Graduation procedure

All students will graduate automatically after they have fulfilled all requirements of their study programme.

The Board of Examiners determines every month whether a student graduates, taking into account the following:

• Does the student meet all requirements of the Bachelor or (Research/Forensic) Master programme by the end of the month in which he or she has handed in the last work?
• Is the student registered as a student for that month? All students who wish to graduate need a valid certificate of enrolment.
• Has the student paid all tuition fees up to and including the month of graduation?

Students who fulfil all the above conditions will automatically graduate from their Bachelor or (Research/Forensic) Master programme. In the case that supervisors submit assessments later, graduation occurs retrospectively (i.e., on the last day of the month in which the last work was handed in).

Graduation is possible every last day of the month.

1. First Notification of Graduation

The Board of Examiners will send a student a “First Notification Graduation” e-mail who has obtained:

Bachelor: 150 out of 180 ECTS
Master in Psychology: 25 out of 60 ECTS
Research Master : 100 out of 120 ECTS
Forensic Master: 100 out of 120 ECTS
Master Mental Health: 25 out of 60 ECTS
IJMWROP: 100 out of 120 ECTS

This notification contains a number of very important instructions. It is therefore essential that you read this e-mail carefully and act accordingly. It is the student's responsibility to make sure that all study parts of the programme are correctly registered. If, for example, results are missing or the number of credits is incorrect, you will not be notified that you are about to graduate, because the minimum number of ECTS has not been registered as obtained. This means that the Board of Examiners will not consider you a graduation candidate, even though you are actually able and wish to graduate!

!Note: This first notification is an official requirement in the automatic graduation procedure, but you already have to have taken action even before receiving this first notification. See points 2 and 8 below.

2. Before finishing your studies (i.e., before taking the last exam or before handing in the last work), please check the following:

• The registration of your study results in SAP.

You can check your study results via the Student Portal . Log in, follow ‘My Study’ and click on ‘Courses’ and then on ‘Academic Work’ . You should check your credits and grades, and the titles of papers, theses, internships, etc. If you find any mistakes or omissions in the registration of your results, please report these errors as soon as possible to the Exam Administration ( http://www.askpsy.nl/contact ). Please note that if a new transcript (list of exam subjects) has to be made due to unreported mistakes, the costs for this transcript will be charged to you.

• The registration of your personal data .

You can check your personal data via Studielink log on and follow ‘My Details’. Your official personal data that will be listed on your diploma documents are derived directly from Studielink. Therefore, make sure that these data are listed correctly. Please note that incorrect personal data in Studielink will lead to an incorrect diploma. The costs of a new diploma (including supplement and transcript) will be charged to you. If there are mistakes in the registration of your personal details, please contact the Board of Examiners via Ask Psychology.

3. Determination of the graduation date

The graduation date is always set as the last day of the month in which the student has handed in the last work and in which all requirements regarding results, registration and payment (see above) are met. The Board of Examiners can only establish the result of the exam and set the graduation date after all subjects of the programme are registered as passed in SLM, and after the correct registration for the programme and payment of all tuition fees is confirmed by the responsible departments (SSC and finance ). Note that the graduation date (as listed on the diploma documents) is not the same as the date of the graduation ceremony.

Example: if you upload your last work via "Collent" on 20 July , and your supervisors grade your thesis by 10 August, your graduation date will be set to 31 July if you meet all other requirements to graduate. Graduation thus takes place retrospectively.

4. Request to postpone the graduation

Students will automatically graduate after they have fulfilled all requirements of their study programme. Therefore, it is normally not possible to postpone your graduation. In extremely exceptional cases, you may apply to postpone graduation. In that case, you must submit a request to the Board of Examiners at least one month before finishing the last module of the study programme. While planning your studies, please take into account that the circumstances under which the Board of Examiners will grant such a request for postponement are very limited.

5. Graduation with honours

The Board of Examiners will check whether a student qualifies to graduate with an honours judicium, (Summa) Cum Laude or With Distinction, depending on the programme. The criteria for the iudicum can be found in the respective Education and Examination Regulations of the year the student started with the Bachelor or (Research/Forensic) Master programme. See Distinctions >>

6. When will you receive your diploma?

See Collecting your diploma for details.

The graduation ceremony

All graduating Bachelor, Master, Forensic and Research Master students will be informed via e- mail about the graduation ceremony. See Collecting your diploma for details. Your diploma folder includes your diploma, transcript and other documents. See Graduation documents and statements >>.

7. Assessment of your diploma abroad

If you go abroad, the recognition of your educational documents is a major issue. For assessment, many countries will only accept legalized documents. Dienst Uitvoering Onderwijs (DUO), section Diploma-recognition & Legalization, legalizes Dutch educational documents on behalf of the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. For more information please visit the website of DUO-IB-Groep.

8. What to keep in mind when you have (almost) graduated ?

If you are (almost) at the end of your studies, it is important to arrange the following things at the right moment:
1. Deregistration via Studielink;
2. Termination of the Dutch study grant and student travel card (OV-chipkaart).
If you don’t do this in time, you might have to pay the high tuition fee or be fined for use of your student travel card when you are no longer allowed to! Carefully read the following information. The UM will NOT accept any claims for the (financial) consequences if you do not deregister in time or do not terminate your Dutch study grant and student travel card in time.

8.1 Deregistration via Studielink
Students are not automatically deregistered after their graduation (except for the months June, July or August). If they do not terminate their registration as a student at the UM themselves, they will remain registered at the Central Student Administration until the end of the academic year (31 August). So, immediately after submitting your final work you should deregister via Studielink! File a request for termination of registration via Studielink and log on to your Studielink account, go to 'mijn inschrijvingen' and select the study programme from which you wish to deregister. Fill out ‘graduation’ as reason for this termination. The Student Service Centre (SSC) of UM will process this deregistration once your graduation has been processed by the Board of Examiners.

This may seem strange, because you don’t know at this point whether you will actually pass this last exam and graduate. But it is very important to deregister at the right time. The Board of Examiners establishes your graduation date as the last day of the month in which you meet all the programme requirements, are correctly registered and have paid your tuition fees. If you are still registered for the programme after you graduate, this is considered a registration for a second programme (after all, you have already obtained a degree), and you will have to pay the high tuition fee for that month.
You will find more information about this and about reimbursement of tuition fees for the remaining months of the academic year via the UM website.

Example: You submit your last work/ thesis/take your last exam on 7 March. Your graduation date is 31 March. You do not deregister on 7 March because you don’t know if you will pass this last exam/thesis. On 15 April you receive the confirmation of your graduation and you deregister via Studielink. You are then deregistered as of 1 May, whereas you graduated on 31 March. This implies that for the month April you owe the high tuition fee.

If you fail your last exam: In case you fail your last exam or do not receive a passing grade for your last work, then you can cancel your deregistration request via the Student Service Centre (SSC) (study@maastrichtuniversity.nl ). You then remain registered for the programme until the end of the academic year and can participate in re-examinations without further consequences for your tuition fees.

Graduation on 30 June or 31 July: If you graduate on 30 June or 31 July, there is an exception to the tuition rules. According to the UM Registration Decree you will have to pay tuition fees for the months July and August. If you wish to remain registered after obtaining your degree, for reasons of a Dutch study grant or student travel card, you may do so (until 31 August of the same year). In that case you will not owe the high tuition fee.

Graduation in June, July or August: If you graduate in June, July or August then you do not need to deregister.

8.2 Termination of Dutch study grant and student travel card (OV-chipkaart)
As long as you are registered for a programme, you may be entitled to a Dutch study grant and the student travel card. Deregistration via Studielink doesn’t mean that your Dutch study grant is terminated. You have to arrange this separately yourself. As soon as you have submitted your deregistration request via Studielink, you should also discontinue the Dutch student grant and the student travel card. The latter should be done at the latest on the fifth working day of the month in which you are no longer entitled to the Dutch student grant.
• Discontinue your Dutch student grant via Duo > log on
• Discontinue your student travel card via Duo > log on, ‘mijn gegevens’ and then ‘reizen’
If you don’t terminate your student travel card in time you will have to pay a fine. All information on Dutch student grant and student travel card can be found on the DUO website.

Please note: the UM will not accept any claims for fines due to late deregistration or not terminating your student travel card!

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