Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing Science

Admissions

The information on this page is specifically relevant to the 2024-2025 application cycle. Applicants to the PhD program will apply for admissions through the UCI Graduate Division website. If you plan to apply in future years, please continue to monitor our website for updated information.

Eligibility & Application Instructions

  • A BS or MS degree in nursing
    – degree standards must be equivalent to that of the University of California
  • An active RN license
  • A cumulative undergraduate GPA of 3.2 or higher and a cumulative graduate GPA of 3.5 or higher
  • An undergraduate or graduate statistics course that will cover or did cover descriptive and inferential statistics.
    • This statistics course must have been completed within 5 years of starting the program with a grade of B or higher. Courses must be taken for a letter grade – credit/no credit and pass/not pass courses will not be considered.
    • If it has been longer than 5 years, this course can be taken online or in-person at a community college, a university/college, or university extension.
    • If you are on the cusp of the 5 year deadline, we strongly encourage you to retake statistics during the summer before starting the program.
    • Applicants are required to upload a signed copy of the Statistics Acknowledgement form in the UC Irvine Graduate Application.

A complete application includes and adheres to the following:

  • A personal history statement (guidelines)
  • A statement of purpose (guidelines)
  • *New for the Fall 2024-25 Application* – We no longer require any letters of recommendation for the PhD application.
    • Note: the UCI Graduate Application will allow applicants to submit letters, but our program will not review or consider any submitted letters in admissions decisions.
  • Two samples of scholarly work
    – samples can be any combination of publications, thesis (or portion thereof), and/or major research papers
  • A Curriculum Vitae
    – include details about educational background, professional work, previous research, volunteer work, and other relevant information
  • A signed Statistics Admissions Requirement Acknowledgement form (guidelines)

Application Notes

  • An interview may be required for final selection of PhD students.
  • Additional information is available from UCI Graduate Division

International applicants must submit TOEFL or IELTS scores.

For more helpful information on applying to UCI as an international student, see the UCI Graduate Division International Admissions page.

Please note: All graduate programs at the School of Nursing require international degrees and transcripts undergo professional transcript evaluations by an independent educational evaluating service from any member of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services or the Association of International Credential Evaluators, Inc. Students should upload a copy of evaluations and translations in their application.

Applicants should note that foreign transcript evaluation services may take several weeks to process and should plan accordingly.  The report uploaded to the application must include a degree-equivalent evaluation and course-by-course equivalent evaluation for any prerequisites.

The School of Nursing and the University of California do not endorse or have a formal partnership with any specific transcript evaluation agencies. However, some applicants have used the following services:

World Education Services, Inc.

P.O. Box  5087
Bowling Green Station
New York, NY 10274-5087
Phone: 212-966-6311
http://www.wes.org/

International Education Research Foundation

P.O. Box 3665
Culver City, CA 90231-3665
Phone: 310-258-9451
http://www.ierf.org/

Please note that if you are planning to apply for an Application Fee Waiver, you must submit your waiver request to UC Irvine’s Graduate Division at least 5 days in advance of our application deadline. The School of Nursing does not manage the application fee nor does it manage the application fee waiver process. Please refer to the UC Irvine Graduate Division website for more information: https://grad.uci.edu/admissions/applying-to-uci/fee-waivers.php

We’re excited to virtually meet you! Please join us for one of our virtual information sessions this Fall and Winter. Guests will be required to register for the event to receive Zoom login information.

Please click on the information session you are interested in to be directed to the registration site:

WINTER 2025

In the meantime, please check out our faculty research interests quick sheet to learn more about our faculty! We recommend reaching out and connecting to any faculty you may want to work with. You can find more information and contact information on our faculty page.

Financial support is guaranteed for the first four years of the PhD program. Funding sources are available in the form of fellowships, teaching assistantships, research assistantships, campus scholarships, and grant awards.

If you need additional help to pay for your studies, you may be eligible for several types of financial aid. Visit UCI Office of Financial Aid & Scholarships to find out more about financial aid and scholarship options.

Students are especially encouraged to apply for grant funding in year four and five. Please check the UC Irvine Financial Aid office’s database of external scholarships.