciences programs, Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, or Bioengineering who are changing to another degree at the doctoral level within one of these programs.
• Doctoral students who have been dismissed from their Ph.D. program for academic reasons and, with permission of the home department, add a master’s or engineering degree in the same program. The Ph.D. program and any other active graduate degree programs must be discontinued in order to be eligible for the fee waiver.

If your department determines that you qualify for a fee waiver, they must submit a help request on your behalf, verifying the reason for the waiver. This waiver should be requested after you have submitted your petition, but before final approval.

How to Submit a Grad Auth Petition 

1. Log into Axess
2. Under My Academics, select Petitions and Forms.
3. Select the Grad Auth Petition.
4. Select an effective term. If you do not see the term you need, verify the date ranges above; if a term should be available but does not appear, submit a help ticket.
5. If your program change involves discontinuing from an active program, select “I wish to discontinue this program…” Your active program will be auto-selected; if you are in multiple active programs, you must indicate which one you wish to drop.
6. If your program change involves adding a new program, click the lookup icon to select your program and plan. If you cannot find the plan you're looking for, check with your department to ensure that you are using the correct abbreviation.
7. Select “Joint Degree” only if participating in a pre-approved Joint Degree Program. If this box is checked, you will only be able to search for programs that have an existing JDP with your current program.
8. Click Save.
    

After submission, your petition is electronically routed to your current department, and then to the proposed department. If your current and proposed departments are the same, only one approval is required. International student requests are also routed to the Bechtel International Center for approval. You will receive an email update after each necessary approval. Once the final approval is made, your student record will be automatically updated with your requested changes.

Your petition may be returned during the approval process if more information is needed or your petition needs to be edited. If your petition is returned, please make the required changes and resubmit. 

Tuition Agreement for Multiple Programs

If the Grad Auth petition is submitted for a program in a different school than the original program (e.g., School of Education M.A. adding a Graduate School of Business M.B.A.), then the Tuition Agreement for Students with Multiple Programs form is required to determine the tuition amount assessed each quarter and to prevent duplicate tuition charges.

Review content:

• Overview
• Eligibility and Residency
• Timing of Program Changes
• Petition Dates and Fee
• How to Submit a Grad Auth Petition in Axess