Admissions FAQs

All applicants should apply online. You must pay the admissions processing fee at the time of submitting the application and can make payment by credit card or electronic check. Applications received online receive the fastest turnaround in processing and are available to the academic departments immediately upon downloading from the admissions system. If, after repeated attempts, you have difficulty applying online, please contact gradadm@uga.edu.
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Yes. If at all possible, you should pay by credit card as soon as you submit the application. Applications are not reviewed until you have submitted and paid the application fee. If you must pay by check or money order, please email gradadm@uga.edu for further instructions.

Answers to this question are often confusing because there are different deadlines depending upon the academic program and whether you want to be considered for a graduate assistantship. Some programs also limit admission to specific semesters. For more information, please visit our deadlines page. International applicants must meet Graduate School deadline to allow for adequate time to review credentials and obtain additional visa paperwork for accepted students. Applications submitted after the Graduate School admissions deadlines will be marked for the following semester.

You will receive an email from gradadm@uga.edu with a link to the Check Application Status portal. You will login with the email and password you used to create the application.

Many of your admissions application materials will be submitted online to Graduate Admissions (e.g. application for admission, transcripts, resume and statement of purpose). If offered admission, official transcripts should be sent electronically from your institution or mailed to the following address. Supplemental departmental requirements such as a writing sample should be sent directly to the academic department.

After you have submitted your first application and application fee, you may add a second application for $25. Each additional application submitted will require a $25 application fee. You should not apply to the same degree program with different terms. Please remember to submit departmental requirements to each department.

Applicants are eligible for a one-time move without filing a new application and application fee. Requests should be made in writing to gradadm@uga.edu. Please contact Graduate Admissions no earlier than 13 to 14 months before the month that your anticipated new semester of enrollment is to begin. For example, if you want to change your application to Fall 2022, you may make the request as early as July 1, 2021. Also, your request for a change must be made before the drop-add period of the semester that you originally applied for has ended.

You must hold at least a baccalaureate degree accredited by the appropriate regional accrediting association or its international equivalent prior to the expected semester of enrollment, with the exception of University of Georgia undergraduate students enrolled in linked bachelors-masters programs. The Graduate School and the department to which you are applying have additional requirements. Degree-seeking students must submit the following materials:

To Graduate Admissions in the Graduate School:

• Online application and application-processing fee
• Unofficial transcripts from each institution attended. (If UGA, you do not need to submit.)  Official transcripts are only required if offered admission.
• Three (3) letters of reference submitted online when you submit the application.
• Request official entrance test scores to be sent directly to Graduate Admissions.

To the Academic Department

• Additional supplemental information (check with the program coordinator in the academic department)

You must hold at least a baccalaureate degree accredited by the appropriate regional accrediting association or its international equivalent prior to the expected semester of enrollment. The Graduate School and the department to which you are applying have additional requirements. UGA has two classifications of students who are enrolled for graduate study but do not want to pursue a degree program: transient students (students who are currently enrolled in a graduate program at another institution and want to attend UGA for one semester) and nondegree students (students who wish to take courses for certification, licensure, or personal interest). If you wish to be a transient student or nondegree student, you should first confirm with the academic department that the department will consider admission in these categories, before submitting your application for admission. (The application processing fee is non-refundable.) Nondegree applicants must submit:

To Graduate Admissions in the Graduate School:

• Online application and application-processing fee
• Unofficial transcripts of the highest degree earned.  Official transcripts will be required if offered admission.

To the Academic Department

• Additional supplemental information as required by the department (check with the program coordinator in the academic department.)

Transient applicants must submit:

To Graduate Admissions in the Graduate School:

• Online application and application-processing fee
• Transient Form (letter of good standing) sent to us directly from the Dean or graduate officer at your current institution.

To the Academic Department

• Additional supplemental information as required by the department (check with the program coordinator in the academic department.)

According to the provisions of an amendment to the Constitution of the State of Georgia, senior citizens who are residents of Georgia now have access to institutional services available through University System units at reduced cost. The rules adopted by the Board of Regents regarding admission and registration of persons 62 years of age or older in units of the University System are listed here.

Each department establishes its own timeline and procedures for making admissions recommendations. Once departments forward their recommendation to the Graduate Admissions Office, a final review is made. The admissions decision is made by the Graduate School and an email will be sent to you when a decision has been made.

Information and resources found via our Supplemental Information for International Applicants page will facilitate your admissions processing. This page will help you determine appropriate credentials to submit and steps to follow. You will find specifics requirements for academic records, proof of degree, US degree equivalencies and English language proficiency. The tip sheets suggest what Graduate Admissions looks for to complete your file.

You must be eligible based on the University System of Georgia Board of policy. The residency requirements are described under section 403.02. You can also access the petition for in-state classification online. If you feel that you qualify, complete the residency petition and return it with supporting documentation as identified on the instructions page to Graduate Admissions.

Requests for financial aid in the form of assistantships and waivers of non-resident tuition should be made to the academic department to which you are applying. To be eligible for departmental nomination for the UGA Graduate School assistantships (offered by the Graduate School), all general application materials must be received in the Office of Graduate Admissions by January 1 or by the departmental admissions deadline, if earlier than January 1. Academic departments have additional resources to offer departmental assistantships. Please note, that each academic department establishes its own deadlines and criteria for the departmental assistantship awards. A limited number of waivers of the out-of-state tuition portion of the tuition are available from the Graduate School. The academic departments must make nominations, so requests should be submitted to the department. The deadline for initial waiver decisions is usually in early April. Finally, graduate students can apply for student loans through the UGA financial aid office.

The most current information on tuition rates at UGA is posted at the Bursar’s Office website.

Most departments require three letters of recommendation for degree-seeking applicants. Non-degree and transient applicants are not usually required to submit letters of recommendation. Check with the academic department for the most up to date requirements.

You will be asked to list names and contact information for recommenders on the application for admission. An email request with a secure link will be sent to each recommender. Once the recommender completes the recommendation form, it will attach to your application for admission. Departments will be able to view the submitted letters of recommendation in the application portal. You can re-send notification emails to your recommenders via your Status Portal.

Some departments allow recommenders to submit letters in different formats than the one the application uses. You should check with your academic department to see if they allow this. Do not tell recommenders to submit paper or email letters to the Graduate Admissions Office. Since these are for department faculty to review, they need to go directly to the department and the Graduate School does not need to review them.

University of Georgia applicants have the right to appeal admissions decisions. The appeal must first be filed with the academic department responsible for the admissions decision. The department will reconsider your application and inform you of their decision on your request for reconsideration. An unfavorable ruling at the department level may be appealed to the Graduate School within 30 days of the date on the correspondence that you received from the academic department’s decision on the initial appeal.

General directions to the University of Georgia are available on the UGA Visitors Center website. Graduate Admissions is located at 310 Herty Drive. We are also accessible either from Baldwin Street or the North Campus Quad. Guests can park in the Hull Street Deck, North Campus Deck, or Tate Student Center Deck. You can also download maps of the UGA campus.

First, be sure you have closely reviewed the website and appropriate links. Graduate Admissions staff have worked to ensure that all pertinent information is available online. Second, if your question deals mainly with departmental issues (e.g. assistantships, decision timeline, etc.), please contact the department directly. A listing of departmental contacts is available with each Degree Program. Finally, if your reading of the Graduate Admissions website does not yield the answers you need, please email your question to gradadm@uga.edu.

Yes, all accepted applicants who are new to the University of Georgia must fill out an immunization and health history form prior to their first registration. This is submitted to University Health Services. More information is available on the UHS website.

All applicants to a degree program, with the exception of a few programs, must request official test scores to be reported to Graduate Admissions. Most programs require the GRE. Some require GMAT. See the list below for degree programs that will accept more than one entrance test score. Request test scores through the testing agency’s website.

• GRE: http://www.ets.org (ETS school code for UGA: 5813.)
• GMAT: http://www.gmac.com (GMAT codes are program specific and found on the GMAC website)
• MAT: http://www.pearsonassessments.com

No entrance test scores are required for the following programs:

• Agricultural and Environmental Education, MAEE
• Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication, PhD
• Animal and Dairy Science, MS, MS Non-Thesis & PhD
• Anthropology, MA & PhD
• Applied Behavior Analysis, MS
• Art, MFA
• Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, PhD
• Bioinformatics, MS & PhD
• Biomanufacturing and Bioprocessing, MBB
• Business Administration (Professional & Executive), MBA
• Cellular Biology, MS & PhD
• Chemistry, MS & PhD (2023 admissions cycle)
• Child Life, MS
• Classical Languages, MA
• College Student Affairs Administration, MED
• Communication Sciences and Disorders, MED & MA
• Communication Studies, MA and PhD (2022 admissions cycle)
• Comparative Biomedical Sciences, MS & PhD
• Comparative Literature, MA & PhD
• Crop and Soil Sciences, MS & PhD
• Ecology, MS & PhD
• Education, EdS (emphasis in Early Childhood Education and Middle Grades Education)
• Education, EdS (emphasis in Reading Education, Children’s Literature and Language Arts P-5)
• Education, EdS (emphasis in Reading Education, Children’s Literature and Language Arts 6-12)
• Education, EdS (emphais in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages)
• Education, EdS (emphasis in World Language Education)
• Education, MA (emphasis in Literacies and Children’s Literature)
• Educational Administration and Policy, MEd
• Educational Leadership, EdD (2021 admissions cycle)
• Educational Psychology with Applied Cognition and Development emphasis, MEd online program
• Educational Psychology with Gifted and Creative Education emphasis, MEd and EdS online programs and Athens campus programs
• Educational Psychology with Quantitative Methodology emphasis, MEd
• Educational Theory and Practice, PhD
• Elementary Education, MAT and MED
• Engineering, MS & PhD (Spring 2024 cycle)
• English Education, MEd, MAT, EdS
• English, MA & PhD
• Entomology, MS & PhD
• Environmental Health Science, MS and PhD
• Epidemiology and Biostatistics, MS and PHD (Fall 2021 admissions cycle)
• Financial Planning, Housing and Consumer Economics, MS Non-Thesis
• Food Science and Technology, MFT Online, MS & PhD
• Forestry and Natural Resources, MS & PhD
• Forest Resources, MFR
• Genetics, MS & PhD
• Geography, MA MS & PhD
• Geology, MS & PhD
• Health Administration, MHA
• Higher Education, MED & PhD
• Historic Preservation, MHP
• History, MA & PhD
• Horticulture, MS & PhD
• Human Development and Family Science, MS, MS Non-Thesis & PhD
• Infectious Disease, PhD
• Integrated Life Sciences, PhD
• Integrated Plant Sciences, PhD
• International Biomedical Regulatory Sciences, MS
• International Policy, MIP (2021 admissions cycle only)
• Journalism, MA and MA Non-Thesis
• Kinesiology, MS Non-Thesis
• Law, LLM
• Latin, MA Non-Thesis (2021-22 admissions cycle)
• Learning, Design and Techology, MEd & EdS
• Learning, Leadership & Organizational Development, MEd & EdD (Fall 2021 cycle only)
• Marine Sciences, MS & PhD
• Mathematics, MA, MA Non-Thesis, & PhD (2022 admissions cycle only)
• Mathematics Education (Athens Campus), MEd & MAT
• Mathematics Education (Griffin Campus), MEd & EdS
• Microbiology, MS & PhD
• Middle Grades Education, MAT and MED
• Middle Grades Education (online), MED
• Music, MM and DMA
• Music Education, MMEd
• Natural Resources, MNR (2021 admissions cycle only)
• Nonprofit Management and Leadership, MA
• Pharmaceutical & Biomedical Sciences, MS & PhD
• Pharmacy (Clinical and Experimental Therapeutics), MS & PhD
• Pharmacy (Pharmaceutical Health Services, Outcomes and Policy Program), MS & PhD
• Philosophy, MA & PhD
• Physics, MS & PhD
• Plant Biology, MS & PhD
• Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics, MS & PhD
• Plant Protection and Pest Management, MPPPM
• Plant Pathology, MS & PhD
• Polymer Fiber & Textile Sciences, PhD
• Professional Counseling (School Counseling emphasis), MEd
• Professional School Counseling, EdS
• Psychology, PhD (Behavioral and Brain Science emphasis only)
• Public Health, DrPH and MPH
• Reading Education (MED- Online & Campus-based)
• Romance Languages, MA & PhD
• Science Education, MEd & EdS
• Social Work, MSW
• Sociology, MA & PhD (2022 admissions cycle)
• Special Education, Med & MAT
• Student Affairs Leadership, EdD
• Higher Education, EdD
• Narrative Media Writing, MFA
• Statistics, MS & PhD
• TESOL and World Language Education, MED,
• TESOL, MAT
• Textile Merchandising and Interiors, MS & MS Non-Thesis
• Theatre and Film Studies, MFA
• Toxicology, MS & PhD
• Urban Planning and Design, MUPD
• Workforce Education, MAT, MED & EdS
• World Language Education, MAT

GRE or GMAT may be submitted for these degree programs:

• Business Administration, MA, MBA, or PHD
• Business Technology, MBT
• Financial Planning, Housing and Consumer Economics, MS, MS Non-Thesis, PhD
• Marketing Research, MMR
• Mass Communication, PhD
• Special Education, MED or MAT

GRE or MAT may be submitted for degree programs:

• Agricultural and Environmental Education, MAEE
• Art Education, MAEd
• College Student Affairs Administration, MEd
• Early Childhood Education, MEd, or EdS
• Educational Administration and Policy, MEd, or EdS
• Educational Psychology, MEd, or EdS
• English Education, EdS
• Professional Counseling, MEd, or EdS
• Middle School Education, MEd, or EdS
• Workforce Education, MAT, MEd, or EdS
• Reading Education, MEd, or EdS
• Teaching Additional Languages, MEd, or EdS

Applicants whose primary language is not English must submit official TOEFL or IELTS scores that are not more than two years old. Applicants who have received degrees from accredited institutions in the U.S. or from institutions in countries where English is the primary language (e.g., the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand) usually are not required to submit the TOEFL (or IELTS) scores. If such an applicant received the degree more than two years prior to application to the Graduate School and has been residing / working in a country where the primary language is not English, he or she must submit current scores. Students who are currently enrolled and have been enrolled at least one year at a regionally accredited U.S. institution, may have the English language proficiency requirement waived, if their work shows a strong quality of performance. Some departments may require the TOEFL (or IELTS) regardless of previous educational experience. The University of Georgia will accept satisfactory scores on either the TOEFL or IELTS language proficiency examinations for admission to graduate programs. Test scores must be submitted directly from the testing agency and must be received before the academic department makes a recommendation for admission.

Applicants should submit unofficial transcripts from all institutions attended as part of the online application. Unofficial transcripts not submitted as part of the online application can be emailed to gradadm@uga.edu. Official transcripts are not required during the review process and will only be required for applicants who are offered admission. Do not mail official transcripts until offered admission. For information about international credentials and what is considered by us to be official, please visit our Country-Specific Academic Credentials and Requirements page. Applicants must submit the following materials: To Graduate Admissions in the Graduate School:

• Unofficial transcripts from each institution attended. (If UGA, you do not need to submit).

No, the Graduate School and the academic department must have an official copy (as defined in No. 7) to be fully admitted to the Graduate School. If your transcript has not been received by the first day of classes for your admission term, email gradadm@uga.edu.