Application Fee Waivers

Applicants to a Computer Science graduate program may qualify for application fee waivers:

PhD / MS (with thesis) Application Fee Waiver

The Department of Computer Science will provide a limited number of application fee waivers  to a subset of outstanding applicants who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents, plan to obtain a doctoral degree or a Master of Science (MS) degree in Computer Science on a full-time basis, and have the experiences and skills to contribute to the departmental efforts to foster a collegial and supportive academic and research environment. In their personal statement, MS and doctoral applicants who seek a fee waiver must address their previous experiences and skills to support the departmental goals in this area.

Qualifying applicants must request the waiver by following these instructions:  (i) In the Application Fee Waiver section, answer “Yes” that they are eligible for a fee waiver. (ii)  An additional question will ask if they are applying for the Computer Science MS and PhD waiver, to which they should answer “Yes”. Applicants will be informed whether their application fee waiver request is approved by the department or if the applicant will be responsible for paying the application fee.

A limited number of application fee waivers are available. Priority will be given to requests received by November 20th. 

Online MCS / MCS-DS Application Fee Waiver for Recent UIUC Graduates

UIUC graduates may immediately meet the admissions requirements for the Online MCS and MCS in Data Science (MCS-DS). Qualified applicants may receive an application fee waiver when they apply to an online MCS program by meeting the following criteria:

  • Completed any CS or CS + X major or a CS minor at UIUC with a GPA of 3.0 or better in the last two years of their undergraduate degree.
  • Had a GPA of 3.2 or better in CS coursework.

This application fee waiver is only available for a limited time.

To receive the application fee waiver, eligible applicants must check "yes" on their application at the statement: "Please indicate if you are eligible for an application fee waiver. "  They must then check "yes" to the subsequent question: “Are you applying for the online MCS app fee waiver for graduating UIUC undergraduate students?”