Application Requirements

1. For Admission to Our Graduate Program (MS and/or PhD) an application should be submitted to the Graduate School using the online application process: http://gradschool.sc.edu/apply.htm). 

2. Official transcripts showing all college-level course work attempted, and the award of the baccalaureate or higher degree by an accredited college or university. Official transcripts verifying all previous college-level course work are required for the University's records. To be considered official, transcripts must be sent directly from the institution to The Graduate School or delivered in a sealed envelope bearing a registrar's stamp.

3. At least two letters of recommendation.

4. GRE General Test scores. Online information can be found on www.ets.org. Please note that the Institutional Code for the GRE Exams is R5818 (University of South Carolina, Columbia). GRE test scores are valid for 5 years.

5. International applicants whose native language is not English are also required to submit a satisfactory score on the TOEFL (www.toefl.org/) or the IELTS (www.ielts.org) Intl. Academic Course Type 2 exam. The minimum acceptable score on the TOEFL is 80 (Internet-based), 230 (computer-based), or 570 (paper-based). The minimum acceptable overall band score on the IELTS Intl. Academic Course Type 2 exam is 6.5. Please note that TOEFL and IELTS Intl. exam scores are valid for two years.

Test of English as a Foreign Language
Educational Testing Service
Princeton, NJ 08540, USA
www.toefl.org

IELTS International
100 East Corson Street, Suite 200
Pasadena, CA 91103, USA
www.ielts.org

In addition, admitted applicants whose native language is not English are required to take a diagnostic test in English when they arrive at the University. Students with deficiencies are provided an opportunity for further study in reading, writing, and speaking English.

U.S. government regulations require that international applicants provide evidence of financial resources sufficient to cover the expense of one year of study, including tuition and room and board. Applicants may contact the Office of International Programs for Students (www.sc.edu/ips) to determine how much financial support must be indicated. Evidence of financial support may include graduate assistantships, scholarships, or fellowships as well as support from sponsoring agencies and personal funds. Evidence of financial support must be received in the Office of International Programs for Students before an I-20 or a DS-2019 document can be issued.

Immunization Requirements

The University of South Carolina requires all students born after December 31, 1956, to be immunized against, or provide proof of immunity to, measles (rubeola) and German measles (rubella). Proof of immunity and/or immunization requires documentation of one of the following:

1. two measles and one German measles (MR or MMR) shot after 1967 (not before first birthday)

2. positive serum titers (blood antibodies) to measles and German measles

3. physician-diagnosed measles illness and either shots or positive serum titer for German measles. (A history of German measles illness does not meet requirements.)

For more information, call the Immunization Office at 803-777-9511.

Mandatory Health Insurance

The Graduate School adheres to a mandatory hard-waiver health insurance program implemented for all graduate assistants (teaching, research, instructional, and staff), all international students, and other full-time enrolled graduate students (9 credit hours or more). Graduate students in these categories will be required to have health insurance coverage as a condition of enrollment.

Graduate students affected by this mandatory health insurance requirement will be automatically enrolled in the University Plan (with the cost included in students' bills for tuition and fees) unless documentation of comparable alternative health insurance coverage is on file in the Health Insurance Assistance Office at the Thomson Student Health Center.