Graduate Admissions

Graduate Degree Requirements

Professional and Research Master of Arts degree applicants must have:

  • Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution
  • A B.A. or B.S. before the start of the semester for which they are applying
  • Minimum 3.0 cumulative undergraduate GPA (4.0 scale) on last 60 credits of course work

Visit the Professional M.A. or Research M.A. info pages.

Ph.D. applicants must have: 

  • Bachelor’s and thesis-based master’s degrees from accredited institutions
  • An M.A. or M.S. before the start of the fall semester for which they are applying
  • Minimum 3.5 cumulative graduate GPA (4.0) scale on M.A. degree course work

Visit the Ph.D. in Mass Communications website for more information.

International Students

Additional requirements for international applicants:

  1. Applicants who earn degrees from institutions where the language of instruction is not exclusively English and applicants who earn degrees at bilingual institutions are required to take an English proficiency exam. Official minimum score requirements are listed below, although our program looks for scores at 105 and higher for TOEFL:
    • TOEFL, Internet-based Test: Minimum 92 (120-point scale)
    • TOEFL, Paper-based Test: Minimum 580 (677-point scale)
    • IELTS: Minimum score of 7
    • Applicants are exempt from taking English proficiency tests for admissions purposes if
      • the official language of previous instruction was English or
      • they have completed at least two full-time semesters of graded coursework, not including ESL courses, in a U.S. college or university.
      • You may be required to take the SPEAK test before teaching at UW Madison.
    • To determine your academic record and degree equivalent and whether it qualifies you for admission to graduate study, review the Grad School admissions requirements. Locate your country of study and then check minimum requirements for UW–Madison Graduate School admission. If you have other questions, please contact graduate program manager Lindsey Bliefernicht.
  2. To determine your academic record and degree equivalent and whether it qualifies you for admission to graduate study, review the Grad School admissions requirements. Locate your country of study and then check minimum requirements for UW–Madison Graduate School admission. If you have other questions, please contact graduate program manager Lindsey Bliefernicht.
  3. International applicants are required to have adequate financial resources to cover their expenses for the duration of their studies at UW–Madison. Do not send any financial statements until requested.