Admissions

The College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences sets minimum program and admissions regulations that must be fulfilled by all graduate students. Individual departments may have additional special requirements.

Unconditional and Conditional Admission Requirements

• Unconditional
  • To be eligible for unconditional admission, students must have a grade point average of at least 3.00 (A=4.00) during the last 60 semester hours of graduate and/or undergraduate work attempted.
    
    
• Conditional
  
  • Conditional admission may be granted to students who have a grade point average of at least 2.60 (A=4.00) and whose test scores in combination with other elements of the application materials indicate probable success in the graduate program. To remain in a graduate studies program, conditionally admitted students must earn a grade point average of at least 3.00 (A=4.00) on the first 12 semester hours of graduate work attempted at the University of Houston. Applicants without a strong background for graduate study in the discipline may be requested to take leveling courses as a condition of admission.
  • The conditional admission category applies only at the master’s level. Conditional admission may not be granted to doctoral-level applicants.

Master's Programs

• Applicants must have earned a bachelor's degree from an institution accredited by one of the six regional accrediting associations. The Ministry of Education or another appropriate agency of the country in which the institution is located must recognize foreign institutions not accredited by U.S. accrediting agencies.
• The University reserves the right to evaluate foreign credentials. In most cases, these evaluations will follow nationally accepted standard practices and will rely on standard references such as those from the World Education Series published by the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Offices
• Students transferring from another graduate school must have at least a 3.00 (A=4.00) grade point average on all attempted graduate courses.

Doctoral Programs

• Applicants should have earned a master’s degree or completed 30 hours of graduate work. Some programs allow entrance into doctoral studies directly from the bachelor’s degree for qualified students; consult the individual program websites for more information.
• Students must have maintained a minimum grade point average of 3.00(A=4.00).
• Prospective students should obtain specific requirements for admissions to doctoral programs by contacting directly the department to which they wish to apply.

Test  Scores

• Applicants to many programs must submit official scores for the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) in order to be considered for admission. GRE scores should be sent directly by the testing agency to UH. For some programs, GRE submission is optional. Refer to the  program's website for test score requirements. 
• Use school code  6870 for reporting GRE and/or TOEFL scores.

English Proficiency Requirement

• All graduate applicants, regardless of citizenship status, must demonstrate proficiency in English to obtain admission to the university. To fulfill this requirement, applicants must satisfy one of the following criteria:
  
  • Baccalaureate degree earned from a regionally accredited U.S. institution or at an institution at which English in the medium of instruction in the following countries: Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the Bahamas, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Jamaica, Liberia, Trinidad, the Virgin Islands, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Barbados, Grenada, Turks and Caicos, and English-speaking Canadian provinces.
  • Present an acceptable score on an English proficiency test. For the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) the minimum required score is 79 (internet-based exam) or Reading 20, Listening 20, and Writing 20 (revised paper-based exam). For the International English Language Testing System the minimum required score is 6.5.  For the Duolingo English Test the minimum required score is 105. Departments may require a higher minimum score where previous experience and demands of the discipline warrant it. Refer to the program’s website for details on this requirement.

Additional Information

• UH Graduate Admissions 
• International Admissions 

Additional departmental admission requirements

• Anthropology
• Communications
• Communications Sciences and Disorders
  • M.A.
  • Ph.D.
• Creative Writing
  • M.F.A.
  • Ph.D
• Economics
• English
  
  • M.A. in English and American Literature
  • Ph.D. in English and American Literature
  • Ph.D. in English and American Literature with a concentration in Rhetoric, Composition, and Pedagogy
  • Ph.D. in Literature & Creative Writing
• Health and Human Performance
• Hispanic Studies
  
  • M.A.
  • Ph.D
• History
  • M.A.
  • Ph.D.
• Master of Public Administration
• Philosophy
• Psychology
  • Clinical
  • Developmental
  • Industrial/Organizational
  • Social
• Sociology
• World Cultures and Literatures 

Advising/Academics and Enrollment Links

• Enrollment Schedule
• Course listings
• Academic Calendar
• Final Exam Schedule
• Students Rights & Responsibilities

Admission Deadlines

For admission deadlines, please consult the department to which you plan to apply.