International Student Services has the prerogative to determine if your degree plan has been submitted to the Graduate & Professional School and may use this information to process your OPT/CPT request.

However, the best way to expedite the processing of your CPT/OPT-related degree plan changes is to put the corresponding coursework on your degree plan as early as possible, preferably when initially submitted. 

No. Each degree program has a minimum number of required hours. Please consult your program advisor regarding which courses to include on your degree plan as well as overall degree plan requirements. 

Requirements for when to submit a degree plan vary by college and department. Since your degree plan is meant to guide your course selection and facilitate timely completion, you should submit it as early in your program as possible. Please check with your program’s graduate advisor regarding deadlines for degree plan submission. 

You can submit a degree plan through the Document Processing Submission System.

A degree plan hold is removed once your degree plan is with the Graduate and Professional School in "OGS" status, meaning it has been approved by your committee and your department. You can also ask your department to send a request through the Graduate Operations Committee (GOC) Dean of your college to have the hold lifted. The GOC Dean should email the request to dpblocks@tamu.edu. 

You can file a Long Form petition for coursework change through the DPSS portal requesting that the transfer courses be added to the degree plan. You must have an official transcript on file with the Office of Admissions for the requested coursework being added. Please refer to the Graduate Catalog for information regarding transfer coursework requirements and guidelines.  

You can change coursework or alter committee membership by submitting a petition through the DPSS portal. Committee changes must receive the approval of all members of the committee, old and new. In the Proposed Committee section, please list everyone on the committee, including those whose status will not change. 

Transfer coursework must be listed on the degree plan it is indicated from the university they are being transferred from. This should be exactly as they appear on the transcript from that institution. Be sure to reduce Quarter Hours to Semester Hours. 

You can access degree plan information (excluding grades and the semester a course was taken) through the DPSS portal. Active, approved degree plans are available in Howdy  through the degree evaluation function, which can be found under the “My Records” tab. For further guidance, click here. 

Before coming to the Graduate & Professional School, a degree plan will route through the following, any of whom can approve or disapprove and return the proposed degree plan to the student:

• Departmental Pre-Approver (usually a graduate advisor or coordinator).
• Committee Chair (if there is no departmental pre-approver, this is the first step),
• All Committee Members.
• Department Head (or designee).
• Graduate & Professional School.

When your degree plan reaches Graduate & Professional School status, it has been submitted to the Grad School for review. Degree plans are processed in the order that they are received. Generally, a student can expect 20 working days for a degree plan submitted to the Graduate and Professional School to be reviewed and approved or returned following submission to Graduate & Professional School. During peak periods it could take longer; however, we make every effort to process all degree plans as quickly as possible. Once your degree plan has been approved, or if it is returned for some reason, you will receive an email to your official TAMU email address.

If you cannot find your desired committee member in the faculty member list, please contact your unit’s staff graduate advisor to inquire about having them added. Adding a member to Graduate Committee Faculty is a process that is initiated and completed by the department. 

The cumulative GPA shows your GPA for all the courses you've taken, while the degree plan GPA shows your GPA for only the graded courses listed on your degree plan. In order to schedule your preliminary or final examination or to graduate, both your cumulative and degree plan GPAs must be 3.0 or above. 

This tutorial provides step by step guidance to student on checking student course and non-course requirements through Howdy. Students will be able to see progress toward degree (including degree plan information), courses taken in each semester (along with individual course grades), and GPA (degree plan and cumulative).