Admissions FAQs

Your application will be reviewed holistically, so all of your materials (i.e., résumé, statement of purpose, letters of recommendation, transcripts, and test scores if applicable) will be considered in evaluating your admission. Applicants should also understand that the complete application package is considered as a whole and that weaknesses in one dimension can be offset by strengths in another dimension and vice versa.

You can check to see the status of your application by logging into your application portal. Please monitor the status of your application by checking the application portal to ensure all required materials are received and posted to the application. Your application must be considered "complete" to be placed in line for an admissions review.

We deliver admissions decisions via online notification in mid-February if you have a completed application by January 31.

As we do not grant deferrals, admission is valid only for the year specified in the offer letter. If you find that you are unable to attend or start the semester stated in your offer letter, you will not be granted a deferral and will not be issued a seat deposit refund. In this instance, you would need to reapply to the program for a future semester and previous merit scholarship awards will no longer apply. Awards change each year as a function of budgets and the applicant pool. Those re-applying to our program will compete with a new applicant pool for merit-based financial aid.

We target an enrolling class of 65-80 students each fall. Core courses contain 40-45 students; elective courses range from 15-30 students per class.

The School of International Affairs at Penn State is a professional master’s degree program, and we are unable to offer full-tuition fellowships, full-tuition scholarships, and graduate assistantship positions that you may find in other master's programs or Ph.D. programs. SIA does offer generous merit scholarships that can roughly discount one’s overall tuition anywhere from 15% - 60%. It is highly recommended to start looking for funding at around the same time you’re applying for graduate school- if you wait until you receive an admissions decision, it may be too late, as many fellowship application deadlines are far in advance. We are happy to assist with the scholarship search by providing you with this database. Though not exhaustive, it is comprehensive and will get you on the right track. It is also recommended to explore funding opportunities through government agencies, foundations, professional associations, and other private entities that sometimes offer financial support for graduate education. It takes some searching and legwork to locate, but we recommend researching and applying for opportunities - the rewards can be substantial.

All domestic and international students are automatically considered for merit-based scholarships and there are no additional forms, however, you must have a complete application submitted by January 31. Do not wait until the last minute! Though you can submit your application up until 11:59 p.m. (ET) on the deadline date, this is not recommended. You should allow extra time for ALL application materials to be received and posted to the application by the necessary deadlines. A number of application items will take time to collect after your application has been submitted (such as letters of recommendation). Please note that your application will NOT be reviewed until ALL materials are received. In a typical admissions cycle, we begin reviewing applications in early December. The materials you submit for your application will be used to evaluate you both for admission and for funding, and review for both admission and funding is holistic.

To determine the estimated cost of tuition and fees, please use the Tuition and College Cost Estimator. Please note that although full-time status is based on 9-credits, School of International Affairs students typically enroll in 12-credits per semester to maintain degree progress. Costs for the next academic year have not yet been determined – it is expected that the Board of Trustees will set tuition rates for 2023-2024 in July 2023. To help offset the cost of tuition, we encourage you to seek out external funding sources such as educational loans or scholarships from government agencies and businesses/corporations, for example.

If you’re an international student looking to see how much funding you would need to show in order to request a visa, please visit Penn State Global's Financial Information page. Please also note, this is subject to change annually.