How to apply

Apply online via the UI Graduate and Professional Admissions website.

After you submit your application, you will receive email instructions on how to establish your HawkID and password in order to access your Admissions Profile on MyUI, our online portal for students. All supporting materials can and should be uploaded through your Admissions Profile. If your academic program requires letters of recommendation, you will be asked to provide the contact information of your recommenders on your profile. The recommender will then receive an email from the Office of Admissions instructing them on how to upload a recommendation letter and/or recommendation form.

Applicants for admission to the graduate program must meet the admission requirements of the Graduate College and the department offering the degree program (review the General Catalog for departmental requirements). See the Manual of Rules and Regulations of the Graduate College on the Graduate College website for additional information.

Contact

Department of Sociology and Criminology
The University of Iowa
401 North Hall
Iowa City, IA 52242-1401
sociology@uiowa.edu
1-319-335-2502

Office of Admissions
The University of Iowa
108 Calvin Hall
Iowa City, IA 52242-1396
admissions@uiowa.edu
1-319-335-1523

Important deadlines

Application deadline: Jan. 1 (for all programs)

Requirements for admission

Applicants for fall semester whose application materials are received by Jan. 1 have the best chance to be admitted and receive financial aid. All applicants must submit:

  • Academic transcripts
  • Letters of recommendation from three persons familiar with their past academic work
  • A statement of purpose
  • One or more samples of original writing (one of which should be in SUBJECTHERE) that show their ability to pursue graduate work in SUBJECTHERE (an honors thesis, term paper, seminar paper, or other course papers)
  • International students must also submit TOEFL, or IELTS or Duolingo, scores according to the English Proficiency Requirements of the Graduate College

Application procedure

The graduate application process has two steps

  • You must first submit the online application to the Graduate College and pay the $60 application fee by credit card ($100 for international applicants).
  • Once you have submitted your application, you will receive an email instructing you on how to upload your supporting documents and submit letters of recommendation. A few programs require materials be sent directly to them. However, almost all supplemental material can and should be uploaded from your Admissions Profile in MyUI, our online service center for applicants and students. You can only access this AFTER you have submitted your application.
GRE scores are not required for this program.

Degree program supplemental materials

  • A Department of Sociology and Criminology Application Statement
  • Application for Graduate Awards

Recommendations

The application requirement section of your Profile includes an electronic letter of recommendation feature. If your program of study requires letters of recommendation, you will be asked to give the contact information of your recommenders including their email on your Admissions Profile. The recommender will then get an email giving them instructions on how to upload the recommendation letter and/or form.

  • Three letters of recommendation

Materials to send to Admissions

  • A set of your unofficial academic records/transcripts uploaded on your Admissions Profile. If you are admitted, official transcripts will be required before your enrollment. For international records, all records should bear the original stamp or seal of the institution and the signature of a school official.  Documents not in English must be accompanied by a complete, literal, English translation, certified by the issuing institution.
  • International students may also be required to submit TOEFL, IELTS, or DuoLingo scores to comply with the university's English Language Proficiency Requirements.
  • Once recommended for admission, international students must send a Financial Statement.

FAQ

No, GRE scores are not required to be submitted and will not be used to evaluate your application

We do not send materials by postal mail, since all of the needed information and required forms are available on this website.

We strongly discourage applications to begin the program in the Spring and only rarely admit students who submit applications.  The reasons are that (1) courses that are offered only in the Fall semester are often prerequisites for Spring semester courses; (2) funding is rarely available in the Spring for new students; and (3) office space is rarely available in the Spring.

Application volumes can vary substantially from year-to-year.  Lately, we are seeing about 50 applications per year. Incoming cohorts are generally 5-8 students. The number of admittees usually depends on the availability of funding to support the students.

Currently, all of the students admitted to our program have some form of funding.  Most receive teaching or research assistantships.  Some have external (i.e., non-University of Iowa) funding.  A very small number of students receive fellowships from the University of Iowa's Graduate College.

A fellowship generally includes a 12-month stipend and a full tuition scholarship, renewable for four or five years (provided that the student is making adequate progress in the program).  Usually, the first and last year of a fellowship are free from assisting faculty with research and teaching (while the middle years require that the student work with faculty on assignments related to teaching or research).  In contrast, teaching and research assistantships are generally 9-month appointments, carrying a stipend and partial tuition scholarship.  Students who receive teaching or research assistantships are expected to work an average of 20 hours per week on assignments related to teaching or research.

Yes.  Students who are not U.S. citizens are eligible for teaching assistantships, and in most cases, research assistantships.  Note, however, that students who receive teaching assistantships must be certified by the English as a Second Language Program.  International students are also eligible for Presidential Fellowships.  International students do not apply for the Presidential Fellowships themselves.  The Department will decide if a student should be nominated for a Presidential Fellowship and, if so, will submit the nomination to the Graduate College.

Non-international applicants may be eligible for an application fee waiver based on financial hardship, see here for more information. International students are not eligible under any circumstances.