Quick Facts for Research based (MS and Ph.D.) Graduate Program Applicants

1. How to apply: Electronic application must be made through the University of Delaware's Office of Graduate & Professional Education. The DBI GradWav provides fee waivers to encourage domestic applicants (U.S. Citizen and Permanent Residents) from diverse backgrounds to apply to graduate programs in life sciences and related STEM disciplines. See http://gradwav.dbi.udel.edu to apply.
2. For research MS and Ph.D. applicants: Complete applications received by January 15th will have the best opportunity for admission with full financial aid for the fall semester. If space remains, we will continue to review complete applications received prior to April 15th. U.S. citizens and permanent residents may apply for spring admission (deadline October 1) however, it is best to contact us prior to application to be sure that we are admitting students for spring that year. Foreign nationals cannot be considered for spring admission due to university language training requirements.
3. We typically enroll 15-20 new MS and Ph.D. graduate students each year.
4. As of spring 2020, there are over 90 students enrolled in our MS & PhD graduate programs, all of which receive full financial support.
5. We have no minimum GRE score for admission although most admitted students have GREs over 50th percentile.
6. Foreign nationals who do not have a degree from a US university must take the TOEFL or IELTS. The minimum scores are 100 on the TOEFL IBT (with a 22 or better on the speak portion) or 7.5 on the IELTS. Applicants whose scores are below these minima will be rejected without review by the administration. However, foreign nationals needing further English language training prior to entering graduate school may apply jointly to the UD English Language Institute and the graduate program; see http://sites.udel.edu/eli/programs/cap/ for details
7. Over 95% of admitted MS and Ph.D. applicants have prior, substantive research experience. This must be well documented in the application.
8. Graduate students typically are not admitted directly into research mentor laboratories. MS students usually chose their research mentor during the first two weeks of their first semester in the program. Ph.D. students perform 2-3 laboratory rotations during the first year in the program and chose their mentor from these rotation experiences.
9. 100% of our MS and Ph.D. graduate students receive full financial assistance in the form of teaching assistantships, research assistantships, fellowships, and outside awards.
10. The value of the typical financial aid package is $53,500 per year including a full-tuition scholarship for the academic year and a stipend in the amount of $26,666 for the 12-month calendar year.
11. The University of Delaware provides funded graduate students discounted group rates for health and dental insurance. Note: health insurance is mandatory for everyone; see https://www.universityhealthplans.com/ for details. Spouses or families can be included for an additional charge. If you already have coverage, you can complete a waiver form.
12. The median time to degree for a typical Masters of Science student is 2 years.
13. The median time to degree for a typical doctoral student is 5.5 years.

If you have any questions about the program or application process, please contact the Graduate Program Director, Erica Selva, at selva@udel.edu.