Permission to register each term is contingent, in part, on judgment that progress in the degree program is satisfactory. A student who fails to maintain satisfactory progress will have his or her candidacy terminated. Each program maintains its own standards of satisfactory academic progress, and all students must familiarize themselves with these standards.

The Graduate School considers progress to be minimally satisfactory when progress is at a rate that will allow a student to complete the M.A. degree within four consecutive terms of full-time study (GSAS Degree Requirements under section VII.B.1.b for part-time study), the M.A./M.Phil. degrees within four calendar years, and the M.A./M.Phil./Ph.D. within seven calendar years. Students who receive credit for an M.A. completed elsewhere must complete the M.Phil. within three calendar years and the Ph.D. within six. This time limit for the M.A./M.Phil./Ph.D is known as the Seven-Year Rule for the Ph.D.

Only with permission of the department or program and the dean may a Ph.D. student register for an eighth or later year of study. This is already strictly enforced in many departments, so students should plan to complete all requirements in the given time period. Note that the Seven-Year Rule is enforced by GSAS in the sense that financial support or housing extensions are not granted after seven years of residence. Some programs have a shorter time-to-degree requirement. Where the program's time-to-degree rule is shorter than seven years, the student must follow the program's rule.

Satisfactory progress is assessed annually on the basis of academic performance, including the timely completion of all language examinations and all certifying and comprehensive examinations and thesis requirements, grades, and performance in any required teaching or research apprenticeships.