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Graduate Studies

KU’s Office of Graduate Studies fosters an exceptionally healthy and inclusive graduate learning community by enacting administrative practices that lift students, faculty, and staff to the highest standards for graduate education.

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The Office of Graduate Studies hosts research competitions and partners with other campus units to provide professional development workshops for graduate students.

2024-25 Academic Catalog

Masters and ph.d. programs.

Founded in 1905, the KU School of Medicine is proud of its rich legacy as Kansas' only medical school.  Our mission is to enhance the quality of life and serve our community through the discovery of knowledge, the education of health professionals and by improving the health of the public.

The School of Medicine integrates excellent education, scientific discovery, outstanding clinical programs and dedication to community service. In addition to its commitment to educating the physician workforce of tomorrow, the school is an emerging leader in biomedical research and the health of the public. Graduate programs are offered in the biomedical sciences, biostatistics, public health, health policy and management, and clinical research.

Admission and degree requirements vary by program and are listed in the individual program descriptions. Requirements and course descriptions are subject to change. In most cases, use the catalog of the year student entered program. Other years’ catalogs ».

Click on the list of programs link for a list of the programs offered.

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2024-25 Entire Catalog

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KU Graduate Programs

This page includes information on official program and subplan options, locations, deadlines, and links to program websites. The location selection is optional. Make sure to hit “Search” after entering information on your program of interest in the “Search programs” box below. A program will be returned in the search if its name or subplan name is in the search term(s). Click on “View Deadlines” to see deadlines for each term, degree types, campus, and subplan names.

If a program has both a priority and a final deadline, submit your application for admission by the priority deadline to guarantee that it's reviewed for admission, and considered for any funding opportunities that may be offered by your program. If you submit after the priority deadline, your application will be considered for admission if any program openings remain available. If a program has only a final deadline, submit your application by this date to guarantee it's considered for admission. Applicants requiring immigration documents are encouraged to apply as early as possible for all programs.

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Doctor of Philosophy in Business

Please note : The KU School of Business is not accepting applications in Strategic Management for the fall 2025 term.

Areas of study

• Accounting Select to follow link
• AIO Select to follow link
• Finance Select to follow link
• Human Resource Management Select to follow link
• Marketing Select to follow link
• Organizational Behavior Select to follow link
• Strategic Management Select to follow link

Faculty and student collaboration

Study: a relational view of shiftwork: co-scheduling with higher performers.

Faculty member Patrick Downes worked with doctoral student Sareum "Ella" Lee on a study about the practice of scheduling shift workers into times and places to conduct their work.

Attorney marketing tactics compared to 'corporate ambulance chasing' in new stu…

A new paper examines how social media announcements of plaintiff’s attorneys’ corporate investigations strongly predict future litigation — so-called "corporate ambulance chasing" with KU Business Professors Eric Weisbrod and Adi Masli, Steven Kaplan of Arizona State University, and KU Business Ph.D. candidate, Matt Peterson.

Study: Multinational enterprises should choose between two colocation strategies

Professors Minyoung Kim and Chang Hoon Oh collaborated with Jukyeong Han, an assistant professor at McMaster University and Kim’s former doctoral student at KU, on a paper to help managers answer whether multinational enterprises should repeatedly colocate with the same competitors across multiple countries or with diverse competitors with less repetition.

Study: Investment in information technology helps companies maximize innovation

Professor Adi Masli​ co-wrote a study with Feng Guo of Iowa State University and Yijun Li of Erasmus University Rotterdam — who both earned doctorates in accounting from KU — that analyzes how integral information technology is to maintaining innovation at companies.

Video: Workplace + audit study

Faculty members Adi Masli and Felix Meschke and professor emeritus Jim Guthrie worked with then-doctoral candidate Minjie Huang on this study about how workplace environment influences outcomes of an audit.

Faculty and current students

Upcoming events

In addition to full tuition and fee payment, all Ph.D. students are supported via research or teaching assistantships or fellowships. Subsidized health insurance is available through the university. Learn more about funding opportunities.

KU's main campus in Lawrence occupies 1,000 acres on and around historic Mount Oread. Lawrence is a vibrant community of more than 80,000 people located in the forested hills of eastern Kansas. Learn more about life at KU.

The School of Business requires that all students conduct themselves in an ethical manner. This dedication to ethical behavior is an integral part of the student experience. Learn more about our honor code.

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Applying to the University of Kansas

Lifelong pursuits start here. Find a KU graduate program to match your mission, then familiarize yourself with individual needs and next steps.

Begin your application

How to apply, explore ku's graduate programs.

Explore the graduate programs offered at KU. Pay attention to program application requirements and deadlines.

Review requirements

Determine your admission edibility by reviewing the minimum admission requirements below.

Submit your application

Complete and submit your application for admission. Pay the application fee and provide any information or documentation required by the program to ensure your application is reviewed for admission.

Check your status

Once your application is submitted and the application fee paid, your application will be reviewed by the program you applied to. Application review timelines vary by program. After a program recommendation is made, Graduate Admissions will review your application and notify you of a decision.

KU’s minimum admission requirements

Applicants must meet the following minimum requirements for admission to any graduate program at KU:

• Proof of a bachelor's degree (and any post-bachelor’s coursework or degrees) from a regionally accredited institution, or a foreign university with substantially equivalent bachelor's degree requirements
• Proof of English proficiency for non-native or non-native-like English speakers

Program-specific admission requirements

Each graduate program at KU determines what additional materials or criteria are required for admission. These may include, but are not limited to:

• A resume or curriculum vitae
• Writing samples
• A personal statement
• Exam test scores
• Minimum GPA
• Letters of recommendation

Contact your program of interest for questions you have about program-specific requirements.

Application requirements

Transcripts.

At application for admission you may attach scanned official transcripts to your application. Some departments may require official transcripts at the time of application. Check your program’s admissions requirements.

After enrollment you must submit official, final transcripts for any degrees earned before your second semester of graduate enrollment at KU or you will not be permitted to enroll for your second semester.

Transcripts from US institutions must include degree conferral and may be sent:

• Via mail: Transcripts must be sent directly from your institution, in a sealed envelope, to

Graduate Admissions University of Kansas 1502 Iowa St. Lawrence, KS 66045

• Electronically : If your institution offers a secure electronic transcript delivery service (such as Parchment or National Student Clearinghouse), you may have transcripts sent to [email protected] .

Transcripts from international institutions must include:

• Completion of coursework required for degree
• Degree earned and the date degree was conferred. If this is not on the transcript, you must submit a degree certificate or diploma.
• Official stamp or seal from the school
• CSSD (formerly CHESICC) verification report (in English) for degrees earned in China

Transcripts may be sent:

• Via email: Your institution may email your transcript to [email protected] . The transcript must come directly to Graduate Admissions from an institutional email address, such as the registrar’s email address, to be considered official.

A series of questions on your application will determine if you are a domestic or international applicant.

If your application answers indicate you are a US resident, then it  will determine if you residency is in-state or out-of-state as defined by the University Registrar .

US permanent residents or those with permanent residency pending will need to provide a scanned copy of proof of residency such as a permanent residency card or the I-797.

You will be considered an international applicant if:

•    You are not a citizen or permanent resident of the United States and live outside the U.S. •    You are an international student at another U.S. institution, and you are currently in F-1 status (including OPT) or J-1 status (including Academic Training) •    You are currently on an H1B visa •    You are currently on a dependent visa — e.g., F-2, J-2, or H-4

Visit International Support Services for more information on visas as that office is responsible for managing the visa process.

If you are admitted to an in-person or hybrid graduate program, you will be required to submit proof of finances . Proof of finances are not required to be considered for admission.

Additional Application Requirements

Your application fee will vary depending on your status.

• Domestic degree-seeking: $65
• International degree-seeking: $85
• Certificate-seeking: $30
• Non-degree-seeking: $30

Applicants may be eligible for an application fee waiver. To be considered for a fee waiver, most applicants must submit a  fee waiver request . This process is specific to programs listed on this page , which contains links to program information. Note, only certain programs offer sponsorship for application fees. To determine if a program reviews applications for fee waivers, contact the program directly.

Additionally:

• For MBA or other master's Business programs, reach out to the Business School for details on requesting an application fee waiver. Both Master's in Accounting and Business Ph.D. applicants should use the fee waiver request form above.
• Applicants who provide documentation in the graduate application of the following will not be charged an application fee and will not receive a prompt for payment: participation in a  federally funded TRIO program ; attendance at Haskell Indian Nations University; participation in KU’s Postbaccalaureate Research Education Program ( PREP ); and current domestic undergraduate students who are receiving the  US Federal Pell Grant .
• Certain programs sponsor the application fee for all applicants, and applicants to those programs won't receive a prompt for payment.
• If interested in a KU Medical Center program, contact the respective graduate or certificate program for information on requesting an application fee waiver.

Before submitting a fee waiver request , you must first start a graduate admission application and select the program you're applying to - fee waiver requests without a program will be denied. Although not required, you are encouraged to complete your admission application before submitting your fee waiver request. Your application fee is non-refundable, so do not pay the application fee when you submit your admission application if you plan to submit a fee waiver request. Fee waiver requests should be submitted well before the program application deadline to allow time for review.

After submitting a fee waiver request , applicants will be notified when a decision has been made on the fee waiver request. If a fee waiver is approved, it will be added to the application, and you will not be asked to submit an application fee. If your fee waiver is denied, you will need to pay your application fee before your application is reviewed for admission.

Some programs require tests such as the GRE or the GMAT. Refer to your program of interest to confirm test requirements. GRE test scores should be sent by ETS to KU's institution code of 6871.

Some applicants need to provide scores related to the University’s proof of English proficiency requirement. Details can be found here .

Programs may require you to provide references or letters of recommendation as part of your application. If so, the application will prompt you to provide names and contact information for each reference. It is VERY important that you double check that your references’ names and emails are correct. A failure to correctly fill out the recommendation section may cause significant issues and delay the review of your application .

Recommendation requests may be submitted through the application before the application is fully submitted . , or at the time of submission. Your references will receive instructions on how to complete their recommendation. Recommendations received on your behalf prior to application submission will link to your application when it is submitted.

If you are not prompted to provide references on your application, that could mean your program doesn’t accept online recommendation submissions or doesn’t require them. Refer to your program of interest to confirm reference and letter of recommendation requirements.

English proficiency requirements

Check your application status

Students with specific statuses.

International graduate applicants will be asked to provide additional information and materials for processing immigration documents.  Learn more about what you’ll need to apply to a graduate program.

Application fee: $30

If a student does not intend to work for an advanced degree or certificate, they are considered a non-degree-seeking student. Non-degree-seeking students may apply within a specific department, a program, a professional school, or the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. If a non-degree-seeking student later applies and is accepted as a degree-seeking student, the total credits transferred may not exceed nine hours.

Requirements

To gain admission to a graduate program, non-degree-seeking applicants must

• Meet the English proficiency requirements for admission
• Provide evidence of a completed bachelor's degree, conferred by a regionally-accredited university or a foreign university with substantially equivalent degree requirements. A bachelor's degree may not be accepted if it was not evaluated in units that identify the academic content (e.g., if the work was graded on a P/F or S/U basis).

Application Fee: $30

The University of Kansas offers a variety of certificate programs for both current graduate students and non-KU students; however, some certificate programs require enrollment in a degree-seeking program.  Current KU degree-seeking students should contact their department about the application process. Non-KU students will need to apply for admission.

The Permit to Re-enroll is only intended for individuals who have enrolled in their graduate program in the past year. The permit to re-enroll form is not available to a student who: 

• was dismissed from a program at KU
• was voluntarily discontinued (formally withdrew) from a graduate program
• completed the graduate degree program
• most recently enrolled as a non-degree-seeking graduate student

Students will not be considered for readmission if they are currently on a leave of absence, if they have not been enrolled in the past year, or have earned a degree from the graduate degree program (See the  Permit to Re-Enroll policy page for more information.)

Before completing the form, students should verify with their graduate program that they are eligible to re-enroll. 

Dismissed students and those who withdrew from their program must submit a full application .

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Psychology Graduate Program

Program overview.

We offer a single doctoral degree which may be earned in one of the following programs: Clinical Psychology, Social Psychology, or Brain, Behavior, and Quantitative Science. All of our programs boast distinguished and award-winning faculty, notable research publications, and a deep foundation in the historical progress of psychological advances. You can read more about our faculty's research interests and publications on our Faculty page.

Our Program Concentrations

Fall 2025 applicants.

The Psychology Graduate program offers a single MA/Ph.D. program. Students admitted to one of our concentrations enter with the expectation of continuing graduate study through the Ph.D. as the department does not offer a terminal Master's degree .

For applicants interested in Clinical Child Psychology: The Clinical Child Psychology doctoral training program is housed within the Department of Clinical Child Psychology . Contact Katie Williams ( [email protected] ) graduate program coordinator, with any questions regarding applying to this program.

Application Deadline

The application deadline for the Fall 2025 admission is December 2, 2024 . Our concentrations may have priority deadlines, please see above for more details. 

Required Materials

• A current C.V. (Curriculum Vitae) or resume
• A Statement of Purpose
• Name and email addresses for 3 references, preferably from those who have worked with you and know your research interests and abilities (please use KU's online letter of recommendation system when you apply)
• List of psychology courses taken and grades received

Transcripts & English Proficiency

Transcripts from all institutions from which a degree was obtained, or any institutions attended post-bachelors. Copies of official transcripts that you have opened may be uploaded to the application online and used for admissions consideration. If you are admitted, sealed, or official electronic transcripts showing degree conferral, if applicable, must be provided by the end of your first semester at KU. Send official, sealed transcripts to:

Graduate Admissions

1502 Iowa St.

Lawrence, KS 66045

[email protected]

• Non-native English speakers must demonstrate proof of English proficiency before gaining admission to a graduate program. More information can be found on KU's Graduate Studies  English Proficiency Requirements for Graduate Admissions  policy page. Please send TOEFL and IELTS scores to KU Instition Code 6871.

Program Requirements

Each concentration has a unique set of requirements. To learn more, please refer to the Degree Requirements in the Academic Catalog for specifics. 

Who's Admitting Students?

Visit our Faculty page to see who is looking to admit a student this year! The Faculty list is updated as these decisions are announced.

Students who have earned a MA or MS Degree

We often admit students who have completed a masters degree in another program. Students who are admitted with MA or MS degrees in psychology (or closely related fields) may be credited with a maximum of 30 hours toward our Ph.D. degree. The number of hours that actually count toward our requirements depends on how well the students' MA program courses map onto our program requirements. Students who wish to have previously taken courses apply toward one or more of our program requirements should meet with and provide our current course instructor(s) with syllabi from the previous coursework. If the instructors judge the previous coursework to be substantially equivalent to our own, the required course is waived.

If a student's MA or MS degree program included an empirical thesis, that thesis may be accepted as satisfying our program's empirical thesis requirement, pending the outcome of a review to determine if the thesis is comparable to those produced within our program. At their earliest convenience, such students provide the program director with a copy of their thesis. The concentration director then asks one or two faculty members to evaluate the thesis for comparability to those produced by members of our program. If a thesis is accepted as satisfying our requirement, it does not count against the maximum of 30 hours that may be credited. Masters students whose MA or MS programs do not include an empirical thesis (or whose empirical theses are judged not comparable to those from KU) are required to conduct an empirical thesis as part of our Ph.D. program..

Financial Support

Students admitted to the Psychology Graduate Program are eligible for a variety of opportunities for financial support. These include:

• GTA appointments are most common in the department. Students are responsible for instructing classes and grading student coursework.
• GRA appointments are available to students whose advisors are actively conducting research with grant support. These are provided at the advisor's and department's discretion.
• University Graduate Fellowships (UGF)
• Dean's Doctoral Fellowships (DDF)
• Chancellor's Doctoral Fellowships (CDF)
• Students are welcome to bring outside funding to study in our program. Visit our Resources page for potential sources for outside funding.

If you are interested in being considered for one or more of these opportunities, please indicate this on your application.

Use KU's Tuition & Fee Tool to help calculate cost of attendance.*

*Admitted students who are offered funding may be eligible for a tuition waiver. Please contact the Graduate Program Coordinator for more information.

Application Fee Waivers

The Department has historically accepted requests for application fee waivers.

To request a fee waiver, please complete the Application Fee Waiver form , by November 15th, 2024. You will be notified of the results of the fee waiver selection process.

Department Graduate Student Handbook

Health psychology certificate.

The Graduate Certificate Program in Health Psychology is designed to provide exposure to theoretical and empirical research in Health Psychology that will augment a student’s primary course of study and provide certification of the completion of the program on a graduate transcript. The Health Psychology Certificate Program is associated with the Clinical Psychology Graduate Program and the Major Area of Study in Clinical Health Psychology within that Program.

Non-Degree Seeking

If you completed a Bachelor’s degree with a demonstrated academic competence in psychology or a related discipline and wish to take an upcoming graduate-level course in the Department of Psychology, you may apply as a non-degree seeking (NDS) student. Please note undergraduate prerequisite course completion is typically necessary to succeed in graduate-level coursework. If you intend to enroll in coursework via NDS status for non-graduate study pursuits and personal interests, please specify what courses you would like to complete in the department in the personal statement. Not all courses in our department are open to NDS students; please contact our graduate academic advisor before applying to receive a list of courses closed to NDS students.

Course Selection

Students admitted to the NDS program are encouraged to contact the Director of Graduate Studies to discuss course selection. Please be aware that the department does not allow NDS students to enroll in the following courses:

• PSYC 835 : Clinical Practicum IV: Health
• PSYC 836 : Clinical Practicum V: Health
• PSYC 850 : Assessment I: Foundations of Psychological Assessment
• PSYC 855 : Assessment II: Integrative Psychological Assessment
• PSYC 898 : Proseminar: Professional Issues in Clinical and Health Psychology
• PSYC 899 : The Thesis
• PSYC 946 : Theories and Methods of Psychotherapy
• PSYC 951 : Clinical Supervision Practicum
• PSYC 964 : Clinical Practicum I
• PSYC 965 : Clinical Practicum II
• PSYC 966 : Clinical Practicum III
• PSYC 968 : Research Methods in Clinical Psychology
• PSYC 969 : Clinical Practicum IV
• PSYC 970 : Clinical Practicum V
• PSYC 974 : Clinical Psychology Internship
• PSYC 977 : Specialized Clinical Practicum
• PSYC 999 : The Dissertation

If you intend to use completed NDS coursework to strengthen your profile for graduate study, please contact the Director of Graduate Studies to determine your options. Completion of NDS coursework to fulfill prerequisites will not guarantee admission to the KU graduate program in psychology. However, students who have studied psychology and/or gained appropriate experience via self-study and who lack fulfillment of academic area prerequisites may consider applying to the department as NDS students to make up any gaps in academic study.

Application Deadlines:

• Applications are accepted on a rolling-basis.

Application Materials:

• A brief Personal Statement indicating your academic preparedness and personal or professional motivation for taking coursework in the Department of Psychology
• Transcripts from all institutions from which a degree was obtained, or any institutions attended post-bachelors. A GPA of 3.0 or higher in undergraduate work is required for admission. Copies of official transcripts that you have opened may be uploaded to the application online and used for admissions consideration. If you are admitted, sealed, or official electronic transcripts showing degree conferral, if applicable, must be provided by the end of your first semester at KU. Send official, sealed transcripts to:

KU Visitor Center

• Applicants who indicate English is not their native language: Proof of English proficiency , as required by the Office of Graduate Studies. Please send TOEFL and IELTS scores to KU Instition Code 6871.

For More Information Contact:

• Associate Chair
• Director, Ph.D. Program in Social Psychology
• University Distinguished Professor
• ***Dr. Biernat will be considering applicants for Fall 2025 admission***

• Graduate Program Coordinator