Fees and Deadlines
Tuition and Fees
When you submit your application, please be aware that a $56.00 fee must be included. The Graduate School cannot process your application unless this fee is received. You may pay the fee by credit card, debit/ATM card, or personal check or money order drawn on a U.S. bank. Do not send cash or any type of coupon. Please send the fee and application together to the Graduate School. Exceptions to the fee are made in extremely rare cases and only for U.S. citizens. At this point there is no means of bypassing this fee for international applicants.
Current tuition rates can be found at the Office of the Registrar.
A half-time (50%) research assistantship, if awarded, carries a taxable stipend of $18,480.00 on a 12-month basis. In addition to this stipend, assistantship holders (with an award of appointment of 33 1/3 percent or more) also receive remission of all tuition, and health insurance coverage with majority of the premium paid by the University.
Application Deadlines
All necessary documentation should be submitted to the Graduate School and to the Department of Food Science by the deadlines shown below:
Semester 1 - June 15 (classes usually start the day after Labor Day).
Semester 2 - November 15 (classes usually start the third week in January).
Semester 3 - May 15 (classes usually start the third week in June).
Research Assistantships
In order to be admitted to the Department of Food Science, a faculty member must agree to accept you into his/her research group and provide you with laboratory and desk space. The faculty member also makes the decision if he/she will offer you a research assistantship (RA). When faculty members have an opening in their research group, they evaluate applicants to determine who will be invited to fill any openings. This decision is usually based on the applicant's academic background and qualifications, work experience, and funding sources. Some professors do not accept students unless RAs are available through outside funding agencies. When a grant is approved, the professor searches for a well-qualified applicant to work on a specific research project. They try to match research assistantships with individuals whose interests and expertise are suited to the research project.
No special form is required by the department to be considered for financial support. The Reasons for Graduate Study which you submit will be evaluated along with letters of recommendation, transcripts and GRE scores to determine if a professor is willing to accept you into his/her research group and if he/she will offer you an RA. We have a large number of well-qualified applicants and only a limited number of available positions. In a typical year we might accept 10 students out of 80 applicants for Fall admission. The numbers are much lower for Spring (January) admission, with only about 4 students being accepted. The numbers are even lower for Summer (June) admission, with only about 3 students being accepted. We are forced to turn away many well-qualified individuals due to a lack of space and financial support.
Fellowships
To be considered for a University Fellowship, incoming students must have filed applications (with the required $56 fee) and transcripts with the Graduate School. Also letters of recommendation, GRE score, transcripts, and Statement of Reasons for Graduate Study must be received in the Department by January 15.
International students are not eligible for nomination unless their undergraduate institution's language of instruction was English or if, at the time of nomination, they have completed at least two semesters at an institution in the United States.
Advanced Opportunity Fellowship for Minority and Educationally Disadvantaged Students
The University of Wisconsin-Madison annually offers fellowships to eligible minority and educationally disadvantaged students. The purpose of these competitive awards is to attract future scholars to UW-Madison, and to promote diversity in graduate education. The award includes full tuition and fees, comprehensive health care benefits, and an annual stipend according to the department's yearly rate. Applicants who meet the eligibility criteria outlined below are automatically considered for this fellowship, but your application must be submitted before the application deadlines stated below to be considered for this award.
AOF Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible for AOF funds, you must be admissible to or enrolled in a graduate program and be a targeted United States citizen (or Permanent Resident). Preference is given to Wisconsin residents. Students must claim the following:
- African American
- Native American or Alaskan Native
- Mexican American/Chicano/a, Puerto Rican
- Cambodian, Hmong, Laotian, and Vietnamese
- Educationally disadvantaged if you meet at least two of the following requirements:
- Parents did not attend college.
- Participated in a TRIO program (for example, Upward Bound, Talent Search, McNair).
- Qualify for federally administered aid grants (for example, Pell, SEOG).
Note: To help us identify whether you qualify as "educationally disadvantaged," we ask that you please complete the supplementary information sheet in the Graduate School's application for admission.
Food Science Undergraduate at UW-Madison