{"id":2003,"date":"2025-11-25T11:16:14","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T16:16:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/isso\/?page_id=2003"},"modified":"2026-07-28T12:37:24","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T16:37:24","slug":"completing-your-program","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/isso\/international-students\/completing-your-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Completing Your Program"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Knowing your official program completion date is essential to maintain your immigration status.<\/p>\n<h3>Undergraduate and Graduate Degree Students<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>You must <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/reg\/graduation\/application\/\">register for graduation<\/a> and ensure all degree requirements are met.<\/li>\n<li>Your program completion date is the University\u2019s official graduation date for the term you finish all requirements.<\/li>\n<li>If completing in summer, you must be registered for the Summer Term and complete summer registration with ISSO.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<table width=\"472\" height=\"124\" style=\"height: 124px;\">\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Term<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Standard Completion Date<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Spring<\/td>\n<td>Date of May graduation ceremony<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Fall<\/td>\n<td>Friday before the following Spring term begins<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Summer<\/td>\n<td><span>August 25<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h3>Graduate Thesis or Dissertation Students<\/h3>\n<p>Completion date is the graduation ceremony day of the term when you submit your thesis\/dissertation. Summer thesis\/dissertation students must be registered during Summer Term.<\/p>\n<h3>All Undergraduate and Graduate Students Upon Completion of Program<\/h3>\n<p>Must\u00a0take one of the following actions within 60 days:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Apply for OPT (work authorization)<\/li>\n<li>Apply to change your immigration status<\/li>\n<li>Transfer your SEVIS record to a new school<\/li>\n<li>Start a new program at BU<\/li>\n<li>Leave the U.S.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Important:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Transfers and new programs must be arranged within 60 days<\/li>\n<li>You must begin your next program within 5 months<\/li>\n<li>You cannot leave and re-enter the U.S. in F-1 status during the 60-day grace period<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Non-Degree Students<\/h3>\n<p>Completion date is either the last day of exams for the term you finish or the date on your I-20\/DS-2019, whichever is earlier.<\/p>\n<h3>Document Changes<\/h3>\n<p>If you end your program or activity before the date on your current F-1 or J-1 document, ISSO will issue an amended I-20 or DS-2019 reflecting your actual completion date. Post-graduation benefits (e.g., employment authorization, transfers) must occur within the grace period after this date.<\/p>\n<h3>Starting a New Program at BU<\/h3>\n<p>To begin a new degree program, you must obtain a new I-20 or DS-2019 before your grace period ends by:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Being admitted to the new program or approved for eligible post-completion employment.<\/li>\n<li>Providing updated financial certification to the appropriate admissions office.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The new document must be issued no later than the end of your grace period.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Knowing your official program completion date is essential to maintain your immigration status. Undergraduate and Graduate Degree Students You must register for graduation and ensure all degree requirements are met. Your program completion date is the University\u2019s official graduation date for the term you finish all requirements. If completing in summer, you must be registered [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10133,"featured_media":0,"parent":1537,"menu_order":15,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/isso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2003"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/isso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/isso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/isso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10133"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/isso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2003"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/isso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2003\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4206,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/isso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2003\/revisions\/4206"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/isso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/isso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}