Application Process

Prospective graduate students must submit their application to the School of Economics through the University of Maine’s Graduate School. A complete application includes the application form, essay, resume/CV, official transcripts of all undergraduate grades, required test scores (including English proficiency for international students), three letters of recommendation, and the application fee. You must click submit for the application to be sent to us for review.

Application Timing

SOE reviews applications on a rolling basis and makes two separate decisions: admission and funding. Depending on when you submit your application, you may receive these 2 decisions multiple weeks or months apart (admission decision comes first via your online application portal). We typically begin reviewing applications for Fall semester admission in November. Occasionally, an exceptional application may receive a funding decision that early or earlier, but we make most of our funding decisions in January and February. Funding decisions can extend into March, April, and even May, depending on the type of funding available, the pool of applicants, and the decisions recipients of first-round offers make. We recommend submitting your application by January 1st to be considered for funding. Please review our Graduate Funding page for more information. We do not review applications for a Spring semester start, except in very unusual circumstances.

Please note, applications submitted in the summer (June-August) may not be reviewed until the following Fall semester.

Types of Admission

(1) Regular admission: Granted to a student whose academic records and supporting documents indicate that they are fully qualified to undertake graduate study.

(2) Provisional admission: Granted to a student who does not have all the prerequisites for admission to graduate study, but has a record that clearly indicates the student is otherwise prepared to undertake graduate study. Prerequisite courses, listed on our Admission Requirements page, must be completed prior to starting their graduate program.

(3) Conditional admission: Granted to a student whose academic record indicates deficiencies but suggests some promise of success in graduate study. Students on conditional status must earn grades of “A” or “B” in their first nine hours of graduate credit in order to continue graduate study. Students admitted on a conditional basis are not eligible for an Assistantship until their status changes.

International Applications

The School of Economics has graduate students from all over the world, and welcomes applications outside the United States. The international application process is often long and involved, so international students are urged to begin the application process very early. Detailed application information for international students, can be found at the Graduate School. Applicants from countries where English is not the primary language must furnish proof of their proficiency in English.

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*If, after thoroughly reviewing ALL of the information on our Graduate Program web pages, you still have questions, please visit our FAQ page.