Returning Graduate Students

Returning graduate students are former U of A graduate students who return to complete their degree after an absence of one or more semesters.

Graduate degree seeking students: Some academic departments have their own application deadline and may have additional application requirements. For graduate students seeking funding, departmental deadlines may vary. To find the deadline for your department, locate your department on our Programs of Study webpage.

We recommend submitting all materials to the Office of Graduate and International Admissions at least one month before the departmental deadline.

For departments with no deadlines, and for non-degree, returning, visiting and senior citizens, all application materials, including all transcripts and any required test scores, should reach the Graduate School by the deadlines listed below.

Application deadlines for the Graduate School are:

  • Fall semester: August 1
  • Spring semester: December 1
  • Summer sessions: April 15

Applications received after the deadline will be automatically deferred to the next available Spring or Fall semester.

Readmission to the Graduate School is not automatic.  Students must meet each specific criteria and are also strongly encouraged to ensure that an adviser in the department/program is still available to them.  Post-candidacy doctoral students who have not been enrolled in the preceding year must be acceptable by the graduate degree program for readmission. 

  1. Students who have been enrolled in the Graduate School within the five preceding academic years but have not enrolled in the immediately preceding semester may be readmitted if:

    • The student has earned at least a 2.85 cumulative grade-point average on all graduate credits attempted during all previous enrollments;
    • A new Application for Admission form and $30 processing fee (waived if less than 12 months have passed since last enrollment - two majors semesters and a summer) is filed prior to the desired registration date (preferably, at least one month prior to that date);
    • The Graduate School has received an official transcript of all course work attempted at other institutions subsequent to the previous enrollment in the University of Arkansas Graduate School;
    • For students initially admitted Fall 2014 or after, an official standardized test score acceptable to the degree program is on file in the Graduate School; and
    • The student’s academic status at the end of the previous enrollment was “good standing” and the student had no disciplinary conduct or academic integrity violations imposed or pending

Note:  The Graduate School reserves the right to deny readmission consistent with the mission and values of the Graduate School and/or graduate degree program.

  1. All requirements for the master’s degree and specialist degrees must be completed within six years of the first enrollment used for the graduate degree. Absence from the University does not change these time limits. Graduate students may petition for extensions to these time limits only if the course work was completed at the University of Arkansas (Fayetteville).

  2. Students who have been previously admitted to and enrolled in the Graduate School but have no enrollment within the five years preceding the semester of readmission and who wish to be readmitted to pursue a graduate degree, may be considered for readmission upon a petition by the graduate degree program to the Graduate School. Such students should contact the department/program head/director or graduate coordinator to request readmission. The department/program head/director, graduate coordinator, or major adviser of the student will petition the Director of Graduate Admissions, using the form “Request for an Exception to the Admissions Requirements of the Graduate School,” and will specify whether all of the student’s previous course work and grade points will be forfeited. (Note: Neither the graduate degree program nor the student may petition to forfeit only some of the previous course work and grade points; rather, all or none of the course work may be forfeited.) If all of the previous course work and grade points will be forfeited, a notation on the transcript next to these courses will state: “This course may not be used for graduate credit at the University of Arkansas.” If the previous course work and grade points will not be forfeited, the student’s major adviser must petition for a time extension. Please see the Time Extension Policy.

  3. Readmission for non-degree seeking students: Non-degree-seeking students who have previously been enrolled in the Graduate School but have had a lapse in their enrollment will follow the procedures stated above, or in the policy pertaining to non-consecutive one-term admissions, whichever is most appropriate.

  4. Readmission to the Graduate School under any other circumstances will be considered and decided on an individual basis. Students interested in obtaining such readmission should contact the Graduate School.

    Students who were not enrolled in the Spring semester, but who were enrolled for the Summer session will have registration materials available for the Fall semester should they wish to continue their registration.

  • Submit the Request for Reactivation of Enrollment form.

    • Visit the Application Instructions page and select "Return to Finish a U of A Graduate Degree Program" to find the correct form for your term of enrollment.

  • Pay the $30.00 application fee.

    • Application fee is waived if less than 12 months have passed (two major semesters and a summer) since your last enrollment at the University of Arkansas.
    • Application fee may be waived under certain circumstances.