Application Fee Waivers

Types of Fee Waivers

The Graduate School will consider a waiver of the application fee for applicants who demonstrate financial need, personal hardship, or other circumstances that make paying the application fee unduly onerous. You may access the Financial Fee Waiver Request Form after you have submitted your application.

After you have clicked the button to submit your application, you will be taken to your Applicant Status page. Information about the application fee and the link to access the waiver request form appears near the top of this page. You must fill out the Financial Fee Waiver Request Form and upload materials to support your request, such as letters from your university, tax returns, or other financial documents after submitting your application.

Important: Under no circumstances should you include your Social Security Number on any of the documents submitted via this form. If your Social Security Number or other sensitive, personal information appears on any of your financial materials, please redact before uploading.

Please Note:

  • Submission of a fee waiver request form does not guarantee that your application fee will be waived.
  • Do not submit the application fee payment if you have a pending fee waiver request or will be requesting a fee waiver, as application fee payments are nonrefundable (except for processing errors). You will be notified via email when your request has been reviewed, which may take 5-7 business days. If your request is not approved, you must pay the fee with a credit card before your application will be considered complete.
  • If you have previously requested and received two fee waivers for prior applications to GSAS, you may be ineligible to request an additional fee waiver for a new application. Each applicant may have only two approved application fee waiver requests.

There are two types of waivers that may be granted by the Office of Academic Access and Engagement. You may access the Access and Engagement Fee Waiver Request Form after you have submitted your application.

Recruitment Event Waiver Request

If you have been offered a fee waiver after speaking with a GSAS staff member at a recruiting event or through correspondence with a GSAS staff member, to formally request a waiver you will need to provide your waiver code via the Access and Engagement Fee Waiver Request Form.

Research Pathways Waiver Request

You may qualify for a Research Pathways Fee Waiver based on your participation in a program designed to prepare students for doctoral-level research and study.

Research pathways programs typically are based on students’ participation in an active research project over an extended period of time, with regular guidance and supervision from a faculty member at one’s home institution or at a different institution (e.g., as a research assistant or research intern). Participation may culminate in a capstone project, presentation, and/or a thesis or other written research report. These programs often include co-curricular elements designed to prepare students for success in the graduate school application process and in graduate school.

If you have participated in such a program and wish to request a fee waiver, you will need to provide at least one of the following types of documentation via the Access and Engagement Fee Waiver Request Form:

  • Copy of a certificate of award or completion from the program
  • Letter of acceptance or other documentation from the program confirming your participation
  • Letter from program staff confirming your participation
     

Please Note:

  • Submission of a fee waiver request form does not guarantee that your application fee will be waived.
  • Do not submit the application fee payment if you have a pending fee waiver request or will be requesting a fee waiver, as application fee payments are nonrefundable (except for processing errors). You will be notified via email when your request has been reviewed, which may take 5-7 business days. If your request is not approved, you must pay the fee with a credit card before your application will be considered complete.
  • If you have previously requested and received two fee waivers for prior applications to GSAS, you may be ineligible to request an additional fee waiver for a new application. Each applicant may have only two approved application fee waiver requests.

If you are applying to Columbia University through an outside fellowship organization, you may be eligible to have your application fee waived. There is no separate fee waiver request form required, though the organization’s representatives are required to enter their direct contact information as part of the application.

Eligible outside organizations include:

  • Amid East
  • DAAD-German American Exchange
  • DAF – Danish American Fulbright Commission
  • Fulbright

GSAS automatically grants a Fee Waiver to applicants who are currently enrolled GSAS students. No fee waiver request form is required.

Fee Waivers are granted to applicants who are currently serving in the US Military. No fee waiver request form is required.