About PhD Program,
The UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) offers a variety of degrees and programs that offer rigorous study and personal enrichment at any stage of a students’ academic career. The M.S. in Library Science and M.S. in Information Science programs are highly-customizable, residential programs. Students benefit from mentoring relationships with world-class faculty. The online M.P.S. in Digital Curation and Management prepares students to lead efforts in digital records management in a variety of fields and industries. The M.P.S. in Biomedical and Health Informatics program, offered both online and in person, prepares students for the rapidly-growing field of healthcare data analysis.
Students in all programs receive dedicated advising and career counseling from our experienced Student Services Staff.
Prospective students may make appointments with faculty and staff members to discuss admission requirements, program schedules, and curriculum content. The school office arranges appointments within its normal business hours (8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday). To schedule an appointment, email silsinfo@unc.edu.
PhD Program Degree Eligibility with GPA,
We use many facets of the student’s application to arrive at an admissions decision:
We look for strong academic records, judged by the applicant’s past Grade Point Average (GPA), and we examine the coursework on the student’s transcript(s) to determine personal strengths and areas of mastery. Recently accepted graduate students had an average undergraduate GPA of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale.
Graduate Record Exam (GRE) test scores are no longer required nor are they recommended for applicants to SILS. Applicants may voluntarily submit GRE scores if you feel that these scores would help the admissions committee understand your academic capabilities more completely. NOTE: The standardized test score field will still show up in the application as the basic application is used across multiple graduate programs here at UNC and international applicants are still required to submit TOEFL scores.
PhD Funding Coverage,
We know the cost of graduate education can seem daunting, but MSIS and MSLS students at the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) can take of advantage of many opportunities to help defray the cost of tuition, fees, and living expenses.
UNC-Chapel Hill and SILS offer merit-based support for promising incoming students, several assistantships with full-tuition support are awarded each year, our students regularly succeed in securing awards from professional organizations and other external sources, and there are many flexible, competitively-compensated employment options on or near campus.
Explore this page to learn more about the cost of attendance and potential funding sources available to SILS master’s students.
Application Requirement,
- Complete the basic application.
- Upload unofficial copies of transcriptsfor each school attended (max 300 kB).
- Upload a résuméincluding work experience, special abilities and skills (max 300 kB).
- Upload a Statement of Purpose.General guidelines for the statement of purpose:
Your application requires a written statement to uploaded into your application and is a critical component of your application for admission. This is your opportunity to tell us what excites you about the field of library and information science, and what problems you want to help solve in this field. Please also tell us how your prior experiences have prepared you for this next step toward your career goals and how UNC-SILS will help you achieve them. - Arrange for three letters of recommendation. These letters are solicited by entering recommenders’ email addresses into the online application. Recommenders can upload their letters directly into your application. At least two letters should be from persons having first-hand knowledge of the applicant’s academic capabilities.
- International applicants: The TOEFLor IELTS test (no more than 2 years old) is still required for international applicants, with the following three exceptions:
- You are from countries where English is the sole official language of instruction.
- You have received or will receive a degree from an accredited university in the United States.
- You have received or will receive a degree from an accredited university where English is the SOLE language of instruction.
NOTE: The graduate school’s TOEFL minimum requirement for admission is 90. For the IELTS the minimum is 7. Most international students admitted to SILS have TOEFL scores above 100. The University of North Carolina’s Institution code is #5816. UNC does not require a department code, you may leave that blank.
Application Deadline,
December 10, 2024
Application Fee,
pay the nonrefundable $95 application fee.
