Graduate Program

The Department of Anthropology is accepting applications to all of our graduate programs in the Fall 2025. If you have any questions, please feel free to be in touch with our Director of Graduate Admissions, James Igoe, jji2e@virginia.edu.

Applications can be submitted from October 5, 2025 to December 15, 2025 (for studies beginning Fall 2026). All applications must be submitted online through the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences' admission system, accessible from the homepage of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (hover over the Admissions menu link).

The application form requires you to specify whether you are applying to the PhD or the MA degree track, and we require a statement of purpose, three recommendation letters, and a writing sample. The remaining application materials include the application form, fee, and transcripts. (We no longer require GRE scores). International students from non-English-speaking countries must also provide TOEFL or IELTS scores. The Graduate School asks applicants to upload unofficial transcripts when applying; applicants who are offered admission to our graduate program will then be asked to provide official copies of all transcripts.

For more information on the required application materials, please see the Graduate School of Arts and Scieces FAQs as well as the Requirements Page on the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences' admissions site.

Waiver of Graduate Program Application Fee

Details about fee waiver categories are available on the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs website: https://gradoutreach.virginia.edu/application-fee-waiver. Additionally, international applicants from UN-designated Least Developed Countries will automatically receive a fee waiver through the central admissions process.