— Office of Graduate Studies — Admissions — Steps to Admission

Steps to Admission

Becoming a UNMC graduate student begins with the application. You will use UniCAS to upload certain information and monitor your application status. If you need help or have questions with the system, the UniCAS instructions page serves as your go-to guide.

2023-2024 Application Link 2024-2025 Application Link

Eligibility

A minimum of a 4-year U.S. Bachelor's Degree or international equivalent
Minimum 3.0 GPA, based on a 4-point scale
- IGPBS Program requires a minimum 3.25 GPA based on a 4-point scale
GRE scores for many programs (must be taken within 5 years)
Additional information for some graduate degree programs

For complete details on admissions eligibility, read the Graduate Studies Catalog.

Step 1: Application & Materials

Make sure all of your information is submitted prior to your program's application deadline. Please use a valid email address on your application, as this is how Graduate Studies will communicate with you.

Application: Complete the Application for Admission.
- For Public Health Graduate Programs, use the SOPHAS Application.
- For the Nursing Graduate Program, use the NursingCAS Application.
- If you're applying for the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Biomedical Sciences, make sure to review the application tips below.
$60 Application Fee: The fee is non-refundable, so review exemption rules at the bottom of this page before payment.
- $0-IGPBS Application Fee: Refer to section below the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Biomedical Sciences Application for more information.
Official Transcripts: Transcript evaluations from a foreign evaluation vendor may not be directly mailed to UNMC. All transcript evaluations must be submitted through a foreign evaluation vendor. Do not directly mail your transcript to UNMC. Submit official transcripts according to the instructions below:
- Domestic applicants: Make sure you follow all instructions here very carefully.
- International applicants: Make sure you follow all instructions here very carefully.
Three Letters of Recommendation: Give the email addresses of recommenders or evaluators, who will then submit their letters online.
Personal Narrative: Describe your career goals and how your program would help achieve those goals. Submitted via UniCAS.
Resume or CV: Upload a resume or CV to UniCAS.
Language Proficiency: International applicants have additional language proficiency requirements.

Step 2: Application Review

After submitting your application, you’ll receive an email of acknowledgement from Graduate Studies that will give you details on how to monitor your application documents.

Preliminary Review by Graduate Studies: Once your application is submitted, the Graduate Studies Office will conduct a preliminary review. Monitor your application progress through Graduate Application Status in UniCAS.
Program Review: After you've submitted all the program-specific materials, your program's Graduate Admissions Committee will decide if your application is accepted. Non-degree students skip this process. Committees meet on varying schedules. Contact your Graduate Program for application status information.
Final Review by Graduate Studies: After the program notifies Graduate Studies of their decision, we conduct a final review by checking all eligibility, English proficiency, and funding requirements. We will notify you by email if additional materials are needed.

Note: For those expecting to hold an F or J visa, we'll ask you to contact the International Health and Medical Education Office (IHME).

Step 3: Admission & Enrollment

Acceptance Email: If you are admitted to Graduate Studies, you'll receive an email of acceptance. International students will be contacted by the international student advisor from IHME.
- April 15 Resolution: UNMC is a participant in the Council of Graduate Schools’ (CGS) April 15 resolution. The April 15 resolution states that all offers will be honored until the April 15 deadline, after which point it will be rescinded unless informed in writing that the deadline for a decision has been extended. Students are under no obligation to accept the offer prior to April 15, Graduate Studies asks that you please let us know as soon as you have made a decision so that we can begin processing your admission and initiate your onboarding. You may consider other offers of financial support; if you choose to accept another offer of financial support, you must first resign from your acceptance of our offer, either before or after April 15.
Enrollment: View the steps that you must complete before proceeding with enrollment here.

Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Biomedical Sciences Application

The IGPBS program does not charge an application fee for any applicant who applies to the program. When applicants submit their application, the application will show a balance of $0.00 for the application fee so no formal waiver is needed.

When submitting your application for the IGPBS, you will have two options for Question 1:

Multi-Program Application

You can apply as an IGPBS multi-program student. "Multi-program" means that you prefer to have the option to perform research rotations in any laboratory affiliated with the IGPBS program, in any of the IGPBS doctoral programs. If you choose this option, once you start filling out information in the Questions section of the application, you will be prompted to choose two (2) doctoral programs that most interest you (Questions 2A and 2B), along with a third alternate program (Question 2C). Students will commit to a doctoral program at the time their laboratory rotations are completed.

Single-Program Application

You can apply as an IGPBS single-program student and choose to commit immediately to one of the following seven doctoral programs (Question 3).

Applying to a single doctoral program at the time of application means you intend to pursue research in that particular program and plan to conduct your research rotations only in labs associated with this program.

If you are applying to the IGPBS program, please review specific IGPBS admissions requirements.

Application Fee Exemption

Students in McNair, BRIN/INBRE, or MARC can waive the fee. You can begin your application, but do not proceed with payment. Contact the Admission Specialist in Graduation Studies to be granted a waiver. If you do proceed with payment before acquiring the waiver, the fee is non-refundable.

Senior Credit

Seniors may receive up to 12 hours of credit for graduate courses taken at any campus of the University of Nebraska, in addition to the courses necessary to complete their undergraduate work. Credits must be earned within the 12 months prior to receiving your degree.

Seniors within the University of Nebraska system who don't need more than 9 hours of undergraduate credit to complete the bachelor’s degree, may be granted provisional admission to the Graduate College subject to receiving their baccalaureate degrees within one calendar year. Such applicants must follow the regular admission procedures.

Student Admittance Categories

Graduate students are admitted into three types of categories.

Full Graduate Standing: Students who have met the minimum requirements for admission and are accepted into a program that leads to a graduate degree.
Provisional Status: Students who have potential for successful graduate work but also have deficiencies in prerequisite courses or other admission conditions. These students cannot become degree candidates unless recommended for Full Graduate Standing by their program’s Graduate Committee.
Non-Degree Seeking Status: Students who meet admission requirements and wish to complete courses without a degree objective.

University of Missouri Interstate Reciprocity Agreement

If you are a graduate student at the University of Missouri and meet all of their regular in-state requirements, you will be considered an in-state student at the University of Nebraska. This would apply to admission requirements, tuition and fees, scholarships, fellowships, and assistantships and other benefits normally available to Nebraska residents. Residency needs to be verified through the University of Missouri with a letter being sent to the Office of Academic Records.

A woman wearing glasses and a surgical mask listens to a lecturer out of frame.

Complete the Application

For Public Health Graduate Programs, use the SOPHAS Application. For the Nursing Graduate Program, use the NursingCAS Application.