The University Library provides an institutional repository for graduate theses. However, the requirements and submission process for graduate theses are entirely determined by the graduate schools. For any questions about your graduate thesis, please contact your advisor directly. Questions concerning how to deposit your thesis in the university repository should be directed to the University Library via our Ask-a-Librarian service.
Steps for Submitting a Graduate Thesis
- The student completes their thesis and obtains the required signatures, as determined by the student's department.
- The student downloads and completes the Graduate Student Thesis Publication Agreement and submits the completed form, along with the PDF of the actual thesis (with any accompanying files) to their graduate department.
- Doctoral candidates must also submit a PDF to ProQuest and pay any required fees (Proquest’s $25 fee for Traditional Publishing is the only fee required by Santa Clara University).
- The department office submits the PDF of the thesis (and files) to the University Library.
- Students, advisors, and departments wanting bound copies should order them from ProQuest Dissertation & Theses Global.
The Library will make the thesis (i.e., the PDF file) available through a persistent URL embedded in the library catalog record. If the thesis is under embargo, the PDF file will only be available to SCU-authenticated users, but not to readers outside the SCU network. Once the embargo is lifted, all users will have access to the electronic version of the thesis.
University Policy
Theses completed in partial fulfillment of a graduate degree at Santa Clara University must be deposited electronically with the University Archives and made publicly available by the Santa Clara University Library through the SCU Scholar Commons repository.
To create the electronic manuscript, the student should convert the complete thesis to a single PDF document (see below regarding supplementary files). The electronic manuscript is then delivered to the department office in accordance with their submission requirements along with a completed Graduate Student Thesis Publication Agreement. Please do not include a scanned signature on the title page of the PDF, but do submit one additional printed title page with the thesis advisor's original signature. The department office will verify that the thesis meets format requirements.
Doctoral candidates must also submit a copy of their thesis to ProQuest Information and Learning (formerly UMI) for inclusion in Dissertation & Theses Global, with a completed ProQuest Doctoral Dissertation Agreement Form. At their option, Doctoral candidates may have ProQuest register their copyright for the thesis with the Library of Congress Copyright Office and/or may order personal bound copies of their thesis from ProQuest; there are additional fees for these services.
At the end of each quarter, individual department offices will deposit electronic copies of all theses submitted that quarter to the University Library.
For Jesuit School of Theology (JST) degrees awarded by Santa Clara University, the SCU Library is responsible for making the electronic copy available. Because of its affiliation with the Graduate Theological Union (GTU), the JST may require that one or more physical copies of the thesis also be deposited in the GTU Library. For JST degrees awarded by the GTU, the thesis depository requirements of the GTU apply.
The University has the right to publish the title, author, and abstract of each thesis on the Internet. The thesis will be made available through a persistent URL embedded in the online catalog. Via the Graduate Student Thesis Publication Agreement, students grant the University a non-exclusive right to provide digital access to the thesis.
Authors may choose whether or not to embargo their complete thesis from being publicly available via the Internet for a period of six months, one year, or two years. Under an embargo, the thesis will be available to SCU-authenticated users, but not to readers outside the SCU community. The embargo option may be appropriate for a student who has a patent application in process or wants to delay access to the thesis for a limited amount of time to pursue commercial interests or other publication. Embargoes may be lifted early at the request of the author. If you have any questions about whether you should embargo your thesis, please consult with your advisor.
Format Requirements
Individual programs may establish their own style guidelines for theses, except that each thesis must include a title page and an abstract of 350 words or fewer. In addition to the above requirements, a thesis with accompanying files must include a list of submitted files indicating the file formats and software version used to create each file.
The thesis may be accompanied by supplementary materials. There is no limit on the number of supplemental files that can be submitted. The following table outlines preferred file formats for different content types. If you anticipate needing to submit a file in another format, please check with your department.
| Content type | Required format |
|---|---|
| Text | |
| Images | TIFF, JPEG, JPEG2000 |
| Audio | WAV |
| Video | MPEG video |
| Data sets | ASCII text |
The University Library no longer requires or supports print copies of theses. Students, advisors, and departments wanting bound copies should order them from ProQuest Dissertation & Theses Global.
For students wishing to bind their own print copy of their thesis, it is generally recommended that the left margins not be less than 1.5 inches (to ensure readability when bound), that the thesis include a title page and an abstract of 350 words or less, and that print copies be printed or copied single sided onto white, acid-free 20 pound or heavier paper.
Updated March 31, 2025