Students register for classes through My OHIO Student Center . Your Student Center indicates when the registration system is available to you. You are encouraged to talk with an advisor in your graduate program prior to registering. Please take care to register for classes that will apply to your graduate degree.
If you have not been notified of an advisor assignment, contact your graduate program for assistance.
DARS stands for Degree Audit Reporting System. Information and access to your DARS is found on the Registrar’s web page .
Ohio University is a signatory to the Council of Graduate Schools Resolution Regarding Graduate Scholars, Fellows, Trainees and Assistants, which states that students are under no obligation to respond to offers of financial support prior to April 15. However, you are encouraged to notify your academic department of your decision at the earliest possible date and no later than April 15.
The Graduate College requires an online orientation and recommends an on-campus orientation in the week prior to each fall semester. The Center for Teaching and Learning in collaboration with the Graduate College offers an orientation each fall specifically for students with a Teaching Assistantship.
The Office of International Student and Scholar Services has designed a mandatory orientation for all new international students prior to the start of each term.
Many academic programs also offer program-specific orientations. Contact your academic department for additional information about your program's orientation.
Your application is valid for the program and the term for which it was submitted. If you would like to change your entry term, contact your academic program. International students will need an updated I-20 to change the term of entry. Please note, funding offers may not be available with an entry term change. In other words, assistantship offers may not defer.
Contact your academic program. For international students, some of these changes may require the issuance of a new I-20.
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services require that Ohio University establish that students have sufficient funds for the first year of study before a Form I-20 or DS-2019 Certificate of Eligibility can be issued. If you are admitted to a degree program and offered a graduate appointment (GA, RA, TA), the monetary value of the award is included in the calculations that determine your financial responsibility. If the value of the appointment does not meet the minimum amount required to fund your first year of study, you will need to provide documentation that you have personal funds or sponsorship funds to make up the difference. If you are not offered funding by your academic department, you will need to provide a Financial Support Form with supporting documentation.
The Financial Support Form is required before a Certificate of Eligibility can be issued to an international student who will subsequently apply for either an F-1 or J-1 Visa.
International Student and Scholar Services maintains a searchable listing of off-campus housing options . The local newspapers also carry information about Athens area rentals.
An official transcript must be sent directly from the school where the credit was taken to the Graduate College. If you uploaded a copy of a transcript with your application, or if you mailed a copy that was not in its original sealed envelope, that transcript is a copy, no longer an official document for admission purposes.
If you submitted a transcript from an institution where you earned a degree but the degree is not shown as awarded, you must submit an official/final transcript showing the degree conferred. Many institutions will allow you to place a delayed transcript order to be filled after degrees are officially posted. Review your institution's transcript policies to confirm the available options.
All admitted students are required to submit an official transcript as part of the admission offer. Students who cannot submit an official transcript showing the degree conferred must submit that final official transcript no later than the end of the first semester of enrollment.
You can submit an official transcript by mail or electronically, depending on the options provided by your school. Most institutions will have instructions online about how to request transcripts. Generally this information will be in the Registrar or Records office, but you may also find it under Alumni information.
Electronic transcript services:
Mailing paper transcripts:
Paper transcripts must arrive still sealed in the original envelope in which they were released by the issuing institution.
Students who will not be able to provide an official transcript showing a degree conferred by the first day of the semester should submit a certificate of enrollment from their current college. That certificate must confirm that all degree requirements have been met and include the anticipated date of degree conferral. Enrollment certificates must be sent to the Graduate College. Please include your name and PID on any documents.
Submission options:
Mailing address:
Graduate College
1 Ohio University
Grosvenor Hall 102
Athens OH 45701
A completed bachelor's degree is required before you can enroll as a degree-seeking or non-degree graduate student. If your degree completion is delayed, you need to submit a change admission/application term request. Instructions are on the Changing Your Application webpage . Students who cannot provide confirmation that a bachelor's degree will be conferred before the start of the semester are not eligible to register as a graduate student unless they have met the requirements for early admission to graduate status.
If you are admitted to a Ph.D. program under the provision of a completed Master's degree, notify your academic department and confirm whether or not you should request a change of admission term.
If proof of a completed degree is a provision of your admission, you must provide an official/final transcript showing the degree conferred before you are allowed to register for a second term.
The definition of "Official Transcript" is as follows:
For US institutions:
For non-US Institutions: