Graduate Admissions

To be eligible for admission for graduate study at the University of North Carolina Wilmington applicants must:

• U.S. Bachelor's Degree: Students must possess a bachelor’s degree, or its U.S. equivalent, from a college or university accredited by an approved institutional accreditor. 
  
  
  • Approved Institutional Accreditor List: 
    • Higher Learning Commission (HLC)
    • Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE)
    • New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC)
    • Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU)
    • Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges (SACS-COC)
    • Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC)
      
      
• Case-by-Case Review: U.S. transcripts from an institution not on the approved list, whose accrediting body is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as an Institutional Accrediting Agency, may be considered on a case-by-case basis. 
  
  
• International Degrees: If your degree is from outside the U.S., it must be equivalent to a U.S. bachelor's degree. To verify this, an official course-by-course transcript evaluation from an agency approved by the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) is required.
  
  
• Final Transcript Verification: One official U.S. transcript or international course-by-course evaluation verifying completion of a bachelor’s degree, or equivalent, must be received prior to the first official day of classes for the admitted term. 
  
  
• Student Holds (Current/Previous UNCW Students): Applicants with an application hold will not be allowed to move forward in the application process until the hold is released. Check your mySeaport account to view your account hold(s) or contact studentaccounts@uncw.edu.
  
  
• Grade Point Average: Have a strong overall academic record with a B average or better in the basic courses prerequisite to the area of proposed graduate study. Provisional admission may be considered by some programs. Contact the program coordinator for additional information regarding their acceptance policy.
  
  
• Level: Graduate and undergraduate programs may not be pursued simultaneously.
  
  
• Online Accelerated Programs (OAP): OAP programs must be pursued independent of any other program. 
  
  
• Additional Requirements: Meet any additional admission requirement(s) as outlined by the graduate program.

• You will create your account after choosing a Regular Term Instruction (RTI) or Online Accelerated Program (OAP) program option on our application page.
• Please create only one account. Use the same log-in anytime you start or continue an application.
• Review the deadlines for your program of interest on our Key Dates page.

• A $75 USD (non-transferable and non-refundable) application fee is due upon submission and is payable by MasterCard, Visa, or Discover via the online application.
• Applicants will be prompted by the system to pay the application fee upon submission. 
• If you are eligible for an application fee waiver, complete the proper form (including any required approvals) from the choices below and upload it into the application when prompted.
• You will be prompted to add a discount code, in addition to the document upload.

• United States Service Member
• McNair Scholar (form located within the online application)
• UNCW Faculty/Staff or Dependent

• Why does the graduate application ask for my social security number?
  • Financial Aid
  • Working on campus
  • Helps to match test scores
    
    
• To ensure that your supplemental documents are matched properly to your application:
  
  • Use your full legal name
  • Include any previous names

Recommendation Info

• Recommendations
  • Required by some programs. View the key dates pages to see if your program requires recommendations.
  • Recommenders submit the recommendation through the online application.
  • During the application process, applicants will be prompted to enter the names and contact information of your recommender.
  • An e-mail notification will be sent on your behalf, prompting the recommender to complete the survey.
  • Your application may be submitted prior to recommender completion.
  • Self-monitor the progress from your online application and application checklist.

Recommendation FAQ

My recommender has not received the e-mail with the login information. What do I do?

• Notification e-mails will indicate "gradschool@uncw.edu" as the sender. If the recommender's e-mail uses a spam-blocking tool, ask that the recommender add gradschool@uncw.edu to their safe/known recipient list.
• Type the recommender email address to avoid the addition of invisible characters by using copy/paste.
• Ask for a personal email address (i.e., Gmail or Yahoo)

How do I change a recommender?

• As long as the recommender has not already submitted the recommendation, you may log back into your online application and choose 'cancel' and add an alternate recommender.

May I reuse recommendations from a previous application?

• Recommendations may be reused from a submitted application (with paid application fee) for up to one academic year.

My program only requires 2 recommendations. What happens if I list 3 recommenders?

• Listing more than the required recommendations will delay the processing of your application.

I did not waive my right to review the recommendation. How may I view the recommendation that was submitted on my behalf?

• Recommendations from a submitted application (with paid application fee) may be viewed by making an appointment. We are happy to meet with you virtually to review the recommendation(s) that were submitted on your behalf. Please note that state-issued photo identification is required.

• Check the key dates for your program of interest to find out if additional forms or documents are required for your application.
• Uploads are added to the application after submission.

• Campus Safety Questions
  • Series of UNC System-required questions on the application related to safety.
  • These questions are required.
  • Answer these questions truthfully.

Application Fee Waivers

• United States Service Member
• Deferment Requests
• McNair Scholars (In Online Application)
• UNCW Faculty/Staff/Dependent

Essay/Statement of Interest Program

• Biology & Marine Biology, M.S. (form coming soon)
• Psychology, M.S. (form coming soon)

International Applicants 

• Rejection of Sponsorship

Internal Forms 

• Graduate School Interest

Test Score Waiver 

• M.S.W. Social Work 

• Residency for UNC System students is determined by the Residency Determination Service (RDS).  

• Test Score Codes
  • GRE: 5907
  • MAT: 1372
  • GMAT: Use keyword search "Wilmington"
• Tests are required by some programs.
• View the key dates to see if test scores are required by your program.
• Test scores are valid for five years.
• Official scores must be sent directly to the UNCW Graduate School.
• Scores should include your full name.
• Allow enough time to meet required deadlines.
• A department code is not required.
• Test Registration - Test may be taken at UNCW through University Testing Services
• Test Preparation 
  • Free One-Hour Strategy Workshop or Live Online, On-Campus & Online Prep

• We know money matters.
• You can find the financial information you need for the graduate school, including tuition, scholarships and payment options.

Financial Support

• The Graduate School requires one official transcript from each university, college, community college, junior college and high school dual enrollment institution attended.
• Transfer credit listed on another institution's transcript is not acceptable.
• Transcripts are not required for short term study abroad work that is transcripted (i.e., the courses and/or grades from the study abroad experience are listed) by a regionally accredited U.S. institution. 
• Transcripts may be sent prior to application submission.
• List your full legal name and any and all past names on your application.
• The Graduate School does not return or reissue documents submitted as part of the application, including transcripts.

Submit Official Transcripts To:

• Electronic Method:
  Password protected transcripts requested directly from the institution. 
  You may choose UNCW Graduate School, UNC-Wilmington, etc. or they may be sent directly from the system by email to UNCW.
  
  
  
• Paper Method - Official Transcript (Envelope Sealed by the Institution):
  UNCW Graduate School
  Attn: Kimberly Goerne Harris
  601 S. College Rd.
  Wilmington, NC 28403-5955

• You do not need to request a UNCW transcript if you have ever attended UNCW
• List UNCW as an institution on your application.
• The Graduate School will be responsible for obtaining your academic record from mySeaport (at no cost to you*), including any transfer work reflected on your UNCW transcript.
• Submit official transcripts from any institution not reflected on your UNCW transcript or any institution attended after UNCW.

• Do not send unevaluated foreign transcripts directly to the Graduate School.
• Credential evaluations are not required for short-term study abroad experiences sponsored and transcripted through a regionally accredited U.S. institution.
• The Graduate School does not return or reissue documents submitted as part of the application, including transcripts.
  
  
• Applicants with International Transcripts: 
  Unofficial transcripts may be used for credit earned outside of the U.S. for the purposes of admission.  The transcript must be issued in English or translated by a certified academic translating company, such as IEE.
  
  
  • International Transcript Evaluation Request (Completed one business day after application is submitted)
    
    
• Admitted Students with International Transcripts:
  All foreign course-by-course transcript evaluations should be requested from one of the evaluation companies belonging to the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES). The course-by-course credit evaluation will determine the institution accreditation, degree, credits, and course equivalents earned. The evaluation should be sent directly to the Graduate School.
  
  
  • NACES Members List
  • IEE Form (Expedited evaluation timeframe and discounted rate)
  • SPANTRAN/TEC Form (Expedited evaluation timeframe and discounted rate)
    Note: SPANTRAN/TEC does not equate three-year degrees from India to a bachelor's degree. Please use an alternate evaluation company if you have a three-year degree.

Department of State Agency Applicants (i.e.. Fulbright, AMIDEAST, Laspau, or USAID)

• Certified true copies of the transcript(s) in English may be submitted electronically directly from the Department of State Agency to the Graduate School. Original transcripts are supplied by the agency if an offer of acceptance is extended.

If admitted, the electronic password protected Official Course-by-Course Evaluation (Directly from the evaluation service to include a copy of the original documents used to conduct the evaluation) should be requested.:

• The course by course evaluation must come directly from the evaluation service, typically through their electronic transcript portal.

Submit - Official Course-by-Course Evaluation (Directly from the evaluation service to include a copy of the original documents used to conduct the evaluation):

• UNCW Graduate School
  Attn: Kimberly Goerne Harris
  601 S. College Rd.
  Wilmington, NC 28403-5955