Welcome to the Frequently Asked Questions page for graduate admissions at Iowa State University. Here, you’ll find clear answers to common questions about the application process, including requirements, deadlines, fee information, and document submissions. Whether you’re just starting your application or need help with specific details, this page is designed to guide you every step of the way.
Please visit the graduate programs directory to find the relevant departmental contact information.
Fee waivers are available only to McNair Scholars. U.S. military veterans will have their application fee deferred until enrollment. All other fee waivers or vouchers are provided directly by the program to which you are applying. Please locate your desired program and contact the staff listed on the program page for more details.
McNair Scholars can receive a fee waiver by selecting the McNair option on the application and submitting an official document from your McNair director or staff confirming your participation to grad_college@iastate.edu.
Students should upload copies of their exam results to their application to assist in matching official scores to their file. Official scores must be sent directly from the examination provider. For further details, please refer to the application instructions.
GRE and TOEFL scores should be sent electronically by ETS to Iowa State University. Our institution code is 6306.
IELTS results should be mailed to:
Graduate Admissions
100 Enrollment Services Center
2433 Union Drive
Ames, IA 50011-2042
Duolingo scores should be sent electronically, directly from Duolingo, to Iowa State University.
English may be considered your primary language if it is the language you are most proficient in and/or the first language you learned and spoke from childhood in your home. If English is not your primary language, you must meet the university’s English proficiency requirements through one of the following methods:
You may satisfy the English proficiency requirement if you have completed a bachelor's, master's, or doctoral degree from an English-medium institution in an English-speaking country. These countries recognize English as an official language:
Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Botswana, British Virgin Islands, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, Cayman Islands, Curacao, Dominica, Eritrea, Eswatini, Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), Fiji, Gambia, Ghana, Gibraltar, Grenada, Guernsey, Guyana, Hong Kong, Ireland, Kenya, Kiribati, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Micronesia, Malta, Mauritius, Montserrat, Namibia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Rwanda, Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha, Saint Lucia, Saint Martin, Samoa, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Africa, South Sudan, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Vincent & Grenadines, Sudan, Tanzania, Tonga, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks & Caicos, Tuvalu, Uganda, United Kingdom, Vanuatu, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
If you have not earned a degree from an English-speaking country, you must provide official scores from one of the following exams. Both the Graduate College and your specific graduate program's minimum requirements must be met. The minimum scores accepted by the Graduate College are:
Official TOEFL results must be sent electronically directly from the educational testing service to Iowa State. Our school code is 6306. The IELTS testing agency may send electronic results or mail official results to:
Office of Admissions
Iowa State University
100 Enrollment Services Center
2433 Union Drive
Ames, IA 50011-2042
Iowa State's institution code is 6306. Department codes are not required, as all GRE scores are sent electronically to Admissions and are subsequently made available to the respective departments.
There is no need to submit a new application. For information on reentering Iowa State or changing your curriculum, please visit the Office of the Registrar's website.
Log into your application account. When your current application appears, click the three stacked dots. Select "Apply to additional program," fill out the required information for the new program, and submit the application along with the application fee.
Log back into your Admissions MyAccount and select "Manage Documents." From there, you can update or upload new documents. Please note, you will not be able to remove any documents that have already been uploaded.
Simply return to your application, and you can view the status on the Activity Page.
Some programs follow a two-step application process. In the first step, known as the pre-application, applicants do not need to submit recommendation letters or pay the application fee. If you are selected to move forward after the preliminary review, the graduate program will notify you by email. Recommendations are required in the second step, along with the application fee.
For programs that do not use this two-step process, both recommendation letters and the application fee are part of the complete graduate application.
Emails are only sent to recommenders once your application is submitted and the fee is paid. If they have not received the email, you can resend it by managing your Letters of Recommendation. Be sure to verify that the email address you provided is correct. Additionally, recommenders should check their spam or junk mail folder if the email hasn't appeared in their inbox.
Download a PDF version of the Letter of Recommendation.
Log back into your application account. In the "Manage Documents" section, you can add or remove recommenders, update email addresses, and resend emails to recommenders. For further guidance on managing your Letters of Recommendation, refer to the application instructions.
We apologize, but this cannot be updated in the online system.
If you decide to waive your right to view the Letters of Recommendation, please send an email to the graduate program you applied to (and copy your recommenders) informing them of the change. Do not email the Letters of Recommendation to the Office of Admissions. All recommendations should be submitted through the online system.
Graduate students do not accept their offer through their Admissions MyAccount or by paying an acceptance fee. Instead, graduate students should email the department that offered them admission to confirm their intent to enroll at Iowa State University.
If your status shows as incomplete due to missing official academic records, this information will be provided in your official admission letter along with related documents.
Now that you've been offered admission to Iowa State University, you are required to submit official copies of your final academic records and degree statements if you haven’t already. Please note that the documents you uploaded during the application process are not considered official.
Although we review applications using unofficial documents, we require that official academic documents be submitted promptly. If you have completed your studies, please send these documents within four weeks of receiving your admission offer.
Failure to provide all required documents by the 10th day of the term will result in a registration hold, which will prevent you from registering for classes until the required documents are submitted.
If you are unable to meet this deadline, please contact the Office of Admissions as soon as possible. In certain cases, students may be permitted to bring their official documents to campus and submit them upon arrival. Please contact Admissions to request approval for this option.
Official transcripts must be sent directly from the university registrar to the Iowa State Office of Admissions. The transcript should bear the official stamp or seal of the registrar. Degree statements are not required from U.S. institutions as degrees awarded will be reflected on the transcript.
Academic records vary in name by country. For example:
International academic records should be in the official language of the country where they were earned. If not in English, an official English translation should be included. We accept literal (not interpretative) translations from any qualified translator.
To be considered official, international academic records must bear the original stamp or seal of the responsible school official (e.g., registrar, principal, or controller of exams).
International students may submit a course-by-course evaluation from World Education Services (WES) or Educational Credential Evaluators (ECE), in addition to their official academic records.
China: Submit certified transcripts and degree statements in both English and Chinese (one transcript with both languages is acceptable).
Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan: Submit certified mark sheets/transcripts with degree certificates, along with English translations if needed.
India: For 10-100 point or letter grades, a transcript is sufficient. For marks, submit annual mark sheets. We accept semester or annual mark sheets certified by the university (not consolidated mark sheets), and degree statements must be certified by the university, not the college.
Iran: Submit translated transcripts and degree statements with official stamps or translated by an authorized judicial body.
Bologna Complaint Countries: Provide the official Diploma Supplement, which includes coursework, grades, and degree verification.
If you have questions or need further clarification about these requirements, please reach out to Admissions.
In certain cases, Graduate Admissions can accept official electronic transcripts sent directly from your institution. If you'd like to submit electronic transcripts, please have your institution’s registrar send them directly to etranscript@iastate.edu through a secure, approved document-transfer service. Please note that not all institutions offer this secure transfer option.
Electronic documents sent as PDF attachments will not be considered official. While many U.S. institutions can send official electronic transcripts, most international institutions cannot. As a result, international academic records must typically be submitted as paper copies.
Please mail paper copies of your documents to the following address:
Office of Admissions
100 Enrollment Services Center
2433 Union Drive
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-2042
All materials submitted in support of your admission application become the property of Iowa State University and will not be returned in either original or copy form.
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Reach out to your graduate department for details on class registration.
