Admission Information

This page directs prospective applicants to a complete list of materials required for admission and financial aid.

 

Graduate Admissions for Fall 2025

Department of Economics
University of California, Davis
 

Admission is only to the Ph.D. program.

Please see the Application for Admission section, below, for a complete list of materials required for admission and financial aid. 

Questions should be addressed to:

Graduate Economics Department
University of California, Davis
One Shields Avenue
Davis, CA 95616-8578

Email: econgradadmit@ucdavis.edu
 

Admission Requirements

A bachelor's degree, preferably in economics, is required for admission. Students who did not major in economics should have taken at least intermediate microeconomics, intermediate macroeconomics, and two additional upper-division economics courses. Because of the quantitative nature of the first-year theory sequence, prior completion of at least one year of calculus is essential, and a course in linear algebra is highly desirable. Similarly, at least two courses in statistics, including an upper-division course, are very important as preparation for the econometrics courses.

Applicants with GRE verbal scores below the 60th percentile (30th percentile for non-native speakers of English), GRE quantitative below the 70th percentile, internet-based TOEFL scores below 80 counting all 4 sections will not be considered for admission. While the minimum overall GPA required for admission is 3.25, the entire record (including course work and letters of recommendation) is reviewed in every case.

The following table shows data on the mean GRE and TOEFL scores of students admitted into the graduate program between 2016 and 2019:

  GRE Quantitative GRE Verbal GRE Analytical Writing TOEFL (Int'l Admits)
Median 168 160 4 107
Mean 167.6 160 4.1 107.5
English Language Testing Requirements

NOTE: Applicants are exempt from the English language examination requirement if they have earned or will be earning a bachelor's, master's, or doctoral degree from either: 

  • A regionally accredited U.S. college or university where English is the sole language of instruction, OR
  • A foreign college or university which provides instruction solely in English. UC Davis Graduate Studies will only approve waivers for foreign colleges and universities which list English as the sole language of instruction in the IAU World Higher Education Database (WHED). If English is not the sole language of instruction listed (or if no language is listed at all), the waiver does not apply. No other documentation (e.g. letters, language certificates, school websites) will be reviewed or accepted.


Applicants who do not meet one of the criteria above are required to submit English language test scores. Please visit https://grad.ucdavis.edu/admissions/admission-requirements/test-score-requirements for more details on requirements.

Online Information

Application for Admission

Application for Admission and Supporting Materials

Applications are accepted for fall quarter only. Admission is only to the Ph.D. program but students have the option of leaving with an M.A. degree after successfully completing the first year. Please refer to the Graduate Handbook for further details.

Deadline: Applications and all supporting materials must be received by December 15, 2024 (11:59 p.m., PST) to receive full consideration for admission and financial aid. An admission decision will not be made until all materials have been received. No applications will be accepted after December 15, 2024.

Further information and the link for the online admission application can be found on the UC Davis Graduate Studies website.

SUBMIT THE FOLLOWING MATERIALS ONLINE ONLY (as directed on the application):

  • Application for Admission
  • Personal History Statement
  • Statement of Purpose
  • Application fee ($120 for domestic application, or $140 for international). The fee may be paid by credit card or by e-check as directed on the application. The fee must be paid before the application will be considered complete, and the fee must be paid for each application submitted.
  • Three letters of recommendation (ask each letter of recommendation source to upload a letter electronically, as directed on the application. DO NOT submit hard copies of the letters).
  • C.V. (curriculum vitae or résumé)


NOTE: DO NOT submit writing samples, as they are not required and will not be considered in the application review

IMPORTANT: Be sure that your admission application is complete and correct and that it includes your online Personal History Statement, Statement of Purpose and C.V. (résumé) before you submit it. It cannot be changed after submission, and if you exclude any of the three required items with your online application, your application will irreversibly remain incomplete (paper versions of items are not acceptable)! Do NOT send any paper version items to the graduate program coordinator.

Graduate Record Examination (GRE)

Arrange for the Educational Testing Service (ETS) to send the GRE scores to UC Davis; the institution code is 4834.

The GRE exam is administered by:

Educational Testing Service
CN 6000
Princeton, NJ 08541-6000
Phone: 609-771-7670
You can contact ETS directly by email or find information on the ETS website.

International Students

Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) examination. Arrange for Educational Testing Service (ETS) to send TOEFL scores to UC Davis; the institution code is 4834.

The TOEFL exam is administered by:

Educational Testing Service (ETS)
P.O. Box 6151
Princeton, NJ 08541-6151
Phone: 609-771-7100
You can request information by email or find information on the ETS website.

As an alternative to the TOEFL, you may submit International English Language Testing System (IELTS) scores. Send an official Test Report Form (TRF) of your IELTS electronically to UC Davis.  Your most recent overall band score must be at least 7 on the IELTS 9-band scale.

TRANSCRIPTS

UC Davis requires academic records from each college-level institution you have attended.  You will be instructed to upload scanned copies of your transcripts after you have submitted your online application.  For more details visit https://gradstudies.ucdavis.edu/prospective-students/admissions-application/submitting-your-transcripts  

IMPORTANT: If you attended an institution where the language of instruction was not English, you must upload BOTH an "original language" (non-English) version AND English translated version transcript.  If you already earned a degree at the institution, and if you are an applicant from China, you must also include both a diploma and degree certificate (both "original language" & English versions) along with the transcript. If you are an applicant from a different country than China, carefully check the above website about submitting transcripts (scroll down at that website to see if there are other specific instructions for applicants from your own country).

Further information for International Students. 

Nonresident Tuition Fellowships

All non-resident applicants (international applicants and domestic non-California residents) will be automatically considered as if they had applied for a nonresident tuition fellowship (NRTF), so there is no need to submit a fellowship application for this kind of fellowship. NRTFs provide partial funding toward the cost of the nonresident tuition fee. NRTFs and Teaching Assistantships (TAships) are the most common kinds of financial aid that applicants are likely to receive. However, they are offered to only a few of the best applicants each year (approximately 10 or 12), and do not provide full financial aid.

(Note: Domestic students—i.e. U.S. citizens, immigrants and permanent residents—generally can establish California residency and avoid paying nonresident tuition after one year in California, if appropriate steps are taken before the fall quarter begins.)

Fellowships

The University offers several merit-based fellowships and scholarships. These are highly competitive, and the Department of Economics must choose and nominate (at most) four applicants for each of these fellowships; the successful applicants are then chosen through a campus-wide competition. Consequently, Economics will nominate only a few applicants with a GPA greater than 3.7 and GRE scores exceeding the 85th percentile in both verbal and quantitative exams.

Deadline

All application materials must be received by December 15, 2024. 

Application for these UC Davis Fellowships is made using a web-based submission form, as directed by the online admission application (the Economics Department will select nominees from these online fellowship applicants).

Assistantships

Teaching Assistantships

All applicants will be automatically considered as if they had applied for a teaching assistantship, so submitting a Teaching Assistantship application is unnecessary. For best consideration, all required admission application materials must be received by December 15, 2024.

Research Assistantships

Research Assistantships are not offered to new students of this department, but are reserved for continuing graduate students.

Other Financial Aid

Domestic students only may request information concerning graduate loans, grants and work-study employment from: 
 

Financial Aid and Scholarships Office
Dutton Hall
University of California, Davis
Davis, CA 95616-8596
Email: gradfinaid@ucdavis.edu
Phone: 530- 752-9246
Hours: 10 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m.
Applications are due in early March. International students are not eligible for these types of aid.

For further information, please also see the FAQ section (Frequently Asked Questions).