Your electronic thesis or dissertation must be submitted to ProQuest by the published deadline date of your graduating term. Please review and then follow the steps below.

1. Convert your electronic document to PDF format:

• A PDF creation tool is available on the ProQuest website and on computers at various locations on campus. For more information, please contact your local IT administrator or the Computing Help Desk at 491-7276 or help@colostate.edu.
• Consider making your PDF more accessible by following CSU’s accessibility guidelines.
• The PDF file must be named Lastname_Firstname.pdf, where “Lastname” and “Firstname” are that of the student.
• Security settings should not be applied to the PDF file.
• The PDF file should not contain embedded multimedia.
• The size limit for a single file is 250 MB. If you submit your ETD PDF along with any supplemental files, the size of all added together should be less than 250 MB.
• Consult Creating PDFs and ProQuest Formatting Requirements on the ProQuest website for more information.

2. Create your account on the ProQuest website and follow the steps to submit your thesis or dissertation online.

Your submission will be reviewed for final approval by an administrator at the Graduate School before it is delivered to ProQuest and Mountain Scholar.  Note: All questions about formatting the content of your ETD must be directed to the Graduate School.

Important Information About Access to Your ETD

• Your ETD will be freely available via the Internet in Mountain Scholar, unless you have chosen to temporarily restrict access.
• Access through ProQuest will depend on whether you chose the Traditional Publishing or Open Access option, and if you selected any restrictions.
• Access to your thesis or dissertation may be restricted up to 2 years.
  • Your advisor must submit an explanation of the requested restriction to the Graduate School for approval.
  • If you wish to restrict temporarily the publication of your thesis or dissertation because it contains potentially patentable material, work with your advisor to contact CSU STRATA; this is required.