Admissions
Ethnic Studies Ph.D. Program Application Information
New students are admitted in the Fall quarter of each academic year.
- Ph.D Program Overview
- UCSD Graduate Admission Application
- Fellowships for Incoming Students
- Who are the faculty that teach in the Ethnic Studies doctoral program? Check out our faculty!
- Who are the current students in the doctoral program and what are they studying? Our current students are listed here!
- What courses do you take in the Ethnic Studies doctoral program? Courses are listed here while here is a PhD timeline which takes you through the doctoral program at a glance!
- How does funding work for the Ethnic Studies doctoral program? According to UC San Diego graduate funding policy, all graduate students will be fully funded for their first 5 years of study. Tuition and fee remission most often comes in the form of employment–either a teaching assistant or graduate student researcher. Read here about Graduate Funding policy. Read here about funding opportunities from the Department of Ethnic Studies, these are not guaranteed and are reviewed by application, see each fellowship for guidelines.
- Who are Ethnic Studies alumni and where do they work? Our alumni are doing amazing things in the field of Ethnic Studies, see a few examples here.
Register for an Information Session this November where the Graduate Coordinator will be available to help answer any additional questions.
Application & Admission
Our doctoral program is no longer accepting applications for the Fall 2025 cohort. The application for Fall 2026 consideration will open in September. Only completed applications are considered.
UCSD Official Application for Admission and the application fee are submitted through the UCSD Online Application Form.
Application Requirements
- The Statement of Purpose (no more than 2500 words)
- At least three letters of recommendation
- Unofficial transcripts from each institution attended after high school must be uploaded to the online application; students who are admitted to the program will be required to submit official transcripts (to the UCSD Graduate Division) when they are admitted.
- At least one writing sample (e.g., research paper) should be uploaded to the online application as a .pdf file. The writing sample should be no more than 15-30 pages of original research that demonstrates your writing ability and experience with scholarly research, ideally on a topic related to ethnic studies.
- Resume/CV
- No Graduate Record Exam (GRE) is required
International Applicants
- A test of English language proficiency is required for international applicants whose native language is not English and who have not studied full-time for one uninterrupted academic year at a university-level institution in which English is the language of instruction and in a country where English is a dominant language.
- The following test(s) are accepted by this department:
- TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language)
- IELTS (International English Language Testing System)
- PTE (Pearson Test of English)
- The following test(s) are accepted by this department:
For more details and additional application requirements for international students, please go to:
https://grad.ucsd.edu/admissions/requirements/international-students/index.html
Additional Information
Contact Information
| Jessica Williams | email: jjwilliams@ucsd.edu |
