Graduate Education Resource Portal

Admission Timelines

Matriculation schedule for new graduate students and links to University calendars

Admissions

Deferrals, application management, eligibility, and more.

Advising using Starfish

Starfish integrates with LionPATH and is the main system for advising notes, progress surveys, and academic reviews. Starfish helps to identify students in need

Announcements

View important announcements for graduate programs sent by the Graduate School.

Awarding

General guidelines about timelines, responsibilities, summer awarding, and bursar account funding.

Completion of Graduate Certificates

Information about how the University Registrar manages the process for students who complete their graduate certificate requirements.

Dates and Deadlines

Upcoming dates and deadlines that graduate program faculty and staff should know about.

Deferrals

When applicants should request deferrals and how to complete their request.

Degree Progress

Milestones, doctoral exams, graduation, and more.

Doctoral Committees

Who can be a member, how to add and remove members, and more.

Doctoral Comprehensive and Final Exams

View guides, tools, and checklists for committee members and program coordinators to process exams.

Doctoral Exam Results Form

Tips for program faculty and staff for adding and evaluating QE reports in LionPATH.

Doctoral Information

Learn about doctoral committees and exams

Doctoral Placement Dashboard

The Doctoral Graduate Placement Dashboard is a data site created and maintained by the Graduate School that captures the career placement outcomes of Penn State

Eligibility Review

How the admission eligibility review process works

Enrollment

Information about course cancellations, discontinuation, deactivation, and deferred grades.

Faculty

Appointments and advising information

Fee Waivers

How to set up and use fee waivers

Forms

Forms related to admissions, records, doctoral committees and exams, and more.

Frequently Used Queries

Search this list to find the best LionPATH query for you to use.

Fulbright Fellowships

Reduced GA rate tuition and how programs can provide supplemental funding for international students who are recipients of Fulbright Fellowships.

Funding

Learn about funding information

Funding Guidelines

Guidelines for University and Distinguished Graduate Fellowships (UGF/DGF), Bunton Waller Fellowships, Graham Fellowships, and Funds for Excellence in Graduate

GES Admissions Team Contacts

For general admissions questions that are not for a specific student please email the admissions team at gesadmissionsteam@psu.edu. For student specific quest

Graduate Assistantship / Fellowship Appointments

Appointment process and considerations related to timelines and late fees, health insurance, stipend levels, taxes, and retroactive changes.

Graduate Awards Tracking System (GRATS)

GRATS is used for tracking the major Graduate School recruitment award programs: University Graduate Fellowships, Bunton-Waller, Graham and the Funds for Excell

Graduate Faculty Appointments

Faculty members who will participate broadly in the training of graduate students on an ongoing basis may be nominated for one of three Graduate Faculty appoint

Graduate Program Management System (GPMS)

GPMS is used to maintain program/plan contact information as well as degree and campus offerings, phase out dates, and more.

Graduate Request Management System (GRMS)

GRMS allows staff and faculty to submit both standard requests and exception requests to GES, rather than using personal email.

Graduate School Admission Decision System (GRADS)

GRADS is a system that allows graduate programs to create program-specific rating tools, enter admission decisions, and more.

Graduate School Doctoral Committee Adobe Sign Workflow

Steps for submitting doctoral committee forms using Adobe Sign.

Graduation

Learn about the graduation process, letters of certification, commencement ceremonies, upcoming deadlines, and more.

Graduation FAQ

Frequently asked questions about graduation processes and updating information in LionPATH.

Graduation Query Dictionary

Find commonly used LionPATH queries related to graduation information.

How to Add a New Milestone

Find out how to add and update milestones in LionPATH.

HRSS Graduate Assistant and Fellow Appointment Information

Tips for completing appointments, including compliance, fall/spring appointments, background checks, labor distribution, and guides.

Integrated Undergraduate-Graduate (IUG) Programs

Enrollment requirements and implications for students' financial aid eligibility.

Letters of Certification

What letters of certification are and how students can request them.

Milestones

What milestones are, where they appear, who can update them, and more.

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF GRFP)

The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) provides three years of support over a five-year fellowship period. The NSF GRFP provides a $37,000 annual

Out of State/Out of Country request for Remote Assistantships

How to request out of state/country assistantships: timeline, process, information required, and guidance on developing a mentoring plan

Program Name Change Guidance

Learn about the two types of program name changes, how they impact students, and what programs are required to do for each.

Program Review Metrics

This open-access website includes a wide variety of publicly available program metrics (application data, demographic data, time-to-degree, etc.). When the st

Qualifying Examination Report Automation

Tips for program faculty and staff for adding and evaluating QE reports in LionPATH.

Quick Reference

Look up commonly referenced information such as Status-Action-Reason definitions and LionPATH queries.

Records Training Videos

Informational videos on records-related topics from Graduate School staff.

Request a New Topic for the Portal

Can't find a topic in the resource portal? Let us know.

Requesting Access to GRADS

Who can request and who needs to approve access to GRADS for program faculty and staff.

Requesting Access to LionPATH

Learn how to use IdentityIQ to request access and what level of security you should request.

Requesting Policy Exceptions

How to request standard or exception requests in the Graduate Request Management System

Scholarship and Research Integrity (SARI)

What SARI is and frequently asked questions about the program.

Status-Action-Reason (SAR) Definitions

What SAR codes in LionPATH and GRADS mean.

Systems

Learn about systems you'll be using and access training.

Theses and Dissertations

Upcoming deadlines and what students need to related to do for theses and dissertations to graduate on time.

Transcripts

Types of transcripts, how they are reviewed, and country-specific guidance.

Transfer Ph.D. Applicants

Requirements for Ph.D. applicants seeking to transfer from another university.

Updating Milestones Attempts

How to update milestone attempts and when it's permitted to remove them.

Website Transition

This page has information for graduate program faculty and staff for updating links to the Graduate School's website. Updating Program, College, and Campus Web

Who to Contact in the Graduate School

Need help but aren't sure who to contact? View this list to find out the department to start with.

Workday Reports

Workday reports that show all graduate assistants or fellows within your college or program.