Application Fee Waivers

Application Fee waivers

As we are committed to promoting a diverse graduate community, the Graduate School has agreed to waive the $75 dollar non-refundable application fee for prospective students associated with the following organizations and partnerships:

  • Institute for Recruitment of Teachers (IRT)
  • Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP)
  • Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program (McNair)
  • University of Connecticut University Scholars - University Scholars should apply for admission to graduate school in the final semester of their undergraduate career.
  • Veterans, guardsmen, reservists, and active duty.
    • For veterans, guardsmen and reservists:
      • Upload a copy of your DD214 in the Experience section of your application.
    • For active duty military please upload one of the following options in the Experience section of your application:
      • Option 1: A copy of your active military ID.
      • Option 2: An unofficial JST transcript.
      • Option 3: A letter from your commander or personnel office stating you are active military.

Effective for applicants applying for the Spring 2020 term and beyond, the application fee will be waived for students currently enrolled in a UConn graduate program (certificate, master’s, or doctoral) when they apply to another graduate program (certificate, master’s, or doctoral). Similarly, if a student completes a UConn graduate program (certificate, master’s, or doctorate) and is applying for admission in the semester that immediately follows, the application fee will be waived automatically when an application is submitted and finalized. However, if there is a break in enrollment, the application fee will be required.

At The Graduate School we acknowledge that there may be circumstances in which students do not belong to any of the above organizations or partnerships. In such cases, some individual programs at the University of Connecticut may offer a limited number of fee waivers for exceptional candidates.  In these cases, the program is responsible for paying the application fee. Please contact specific programs of interest for further information.

Additional questions or details regarding how to access application fee waivers should be addressed to The Graduate School Admissions at gradadmissions@uconn.edu  or 860-486-3617.

New Diversity fee waiver program

In addition to the diversity fee-waivers for the programs and organizations listed above, as of Fall 2023, The Graduate School has implemented a new initiative that will allow individual departments and programs to offer a limited number of diversity fee waivers to select in-person and virtual recruiting events. The Graduate School will update this page with events that have been selected to receive these waivers. If you attend one of these events you will receive an automatic fee-waiver. If you have questions about any of these events or if you are a department that would like to have an event considered, please contact stuart.duncan@uconn.edu

Fall 2023-Summer 2024 Diversity fee waiver Events:

We are currently in the process of accepting applications for the Fall 2023 admissions cycle, and once complete, events will be listed here.

Examples of events and organizations that we have partnered with in the past:

  • National Graduate Degrees for Minorities in Engineering and Science (GEM) Consortium
  • PhD Project
  • Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS)
  • Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS)
  • GEM national conference
  • Out in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (oSTEM) national conference
  • Math Alliance
  • Minority Access to Research Careers (MARC Scholars)
  • National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) national or regional conference
  • Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) regional conference
  • Society of Women Engineers (SWE) regional conference