Admissions Criteria and Standards

Admissions decisions to UMBC’s Graduate School are based on the following criteria:

Bachelor's Degree
A four-year bachelor's degree must have been received from a regionally accredited college or university or an equivalent degree from a comparative foreign institution. This requirement applies both to degree-seeking and non-degree-seeking applicants.

Minimum GPA
A minimum undergraduate Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale is required. A slightly lower undergraduate GPA may be acceptable by some programs, especially if the applicant already has a graduate degree.

GRE Requirement:

Official GRE scores are necessary for most programs and must be less than 5 years old
The Graduate School is not responsible for waiving the GRE requirement
Minimum GRE scores vary by program
The UMBC institution code for the GRE is 5835
UMBC Training Centers offers classes on GRE Test Preparation

TOEFL Requirement:

All applicants are expected to read, speak, write and understand the English language fluently
Those whose native language is not English are required to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). The only exception to this requirement is for students who have earned a post-secondary degree from an accredited university in the United States
550 (written) or 213 (computerized) TOEFL scores are required. Some programs require a higher score
The minimum acceptable score for the iBT TOEFL is 80
TOEFL scores must be less than 2 years old
Students should use the UMBC institution code 5835 to have the TOEFL sent to us
UMBC does not accept results from institutional or non-ETS-administered TOEFLs