Admission Requirements & Financial Aid

Application deadlines for students:

•   Priority application deadline: 01/31/27
•   Final application deadline: 02/28/27

There are two ways one could apply:

•   Fast Track System: https://www.uh.edu/graduate-school/admissions/fast-track-admissions/ UH grads/alum who use this system to apply to the MA program may be requested by the program to provide further documents post-application. It is advisable to have a short CV prepared for such purposes. 
•   Regular Application: Please read through instructions provided below

Entry Degree Requirements:

A Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Arts degree, which includes 24 hours of Anthropology or other social science courses on the semester system. If your major was not Anthropology or your baccalaureate degree is not BA or BS, additional course work may be required, in consultation with the Graduate Advisor. 

Official copies of all university transcripts, with degree posted, are required. Please note:  applicants are responsible for making sure that an official transcript with degree posted is sent to the university as soon as possible.

Test Scores: A GRE score is NOT required for graduate admission.

Grade Point Average: A grade point average of at least 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale)/(B) on previous academic work, attempted or completed, undergraduate and/or graduate, beginning with the semester during which the first of the 60 most recent semester hours were taken. If possible, please submit an unofficial copy of your transcript as an attachment to applications for early consideration.

Applicants slightly below the GPA Admission Standards may be admitted conditionally on a case-by-case basis. Conditional acceptance means the student must achieve a GPA of 3.0 for the first 12 semester hours. When this condition is completed, the student must petition to be reclassified as unconditional.  
 
Letters of Recommendation: Two letters of recommendation are required, with at least one letter from a former professor.  Reference letters from employment or other non-academic work or volunteer settings are acceptable, especially if they demonstrate the applicant’s potential for successful graduate study and independent research. All recommendations should be submitted through the online application procedure.

Writing Sample: This can be a short paper or an abbreviated excerpt from a paper written for a university course or from a report prepared for a job or other organization. The writing sample should be uploaded under the Additional Materials option on the application checklist.

Statement of Purpose (SOP):  A clearly written statement of purpose describing whay you are interested in pursuing an MA in UH’s anthropology program. A strong statement (typically two double spaced pages) should indicate common research interests with Anthropology faculty at UH, with some indication of preference for potential faculty mentor/s.  The statement should outline preliminary ideas for the applicant’s MA thesis research project.

Transferring Credits: Only 6 semester hours of graduate work completed at another university or in another department of UH may be transferred as counting toward degree requirements at UH. An evaluation of courses completed previously that may be considered equivalent to those offered in the Anthropology program at UH will be made by the Graduate Advisor.

Scholarships & Financial Aid:

The Elizabeth D. Rockwell Graduate Stipend supports selected incoming graduate students who are interested in studying ethics and leadership with stipends of $4000/year, for two years.

The Lydia Mendoza Graduate Fellowship supports selected incoming graduate students who are interested in Mexican American studies with stipends, for up to two years.

For more information on Scholarships and Financial Aid available to MA students, please investigate the Graduate Funding information on the Graduate School homepage and additional information on Financial Support from the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences. We also strongly encourage students to fill out a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) application to find out what funding for education is available from the State of Texas. 

Departmental Teaching and Research Assistantships:

The Anthropology MA program offers some Graduate Teaching Assistantships (hereafter GTAs) to employ students to support professors in larger, introductory-level undergraduate courses. 

Graduate students interested in Teaching Assistantships should contact the Graduate Director and Advisor. Graduate Teaching Assistantships are extremely competitive and various criteria are used to determine who is awarded an assistantship each semester. These criteria include overall graduate program GPA, performance in required seminars, satisfactory progress toward MA Thesis preparation, and where relevant performance in previous GTA appointments in the Anthropology Program or other CLASS departments.

Occasionally, there may also be Graduate Research Assistantships (GRAs), funded through research projects conducted by individual faculty members.

Availability of these assistantships and the amount of compensation may vary from year to year, but ordinarily at least a partial tuition waiver is included, courtesy of CLASS. Generally, these are available for only two semesters to allow as many students as possible to learn from the experience and to benefit from the available financial support. In some exceptional circumstances, more than two semesters of GTA support may be awarded. Occasionally, other departments in CLASS will offer GTA opportunities to Anthropology MA students in consultation with the Anthropology Graduate Director and Advisor.