Graduate Admissions
All students who wish to pursue a graduate degree in CBE must first be admitted through the UT Graduate School. Applications for Fall 2024 closed on January 1, 2024. Applications for Fall 2025 are now open.
Graduate Admission Requirements
Candidates for admission to the CBE department must have earned a bachelor’s degree from a college or university accredited by the appropriate accrediting agency or an international equivalent. Applicants without undergraduate degrees in chemical engineering may be required to take additional coursework as appropriate to prepare them for graduate work.
Student admission is evaluated based on his/her academic performance (GPA, GRE, and/or TOEFL), research potential, and recommendation letters.
As part of the online graduate application process, applicants will complete a departmental application and upload a statement of purpose and resume. Academic performance, research interests, and prior experiences of prospective students will be evaluated. The graduate admissions committee interviews the most promosing applicants prior to finalizing admission decisions.
Frequently Asked Questions
For our MS program, we will admit students with a BS degree in any science and engineering discipline. However, we may recommend that you take additional undergraduate courses to help prepare you for the graduate CBE coursework. For our PhD program, most of our students have a BS in Chemical Engineering. However, we will admit students with a BS in Chemistry, Polymer Science and Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Biochemistry, among other disciplines, depending on the scope of our active research projects.
Applicants who pay the fee receive priority review. However, we will perform a preliminary review of all applications that are complete aside from the fee payment, and we will schedule a Zoom interview if your application is competitive. Interviews begin in December and run through February. We will make a decision about the fee waiver after the interview. You do not need to email us to request the waiver.
No, the GRE is optional. If you have already taken the GRE, then please provide the score with your application.
After you submit your application you will be able to email graduateadmissions@utk.edu and request that they waive the TOEFL/IELTS.
A minimum of a 3.0 out of a 4.0 GPA is required by the university. We recommend all students apply for our program so that we may evaluate based on his/her academic performance, research potential, and recommendation letters.
No. Most of our students are admitted to the program and matched at the beginning of the first semester. GRA support (salary, tuition and fee waiver, and basic health insurance) starts at day 1, irrespective of whether an advisor is assigned.
You are free to email faculty about their research, but please keep in mind that we receive numerous emails from prospective students and cannot answer them all. If you are interested in our program, then please apply.
For PhD applications, the priority deadline is December 1 and the final deadline is January 1.
The CBE department does not offer financial assistance for MS students, However, there are a few opportunities outside the CBE department. Please refer to the Graduate Fellowships page for more information.
Students who are admitted to our PhD program will be financially supported with a generous stipend, plus a tuition waiver and health insurance. Read more about financial aid available to CBE graduate students.
Still have questions about the admissions process? Contact Dr. Siris Laursen.
Research Opportunities
Student admission is evaluated based on his/her academic performance, research potential, and recommendation letters. All applicants must upload a statement of purpose, a research statement, and resume. The graduate admissions committee interviews the most promising applicants prior to finalizing admission decisions.Virtual interviews are held from December through February.
Are You a Current Undergraduate Student Seeking a Research Opportunity?
Check out our faculty page to find a professor that shares your research interests. Email the professor that you would like to do research for. Attach a resume that includes your current GPA. If you don’t hear back from them within a week, then feel free to stop by their office.
| Useful Links |
|---|
| View the Application Process for New Applicants |
| View the Application Process for Readmission |
| View the CBE Graduate Brochure |
| View the CBE Graduate Recruitment Booklet |