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I am a middle manager at the US subsidiary of a large multi-national corporation, and a member of my staff has been accepted to grad school in her field of expertise. Our corporate policy is that we pay a set maximum amount of the tuition (something like $5000) per year. That reimbursement is not issued until grades have been posted, and payment applies to the year the grades are issued, rather than the year the classes took place. The payment cutoff for a calendar year is 15 December. The university in question issues grades for the fall semester well after this cutoff, and to me this raises questions about the logic behind our corporate policy.

My question is this: how realistic is it for a US-based graduate student to expect to receive their grades for the fall semester before 15 December?

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  • This highly, HIGHLY depends on the school. You know, when their semester ends, when grades are due, when grades are posted...
    – Sean Roberson
    Commented Aug 20, 2018 at 14:25
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    This is something that depends very much on the rules and procedures of a particular institution. There isn't going to be any general answer to the question, so I've voted to close the question.
    – Brian Borchers
    Commented Aug 20, 2018 at 14:26
  • If you know the school, most post their academic calendars online with the dates of final exams/posted grade dates. Usually students receive grades a couple weeks after finals, but as others have said, it depends.
    – Programmer
    Commented Aug 20, 2018 at 14:31
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    December 15 is too early in many cases. As others have said, it depends on the school; in fact it depends on the particular class and the professor. Is there a final exam (or are grades determined already when classes end)? If there's a final exam, when is it? How long after the exam do professors have to grade the exams and turn in grades? (One example:I'm teaching a class this coming fall with a final exam on December 18, and I have 3 days after that to turn in grades.)
    – Andreas Blass
    Commented Aug 20, 2018 at 14:43
  • I realize that schools will have different schedules; I am looking for a generalized answer about how realistic our policy is, as it implies that grades should be available by 15 December. Thanks to all for your input!
    – Manager75
    Commented Aug 20, 2018 at 14:45

1 Answer 1

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Fifteen December is, indeed, a bit early. Final exams often come about then and professors have a week or so to submit grades. After that it goes pretty quickly with modern automation. But 31 December would be more realistic.

But even then, if you request grades formally, it may take a bit longer for them to be sent and received.

There are still some US schools in which the "Fall" term doesn't actually end until about mid January.

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    I see the question has been put on hold; I will accept this answer, as it verifies what I suspected was true. I also accept that my question is indeed too vague. Thanks to all.
    – Manager75
    Commented Aug 20, 2018 at 16:22

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