Milestones FAQs

Milestones represent degree requirements that you are likely already familiar with. They include program proposals, internships, theses, language fluency, and teaching assistantships – which are key parts of your degree completion.

If your program has milestones, they have been added to your student record in Axess and can be viewed on your unofficial transcript and, beginning July 2024, on your degree audit in My Academic Path (MAP).

Browse the following FAQs to learn more about milestones.

What are milestones?

Milestones are non-course requirements that are an integral part of your degree program. They can include papers, presentations, exams, or experiences that are not captured by the completion of a course. Milestones can be required by the university, by your specific program/department, or by both for satisfactory degree progress and completion of your degree.

What are university-required milestones?

The university requires the completion of non-course milestones for each graduate degree. These milestones must be completed by students in order to graduate and are not waivable. View this list of university-required milestones.

Currently, non-course milestones are not required by the university at the undergraduate level, but this may change in the future.

What are plan-specific milestones?

These are non-course requirements that have been determined to be essential to your degree progress by your program/department. Whether or not a required aspect of your degree program can be tracked via a course or a non-course milestone is up to the discretion of your department/program.

If your department/program has decided that a particular requirement meets the criteria of a non-course milestone, these are referred to as plan-specific milestones. These requirements are only required by the specific program but are a critical factor in their decision to recommend you for conferral.

Can more than one of my declared programs have non-course milestones?

Yes, if you are declared in multiple programs, each of your declared programs (e.g. major, minor, honors, masters, engineers, doctoral, or professional) has the potential to have non-course requirements.

For example, if you were to major and coterm in “Animation” and minor in “Architecture” and “Kinesiology” this could be the breakdown of your university and plan-specific milestones:

Program*	University-Required Milestones	Plan-Specific Milestones
Animation – BA	None	Capstone Project
Architecture – Minor	None	Fieldwork Experience
Kinesiology - Minor	None	None
Animation – MA	Masters Program Proposal	Thesis

^{*Note: These programs are not actually available at Stanford and are being used for example purposes only.}

How do I see if I have any milestones I need to complete?

There are three ways to find out whether your declared programs require the completion of milestones:

Starting July 2024, you can run your degree audit in My Academic Path (MAP), which will include any required milestones.
You can view your milestones by accessing your unofficial transcript report in Axess. For instructions on viewing your unofficial transcript, review our step-by-step guide.
Connect with your program’s Student Services Officer (SSO).

Who can see milestones on my student record?

Your milestones are viewable by:

Faculty or staff who support student and academic services at Stanford, including the Registrar’s Office teams, Academic Advisors, and AARC Advisors.
Anyone with whom YOU share your unofficial transcript or degree audit report.
For Ph.D. students, your dissertation milestone appears on the official transcript and can be seen by anyone you send it to.

NOTE: Completed theses and dissertations are considered “directory” or public information and as such can be released without the student’s permission. Students do have the right, however, to prevent the release of even directory information. If students have exercised their right not to have directory information released, the University may not release it, even to parents, without the student's permission. All other milestone-related information is protected by FERPA. View this webpage for more information about FERPA or restricting access to directory information.

What if I’ve completed a milestone, but that status is not reflected on my unofficial transcript?

You should contact your department/program student services office (SSO). They are responsible for updating the status of your milestones in Axess.

Can my milestones be listed on my official transcript as well as my unofficial transcript?

No. At this time, the only non-course requirement that appears on the official transcript is the doctoral dissertation.

Do all of my milestones need to be complete in order for me to graduate?

Each milestone represents a degree requirement for a student’s academic program, and as such, all milestones must be completed in order for the degree requirements to be considered fully satisfied.

I have a question about one of the milestones on my student record, who should I talk to?

For either university-required or plan-specific milestones, your first point of contact should be your department/program student services officer (SSO).

For questions not able to be answered by your SSO, please submit the following help request: Inquire about Student Milestones.

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