Requirements for Admission

1. Completion of the application form, including the Residency Statement. The forms can be submitted online or downloaded from the website.

2. Payment of the required Application Fee. Waivers of the fee are available only to those applicants who are United States citizens and who receive a waiver of the Graduate Record Examination or Graduate Management Admission Test fee through their undergraduate financial aid office. A statement from a college or university official attesting to receipt of or eligibility for the fee waiver must accompany the application. Applicants for graudate study through the Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement program will automatically receive an application fee waiver.

3. A minimum undergraduate cumulative grade point average of 2.750 on a 4.000 grading scale.

4. A bachelor’s degree or the equivalent from any college or university of recognized standing.

5. An official transcript of all previous college work (undergraduate and graduate). An applicant must request the registrar of all colleges previously attended to send a copy of the transcript directly to the Graduate Admissions Office. A final transcript showing that the bachelor’s degree has been awarded must be received before the applicant can enroll in the Graduate School.

6. Two or three letters of recommendation from persons in the field of the applicant’s academic major at the institution most recently attended. In some cases, particularly in management, letters of recommendation from other persons may be more appropriate to the proposed field of study.

7. The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Test (required of most applicants, including international students). For a list of those graduate programs requiring the GRE General Test or a GRE Subject Test refer to the Graduate Programs and Degrees Offered listing on the Graduate School website. Only GRE scores taken within five years of anticipated enrollment will be considered as fulfilling this requirement. Applicants must have official reports of their GRE scores sent directly to the Graduate Admissions Office. Applicants for fall admission are urged to take the GRE by December. The results of later testing are frequently not available before decisions on admission must be made. The Educational Testing Service, P.O. Box 6004, Princeton, NJ 08541, administers the test in the United States as well as abroad. Addresses of test centers may be obtained from that organization. Applicants for admission to programs in Management, Sport Management, and Hospitality and Tourism Management are required to take the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT), but may submit GRE scores as an alternative.

8. For international student requirements see section titled International Applicants.

9. Application procedures for the Five College Cooperative Ph.D. Program are listed in the section entitled Doctoral Degree Requirements.

10. Applicants for dual master’s degrees must indicate the specific programs on the application. Each program makes its admission decision independently. Some applicants may be accepted into only one of the collaborating programs.

11. Finally, recommendation of admission by the graduate program applied for and formal acceptance by the Dean of the Graduate School.

Admission of Faculty and Staff Members to Graduate Study

Members of the university faculty at the rank of assistant professor or higher who wish to retrain or redirect their professional interests may, under special circumstances, earn a graduate degree from the university. The Dean of the Graduate School may permit eligible faculty to become degree candidates subsequent to a favorable recommendation from both the appropriate academic dean and department head, assurance that no conflict of interest will occur, and that the university’s best interests will be served. The degree may not be earned in the department in which the candidate is a faculty member. However, faculty members of any rank may enroll as non-degree students in any university courses.

Full-time university employees who enroll in one or more courses are eligible for full tuition waivers, including a waiver of the general fee. For employees on at least a half-time basis but less than full-time, no more than seven tuition-free credits may be approved for any one semester. Employees working less than one-half time are not eligible for a tuition waiver.