Graduation - Dissertation/Thesis-Related Fees

All dissertation/thesis-related fees at The University of Iowa, with the exception of additional dissertation/thesis copies ordered from ProQuest, will be billed directly to your student account. These include the thesis fee, publication fee, open access publishing fee (optional), and copyright fee (optional). You may not use any of the direct payment methods (check or credit card) offered through ProQuest for these fees. However, if you wish to order additional dissertation/thesis copies from ProQuest, you may use a money order or a credit card account.

Application for Degree, Thesis, Publication, and Copyright

There are several graduation-related fees that are billed to your student account. Here's a brief summary of what to expect:

Application Fee

When you file an application for degree, a $65 processing fee is billed to your student account by the Registrar's Office. Applications accepted after the published deadline are charged a $20 late fee. The degree application fee is assessed each time you apply to graduate.

Thesis Fee

All dissertation/thesis and DMA essay students are billed a one-time-only $145 nonrefundable thesis fee by the Graduate College to cover processing and review costs. This is billed to your student account when you make the first deposit of your dissertation/thesis at the Graduate College.

Publication and Binding Fee

All PhD and DMA dissertation/essay candidates are charged a $75 fee to cover microfilming of the dissertation/essay and publication in Dissertation Abstracts International through ProQuest (formerly University Microfilms). Master's thesis candidates are billed either

1. a $20 fee to cover binding of a hard-copy submission or
2. a $65 fee to cover charges assessed by ProQuest for the microfilming and archiving of a thesis submitted in electronic format.

These fees are billed to your student account when you make the first deposit of your dissertation/thesis or essay.

Copyright Fee

Ph.D. dissertation and D.M.A. dissertation and essay candidates, as well as master's candidates (electronic submitters only), may pay an optional fee of $55 for copyright services offered through ProQuest. The copyright fee covers the U.S. copyright fee as well as the costs to ProQuest of the copies required by the Copyright Office. ProQuest registers the claim in the author's name and returns the Registration of Claim to Copyright to the author. When you notify the Graduate College that you would like to copyright, this fee is billed to your student account. Please note that students wishing to make copyright arrangements on their own must file the claim to copyright by corresponding directly with the U.S. Copyright Office in Washington, D.C.

Open Access Publishing Fee

Students submitting an electronic thesis (ETD) may choose, through ProQuest, either Open Access or Traditional Publishing. If you elect Open Access Publishing, a one-time fee of either $160 (doctoral candidates) or $150 (master's candidates) will be billed to your account at the time you make final deposit. This is in addition to the fees that are already billed to your account at the time you make first deposit; thesis fee ($145) and publication fee ($75, doctoral dissertation/essay; $65, master's thesis).

It is important to note that when your ETD is released to The University of Iowa Library, it will be published online with no access restrictions. In effect, it will be available on the Internet whether or not you chose "Traditional Publishing" or "Open Access Publishing" through the ProQuest site. It makes little sense, therefore, to pay ProQuest to release your ETD under an "Open Access" option, when that will be accomplished with no fee assessment through the University's library system.

Questions related to the application fee should be directed to Graduation Analysis at the Registrar's Office, 335-0228. If you have questions concerning the other fees, you may call the Graduate College at 335-2146.

The table below describes the current thesis/publication fee structure: