Deadline to Advance to Doctoral Candidacy (only for NRST reduction) For Ph.D. students Doctoral students may Advance to Candidacy at any time. However, non-resident students who wish to start receiving the NRST reduction must advance before the first day of the instruction for the semester they wish to begin the reduction. You can find the exact dates on the academic calendar for the relevant term/semester. Students who advance after the first day of instruction, will automatically start receiving the NRST reduction the following semester. Doctoral students who have successfully completed their Qualifying Examination (with results submitted to the Graduate Division), can initiate the doctoral advancement process by submitting the Higher Degree Committee eForm (available in CalCentral).