Application Fee and Waiver
There is a $75 application fee for each application. Applicants to Graduate School-administered degree programs [1] are eligible for an application fee waiver.
Determining Eligibility for a Fee Waiver
Application fee waivers may be provided:
- on the basis of need or financial hardship;
- to U.S. citizens and permanent residents who have joined at least one affinity group associated with an underrepresented minority;
- to students and alumni of historically black college or university, hispanic serving institution, or tribal college or university;
- through your participation in a variety of programs (including but not limited to the following examples);
- to United States Armed Forces veterans and active duty service members;
- or based on your application to a national fellowship (see the list).
Some applicants that meet the above criteria will have their application fee automatically waived after completing the first two sections of the application. If you do not receive an application fee waiver automatically, please complete the steps below to be considered for an application fee waiver from the Graduate School. We also recommend that you contact your department directly, as each department has its own resources for fee waivers.
When to Request a Waiver
We encourage you to submit your completed request for a fee waiver well in advance of your program’s application deadline. Allow at least three (3) business days for review and processing during peak application periods. Please be patient and do not return to the application fee waiver form and submit it more than once if you have not received a response within three business days. You will receive an email informing you of the result of our decision. You may complete the rest of your application while you wait for your decision.
How to Submit a Fee Waiver Request
-
Start an application to a Graduate School program.
- Complete the first two sections of the application, called:
- Application Type and Term
- Personal Information
- Allow 24 hours for the system to process the information you have provided in the first two sections of the application. After this, log in to your application and check the "Application Status Page." If your fee has been automatically waived, it will state, "Payment Waived: 75.00 USD," under Recent Activities.
- If your fee was not automatically waived and you would like to have a staff member review your request, email gradapp@nd.edu and confirm that you have completed the first two sections of the application. Please title the email “Completed first two sections of the application - please release the app fee waiver request form”.
- We will release the application waiver form from this email address. The title of the email is “Application Fee Waiver Request Form Available.” Please allow up to 2 business days for the email to arrive in your inbox.
- Follow the link to the form contained in the email. Complete the form. Important: to avoid delays with processing your request, if you are requesting a fee waiver on the basis of need you must provide supporting documentation that demonstrates your financial need. A statement of need will not suffice. We will return your request if you do not include supporting documentation. All documents will be deleted from our system during the review of your fee waiver request. These documents can include, but are not limited to:
- Bank statement
- Pay Stub
- SAR (Student Aid Report).The SAR is generated from the information that you provide on your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form
- W2
- Federal Income Tax Return
- A statement from your current institution stating your Estimated Family Contribution, the financial aid officer’s signature and your signature verifying the reported information.
- Government or other official agency funding
- Please allow at least three (3) business days to process your completed fee waiver form request. You will receive an email informing you of the result of our decision.
[1] For the list of Graduate School-administered programs, refer to the Degree Programs page of this website. Advanced degrees in architecture and law are administered separately by the School of Architecture and Law School, respectively. All master's programs in the field of business are administered by the Mendoza College of Business. With the exception of the Ph.D. programs in Analytics and Management, the Graduate School does not offer application fee waivers for applicants to the aforementioned professional schools.