Graduate Admission Requirements

Each graduate program is responsible for setting application requirements and admission criteria beyond the minimum requirements set by the university (outlined below). Programs set their application deadlines, and they set their own schedule for making admission decisions. Programs have the authority to require certain pre-admission examinations, to require the satisfactory completion of certain coursework prior to admission, and to establish other admission requirements. Admissions decisions are made by the program, and those decisions are final. 

Your application, application fee, and all required materials must be submitted by the program's deadline in order to be considered for review.

Most programs utilize the UC Graduate Admissions Application. In order to begin an application, you will create an account with UC's Application Portal. You'll select the proper application year, entry term, and program to get started on the application! 

Select programs use outside applications instead, including:

• All programs within the College of Nursing (NursingCAS)
• Occupational Therapy (OTCAS)
• Physical Therapy (PTCAS)
• Athletic Training (ATCAS)
• Audiology (CSDCAS)
• Speech Language Pathology (CSDCAS)
• Public Health (SOPHAS)

Please note that UC admits by entry term (semester), so ensure that you are applying to the proper entry term. Not all programs are available to start every entry term. Please reference your program's admissions website for more information.

Applicants seeking to enter or be considered for more than one program or certificate must complete and submit a separate application for each program or certificate. The same application system account can be used for both applications.

You must provide the required materials for each program. Each application requires separate, customized letters of recommendation. Letters of recommendation and materials submitted to one program will not be shared with other programs. 

There is no restriction on the number of programs to which an applicant may apply. An applicant must submit an application fee with each application. The only exception is for officially recognized dual-degree programs.

For information on graduate programs and application deadlines, please see the Graduate Program Finder or contact your program directly with any questions. 

A non-refundable fee is required at the time of application and is only payable by credit card (Visa, MasterCard, Discover accepted) or electronic check. 

Standard Application Fees:

• $65.00 for domestic applicants to most degree programs
• $70.00 for international applicants to most degree programs
• $20.00 for domestic applicants to Graduate Certificates
• $25.00 for international applicants to Graduate Certificates 
• Application fees for UC Online programs are waived through the following deadlines:
  • Spring 2026 - Fee waived thru 11/1/25
  • Summer 2026 - Fee waived thru 3/1/26
  • Fall 2026 - Fee waived thru 7/1/26                
• Fee waivers are automatically applied for applicants who:     
  • are currently serving in the US armed forces, or
  • are veterans of the US armed forces.

Fees Outside the Standard Application Fees:

• $140.00 for the Physiology (MS) program
• $75.00 for domestic applicants to the College of Engineering & Applied Science (CEAS)
• $80.00 for international applicants to the College of Engineering & Applied Science (CEAS)
• Occupational Therapy application and additional application fees found at OTCAS
• Physical Therapy application and additional application fees found at PTCAS
• Communication Sciences and Disorders application and additional application fees found at CSDCAS
• Nursing application and additional application fees found at NURSINGCAS
• Public Health application and additional application fees found at SOPHAS
• Additional pre-screening/audition fees for programs within the College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) found at CCM's acceptd site

Applications will only be considered complete once the application fee had been paid and all required materials have been received.

Submit unofficial transcripts from all colleges and universities attended. Please add each undergraduate and graduate institution you have attended to the application, including the institution you are currently attending (if applicable). An unofficial transcript (scan of transcript or degree audit) is required for each institution (including in-progress coursework) even if you have previously submitted official transcripts or attended the University of Cincinnati. This will be used for the admissions review process and so must contain a complete record of your courses and grades.

A note to international applicants: Some programs require that applicants who completed coursework outside of the United States submit an official transcript evaluation by a NACES member (commonly used members include IEE, Josef Silny & Associates, SpanTran, WES, etc.) at the time of application. These programs include: Biostatistics, Clinical & Translational Research, Criminal Justice, Epidemiology, Industrial Hygiene, Information Technology (PhD only), Nutrition Sciences, Occuptational Safety & Ergonomics, Respiratory Therapy, and Toxicology. 

Additionally, some programs at UC, mostly within the Lindner College of Business, accept certain international three-year degrees as applicable to U.S. four-year degrees. Please contact the Lindner College of Business at graduate@uc.edu with questions and to see if your degree qualifies. All other programs, unless otherwise stated, do not accept three-year degrees. 

Please note: Applicants to programs within the College of Nursing, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, Audiology, Speech-Language Pathology, and Public Health MUST submit official transcripts or transcript evaluations through the appropriate CAS application system at the time of application. This includes UC transcripts for those applicants who previously attended UC.

After confirming enrollment, new students are required to submit official transcripts or official transcript evaluations based on the policy outlined below. Enrollment will not be finalized until this requirement is met. 

• International Applicants: A transcript for a bachelor’s degree is considered final and official if it came with a NACES member (commonly used members include IEE, Josef Silny & Associates, WES, etc.) document-by-document or general (typically the most inexpensive option) evaluation, and was sent directly to UC from that NACES member organization. Evaluations can be obtained for all degrees completed but are only required for bachelor’s degrees. This requirement does not apply to international applicants who received a bachelor's degree from a US college or university. Please follow the instructions below under "Domestic Applicants" if you received your bachelor's degree from a US college or university. 
• Domestic Applicants: A transcript is considered final and official if it came from the degree-granting institution directly (either by mail or electronically) and shows the degree conferral date, either on the transcript document or on a separate diploma document. Transcripts must be sent electronically from the degree-granting institution or mailed directly to UC from the degree-granting institution.

Once you have confirmed enrollment at UC, please submit an official transcript showing the conferral of a bachelor's degree as soon as possible. If transcripts do not explicitly state that a degree was conferred, additional documentation will be requested. Official final transcripts or transcript evaluations showing bachelor's degree conferral must be submitted by the start of a student's first term of enrollment at UC. A course registration hold will be placed on the second term of enrollment for any student missing their official transcript/transcript evaluation showing bachelor's degree conferral. Individual programs may require the submission of additional official transcripts, and students should consult with the program to find out the requirements.

Official transcripts/transcript evaluations can be sent to the following address:

Graduate Admissions

University of Cincinnati

2618 University Circle

PO Box 210091

Cincinnati, OH 45221-0091 

Additionally, many schools send transcripts electronically. Graduate Admissions accepts electronic transcripts sent directly by the school or transcript evaluation company as official transcripts. These documents can be sent to grad.admissions@uc.edu.

Students who have received degrees from the University of Cincinnati do not need to submit official copies of their UC transcripts at the time of enrollment.

• Have you accepted admission into a graduate program yet? If not, please wait until you accept your offer of admission to send your official transcript or transcript evaluation. We will not process any transcripts/transcript evaluations for applicants who have not accepted an offer of admission. 
• Did you just graduate? Before you order, check with your institution to make sure your completed degree will be listed on your transcript or transcript evaluation. If your transcript does not verify that you have earned your degree, you will be required to send us a new transcript/transcript evaluation once that information is added.
• Did you attend multiple institutions previously or have a degree from multiple institutions? Unless you are applying for advanced standing (transfer) credit from previous coursework, only your official transcript from the institution you received your bachelor's degree is required. Other transcripts only need to be sent if you are applying for advanced standing transfer credit.
• Are you ordering an electronic transcript? You must have the institution send your electronic transcript directly to Graduate Admissions (grad.admissions@uc.edu). Electronic transcripts received by the student and then forwarded on to Graduate Admissions are not considered official. Only electronic transcripts sent directly to UC are considered official.
• Are you ordering paper copies to be sent to yourself? We can accept paper transcripts from students only if the transcript is still in its original, sealed envelope. We will not accept transcripts if the envelope has been opened or if the envelope has been resealed.

Students who have completed graduate work at other colleges, universities, or within another program at UC may petition their graduate program director for transfer of credits to be applied towards a master’s or doctoral degree at UC. This petition is evaluated by the UC graduate program. A UC graduate program can accept or reject transfer credits at its own discretion, regardless of the graduate degree program or discipline in which they were earned.

Typically, credits are not transferred if they were earned more than five years prior to the date of the student’s application to the UC program that is considering the credit transfer.

Some students may wish to take courses outside the university while they are a current student in a UC degree program. If a student wishes to take courses from outside the university as part of their graduate degree at UC, they must obtain advance approval from their program for those transfer credits prior to enrolling in the outside courses.

The number of required letters varies by program. Please search for your program on the Graduate Program Finder to view full application requirements, including the number of letters of recommendation required and any specific guidelines for those letters.

Proof of English proficiency is required of all applicants who are not U.S. citizens or permanent residents, and who were educated in a country where the official national language is not English. Applicants can demonstrate English proficiency via standardized test score or by meeting the requirements for one of the waivers below. 

Please note that some programs have higher minimum test score requirements than those listed below. Applicants should contact the programs to which they are applying for details.

The following exams and minimum scores are accepted as proof of English proficiency:

• TOEFL: minimum score of 4.5 (on the 1-6 scale) or 80 iBT (on the 0-120 scale)
  • In-person and at-home (online) exam scores accepted. TOEFL Essentials and My Best Test scores are not accepted. 
• IELTS: minimum score of 6.5 overall band 
  • In-person and at-home (online) exam scores accepted. One Skill Retake is not accepted. Only IELTS Academic exam is accepted.
• Duolingo (DET): minimum score of 110
• PTE: minimum score of 54

UC only accepts official scores sent directly from the testing agency to UC, preferably via electronic sending methods. For TOEFL, please use school code 1833. IELTS scores must be sent directly from your testing center to UC.

Self-reported scores will not complete your application nor will scores that are below the minimum qualifying scores listed above.

For proper matching of your test score(s) to your application, please use the same email address for both your test registration and your admissions application. 

When completing the graduate application, international applicants will automatically be exempted from the English Proficiency testing requirement if they have received or will receive a bachelor's or higher degree from one of the following countries where English is the official language:

Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Botswana, Cameroon, Canada (except Quebec), Cayman Islands, Denmark, Dominica, Fiji, Finland, Gambia, Ghana, Gibraltar, Grenada, Guyana, Ireland, Jamaica, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Malta, Mauritius, Montserrat, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, Scotland, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Africa, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Swaziland, Sweden, Tanzania, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, Uganda, United States, United Kingdom, Vanuatu, Virgin Islands, Wales, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Based on the criteria below, a request for a waiver of the English proficiency requirement may be made by the applicant to the graduate admissions office. After you submit your application, please contact grad.admissions@uc.edu and provide the appropriate documentation for waiver consideration. Please note that we will not be able to apply the waiver to your application until after the application has been submitted. 

Waivers will be considered if the applicant has fulfilled one of the following:

• Received or will receive a bachelor's or higher degree from an entirely English-instructing institution. This requires that all programs at the institution are taught exclusively in English, not just the program in which the applicant earned their degree. Please provide documentation stating that the entire university uses English as the medium of instruction. 
• Passed a nationally administered professional test that requires evaluation of both oral and written English (e.g., USMLE or Cambridge C2 Proficiency passed with a Grade B or higher)
• Completion of Level 112 of Intensive English instruction at an ELS Language Center. Please provide the completion certificate. 

Please note that US Permanent Residents do not need to provide proof of English proficiency. 

Test score requirements vary by program. Please search for your program on the Graduate Program Finder to view full application requirements, including if the program requires submission of a standardized test score for admission.  

Please note that UC only accepts official scores sent directly from the testing agency to UC, preferably via electronic sending methods. For GRE scores, please use school code 1833. Do NOT choose a department code. Choosing a department code will likely cause your scores to go to the wrong place and not be added to your application.

Both the in-person and at-home versions of the GRE are accepted. Self-reported scores will not complete your application.

For proper matching of your test score(s) to your application, please use the same email address for both your test registration and your admissions application.

Other requirements such as CV/Resume, Personal Statement, etc. vary by program. Search by program to view full admissions requirements.

Contact Graduate Admissions at grad.admissions@uc.edu or (513) 556-1100.

Admission decisions are made and posted by the individual graduate programs. You will receive an email when a decision has been made for your application. You may log into your applicant status page at any time to check the status of your application.