Letter from the Graduate Coordinator

Department of East Asian Studies
Learning Services Building, Room 102
1512 First St. 
PO Box 210105
University of Arizona
Tucson, Arizona, 85721-0105, USA

Dear Inquirer/Applicant. 

We appreciate your interest in the East Asian Studies Graduate Program at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. 

The University of Arizona code = 4832

The East Asian Studies Website will guide you through the application process and answer your questions regarding our Graduate Program. Please pay attention to the "Admissions Requirements" section of the material. Be sure to follow the directions for the application process carefully. Admission to our program is the joint responsibility of the Graduate College and East Asian Studies, and both will carefully evaluate your application materials. Admissions decisions are based upon several departmental criteria in addition to those set by the Graduate College. It is the student's responsibility to make sure the application process is followed and that are requested materials and fees are submitted on time. 

First-time admission is normally granted for the Fall semester. Admission for the Spring semester is not normally granted. In the case of exceptional circumstances, you should write to our admissions committee for further information. Two exceptions to this policy will be considered for spring admissions:

(1) Military personnel who have just 18 months to complete their work, and (2) University of Arizona students who graduate from the U of A in the winter and who have the strong support of at least one faculty member from East Asian Studies. 

If you are on active duty in the U.S. military and will be issued orders assigning you to the University of Arizona for a graduate program, you should be eligible for in-state tuition status. We strongly suggest that you contact the Residency Classification Office at (520) 621-3636 to find out how to obtain in-state status. 

It is important that you make note of the deadline dates. These dates have been established by the Graduate College for the whole university. 

For Fall admission:

International applicants must submit an online application and fee payment to the Graduate College Admission Office by January 15th. 

Domestic (U.S. citizen or permanent resident) must submit their online application and application fee payment to the Graduate College Admission Office by January 15th. 

All additional materials (iBT TOEFL and/or GRE test results & TSE score, letter or statement of purpose, original transcripts, two letters of recommendation, departmental financial aid application, and for Ph.D. students only, a writing sample) must be received by the East Asian Studies Department by February 1st from all applicants.

We recommend you start the process as early as possible to get all materials to us by January 15th. We review the applications one time only, beginning shortly after February 1st. We reserve the right not to review applications from people with missing materials. 

Once applications are reviewed and admissions recommendations have been made, you should receive either (1) an email from the department stating you have been recommended for admission or (2) formal notification from the Graduate College that you have been denied, by late February or early March.

At the East Asian Studies website under "Prospective Students" is a link to the departmental financial aid form. If you choose to apply to our program and want to be considered for any type of financial aid, please be sure to fill out this form and submit it by February 1st. 

Budgets are determined by Central Administration and departments receive information on their allocations in late march for the following academic year. 

Financial decisions will be made by late March (if we have received our allocation by then) and an email will be sent to the student notifying him/her of our offer. 

Applicants recommended for admission must respond to EAS in writing (email is fine) by April 15th indicating their acceptance or refusal of our offer. If you receive an offer of financial aid and we do not receive your acceptance by April 15, we reserve the right to reallocate your financial aid to another student. 

Only after we have received a student’s acceptance can visa documentation begin to be processed by the Graduate College. 

The department offers graduate programs leading to the M.A. and the Ph.D. degrees with several concentrations. At the M.A. level, students may concentrate on a particular discipline, or they may develop a more general program of study relevant to East Asia. Ph.D. programs are typically focused in a particular academic discipline, though interdisciplinary work is also possible. The University of Arizona does not make a combined M.A./Ph.D. available as an option for EAS. Unless you already have a similar M.A. degree, in most cases you would need to complete an M.A. degree in our department before applying to our Ph.D. program. If you already have an M.A. degree and wish to be considered for admission only as a Ph.D. student, please let us know in writing in addition to submitting the application.

Please apply for the specific Fall semester you plan to begin your graduate studies, as we no longer grant students one-year deferments between acceptance to our program and beginning our program.

If you are offered employment as a Graduate Assistant Teaching (GAT) and have not submitted a passing iBT TOEFL or TSE score, you must pass an English Speaking test administered by EAS faculty. It is imperative that you take the test as soon as possible, preferably before you arrive in Tucson. We can not process employment paperwork until you have passed.

All materials will be submitted with your online application to the graduate college. If you have any issues uploading materials and need to email an attachment, you can send it to: frankw1@arizona.edu.

If you have questions regarding our program, please contact me.

Frank Whitehead, Graduate Coordinator, frankw1@arizona.edu.

University of Arizona Admissions Process

  • Student applies to program on-line at https://grad.arizona.edu
    • Deadline for International students = January 15th 
    • Deadline for US citizens & permanent residents = January 15th
  • Student mails in all materials to the department by January 15th
  • Departmental committee reviews all complete applications and makes recommendations for admission or denial by late February or early March
  • Notification (done by early March)
    • Students recommended for admission are notified by email by the department
    • Students denied admission are notified by the Graduate College
  • Central Administration notifies departments of their budget allocation by late March
  • Financial aid decisions are made by late March and then we send letters out by e-mail to the students specifying what financial aid we are able to offer
  • Students need to notify us in writing (e-mail is fine) by April 15th either accepting or declining our offer of admission and/or financial aid
  • We notify the Graduate College who has accepted our offers and they handle admission and SEVIS processing. Graduate College will send an email to the student if they need further information. SEVIS processing can not be completed until the student responds to them with complete answers.
  • We mail SEVIS paperwork, original signed admission letter, and original signed financial aid letter to international students by FedEx
  • Once the student arrives in the U.S. and at the University of Arizona departmental office:
    • Hiring forms will have to be completed by the student who was offered employment
    • Paperwork will have to be processed for all students
    • International students will have to take the ESPE test if the student has not already taken and passed a TSE test or iBT TOEFL)
    • All students will have to attend orientations
    • All students will have to obtain a University of Arizona identification card
    • International students without a Social Security number will have to obtain one (at the International Student Orientation), etc.

Listed below are websites that may be useful to you

East Asian Studies: http://eas.arizona.edu
(Information on department, faculty, department financial aid application, Graduate College application, etc.)
Click on “Prospective Students click here” for applications & instructions.

East Asian Studies: https://grad.arizona.edu
Department’s specific requirements for admission.
1-click: prospective students 
2-click: degree programs 
3-click: East Asian Studies

University of Arizona Homepage: https://www.arizona.edu
(Information about the University of Arizona.)

Graduate College Admission: https://grad.arizona.edu
(Specific information on how the admission process works, forms, etc.)

Graduate College https://grad.arizona.edu
(Estimated expenses for a student's basic budget.)
1-click: prospective students 
2-click: cost of education at the University of Arizona
3-click: estimated cost of attendance

Graduate College: https://grad.arizona.edu
(Graduate College information, application forms, deadlines, etc.)
https://grad.arizona.edu/admissions/procedures/application-process

Bursar’s Office: https://bursar.arizona.edu/
(Regarding financial matters: all information on fees, how & where to pay, payment deadlines, etc.)

Office of Curriculum and Registration: https://registrar.arizona.edu/
A - General information on the curriculum offered throughout the entire University of Arizona and registration information and deadlines.
B – Specific information on how a graduate student registers for classes.
1-click: students 
2-click: registration information
3-click: how to register 
4-click: newly admitted graduate

Office of Student Financial Aid: https://financialaid.arizona.edu
(Information regarding non-departmental financial aid available on campus.)

Additional Note:

Please apply for the specific fall semester you plan to attend. We no longer grant students one-year deferments between acceptance to our program and actually beginning our program.