Submitting Proposals for New Graduate Credentials

It’s beneficial to start with preliminary discussions with key stakeholders involved in funding and approving a program, such as the department chair, school or college dean and the Graduate School.  If special fees or non-formula-funded programming is involved, preliminary discussions with the Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs are also recommended. These informal discussions can help streamline the formal approval process and prevent potential delays. While it’s challenging to predict the exact duration of the approval process, it’s wise to allow sufficient time for various offices and the Graduate Assembly to thoroughly consider your proposal. The Graduate Catalog is published annually in June, so all degree proposals must receive final approval by the end of the preceding fall semester. For example, the 2025-2026 Graduate Catalog will be released in June 2025, and all approvals and final catalog content must be finalized by mid-December 2024.

The Graduate School provides a proposal template for most new program requests reflecting requirements of the Graduate Assembly and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB), including the Notification of Planning requirement for new degrees. The templates are available on the Graduate School's website. 

A one-page summary of your proposal is required for the Graduate Assembly agenda. Please submit this summary along with your original proposal to the Graduate School.

Proposals must include endorsements from the appropriate school/college dean(s), department chair(s) or program director(s) and chair(s) of the Graduate Studies Committee(s). These endorsements and accompanying statements can be included in either the proposal document or the transmittal letter addressed to the Dean of the Graduate School & Senior Vice Provost for Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. 

Additionally, all proposals must provide a summary of the Graduate Studies Committee’s vote and the resulting recommendations.

New program proposals must be submitted to the Graduate School for administrative review. The review ensures that the proposal is complete and complies with Graduate School policies. Along with the proposal, please include a brief transmittal letter addressed to the Graduate Dean, requesting that the proposal be forwarded to the Graduate Assembly for consideration and approval.

Budgetary approval: If proposing non-formula-funded (Option III), please follow the "Policy Guide for Option III Graduate Degree Programs (Revised 2023)” carefully. You can access it here. Once the budgetary items in your proposal have received at least preliminary approval by the provost's office, please attach a copy of the budget indicating the provost's approval to your proposal.

Non-standard registration and billing procedures: To deliver graduate courses and credentials in a nontraditional format – such as different schedules, class meeting time or mode of delivery (e.g., online), you may need to adjust the standard processes for student admission, registration, billing and grade reporting. While faculty proposing these innovative programs are not expected to be familiar with all aspects of the University's registration and billing procedures, it is essential to address these elements early in the process. If you anticipate deviations from normal procedures, please inform the relevant University offices in advance. A list of advisory contacts for proposal development is provided below.

The Secretary of the Graduate Assembly classifies proposals as major or minor. If classified as major, a summary will be circulated to all members of the Graduate Studies Committees. Approval is granted on a no-protest basis 14 days after circulation. Typically, proposals for new credentials or modifications to existing ones are classified as minor legislation.

For more detailed information on the Graduate Assembly’s operating procedures, please refer to HOP 2-1210- PM, Rules and By-Laws of the Graduate Assembly, available online.

Once the Graduate Assembly approves a proposal, the graduate dean will then approve and forward the legislation to the provost. Depending on the nature of the proposal, the provost may forward it, along with their recommendation,  to the Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs (EVC) at the UT System, as required.

For proposals to create graduate certificates and stackable certificates, final approval is granted by the provost.  Following this approval, the Graduate School will notify the Texas Higher Education Board about the program development.

Proposals to create new Master’s degrees with budgets less than $2 million are approved by the Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and then referred to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) for final approval. 

For proposals involving new doctoral or professional degrees, as well as Master’s degrees with budgets of $2 million or more, a review by the full Board of Regents (BOR) is required. To ensure consideration, requests must be submitted to the UT System Office of Academic Affairs at least 3.5 months prior to the BOR meeting.  The BOR meets four times a year on the following dates: August 1, November 1, February 1 and May 1.

The THECB approval process for new doctoral programs has several stages, including internal staff review at the THECB, a desk review from an external expert reviewer, a virtual site visit from external expert reviewers, site visit reports and responses, and final approval from the Committee on Academic and Workforce Success (CAWS) and the full Board of the THECB. The entire process can take up to 20 months at the very least from the time the THECB receives an institution’s planning notification. Once the full proposal is received, at least one year after the planning notification, the approval process takes from 6-9 months. 

All degree program requests submitted are required, by statute, to be approved or denied within one year of being deemed administratively complete.  Proposals for new degrees must include the THECB’s Budget and Enrollment Spreadsheet.  

New degree or certificate program(s). If 25% or more of the courses required for a new degree or certificate program will be offered through distance learning--either by faculty traveling to remote sites or via electronic courses—notification to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) is required. If 50% or more of the courses will be delivered through distance learning, the program requires notification to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board in addition to notification and approval from Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). 

Proposals to offer distance learning should include the following information: 

• description of the proposed course(s) or program;
• delivery plan (including technology used);
• faculty development plan;
• description of student support services;
• evaluation plan
• proposed budget 

Ensuring these components are included will help facilitate the approval process.

Expansion of authority to offer an approved degree or certificate program at a new site. If you wish to offer an approved degree or certificate program at additional remote sites, you must submit your requests to the Graduate Dean & Senior Vice Provost for Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. 

Proposals must adhere to all quality standards established for the originally approved program, as well as the Principles of Good Practice for Academic Degree and Certificate Programs and Credit Courses Offered at a Distance. These principles can be found on the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) website.

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) requires notification for substantive changes, which they define as significant modifications or expansions in nature and scope of the institution. You can find a detailed description of what constitutes substantive changes on this page. Examples of substantive change include closing a degree program and entering into a dual- or joint-degree arrangement with another institution.

Approval from the SACS Commission on Colleges (SACS-COC) must be obtained well in advance of implementing the program or degree. If a prospectus is required, it is generally more efficient to develop and submit a single proposal to the Graduate School that follows the guidelines of SACS and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, indexing various sections for ease of review.