A graduate diploma is a for-credit program of study at the graduate level, in a specific area, topic, or skill, and may be of a disciplinary or interdisciplinary character. It is not a master's program or doctoral program.

There are three categories of graduate diplomas:

• Type 1: Awarded when a student admitted to a master’s program leaves after completing a certain proportion of the requirements. Students are not admitted directly to these programs. 
• Type 2: Offered in conjunction with a master’s or doctoral degree. The admission requires that the student is already admitted to the master’s (or doctoral) program. This represents an additional, usually interdisciplinary, qualification. Courses taken in fulfillment of degree requirements may count towards the graduate diploma. However, some parts of the graduate diploma requirements shall be added to degree requirements. All the requirements for the degree and the graduate diploma must be fulfilled before the graduate diploma is awarded. Normally, the graduate diploma will be awarded at the convocation at which the degree is awarded. However, students may be permitted by Graduate Diploma Coordinators to complete requirements in one additional term following the award of the degree and receive the graduate diploma at the next convocation.
• Type 3: A stand-alone, direct-entry program, generally developed by a unit already offering a related master’s (and sometimes doctoral) degree and designed to meet a particular academic and/or professional need.

The minimum requirement for graduate diplomas is normally 12 credits in graduate-level coursework. 

Following initial registration in a graduate diploma and prior to completion of the first term of study, graduate students may request transfer credit (advanced standing) for graduate-level courses completed at York University or another institution. These transfer credits cannot be applied if they were used to fulfill the requirements of another degree program or graduate diploma. Credit for such work will be determined by the Office of the Dean, Faculty of Graduate Studies, on the recommendation of the program concerned. Transfer credit accepted towards the fulfillment of the degree program to which the student has been admitted may count for up to 50% of the coursework requirements for the York graduate diploma or degree program.