General Admissions FAQs

The GRE or GMAT is required for international applicants unless they qualify for a test waiver.  If you do not qualify for the test waiver, your application will be held as incomplete until official scores are submitted.  The committee cannot review applications until all of the required elements are submitted. UNC Charlotte’s school code is 5105.

The School of Data Science will consider waiving the GRE test requirement for applicants of the master’s DSBA program who hold a degree from an accredited U.S. institution with a GPA of 3.0 or higher or who hold a terminal degree (e.g., J.D., M.D., or Ph.D.). If you meet this requirement, please contact one of our directors, Carly Mahedy or Joshua Hertel, once you have formally submitted your application.

You will receive an email in your application portal inbox informing you that your scores have been received. If you are unsure if they have been received or have questions about your test scores, please contact the graduate admissions office.

GMAT and GRE scores are valid for five years.

No. The School of Data Science will waive the GRE/GMAT test requirements for all applicants with a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution in the United States and, a minimum 3.0 GPA.  In addition, the test requirement will be waived for applicants holding a terminal degree (e.g., J.D., M.D., or Ph.D.). For international applicants who do not meet one of the qualifications above, official GRE or GMAT scores are required. 

The GRE/GMAT test waiver is a manual process. You must email Carly Mahedy or Joshua Hertel, once you have formally submitted your application.

Admission to the program is competitive. If you receive a GMAT or GRE score that falls considerably below the program’s average,  we would encourage you to retake the exam.  The current profile of admitted students can be found HERE. 

No specific Bachelor’s degree is required to apply to the DSBA program. We value diverse academic backgrounds, as they enrich the classroom experience. However, applicants should have a working knowledge of at least one higher-level procedural language (e.g., Python, C, Java), familiarity with computer applications, and a basic background in mathematics, including one semester of calculus and one semester of statistics.

No, while some courses may be offered online, most classes will be held in person. The Data Science and Business Analytics program is designed to be face-to-face, emphasizing personal interaction between students and faculty, as well as networking opportunities in the classroom.

A maximum of six credit hours of graduate coursework from a regionally accredited institution may be considered for acceptance into the master’s degree program. The grade earned must be A or B, cannot be counted towards any previously earned master’s or doctoral degree, and must be approved by the faculty.

Yes, we admit both part-time and full-time students. However, please note that the Graduate School imposes a time limit of seven years to complete the master’s program and five years to complete the graduate certificate.

Enrolled students can view the current schedule of classes in Banner Self-Service. Once in Banner, select the term you are interested in and hit submit.  Then, under the Subject heading select Data Science and Analytics and perform a Class Search.

Yes, if you have a bachelor’s degree, you can take a few courses as a Post-Baccalaureate student or apply for the DSBA Graduate Certificate program. The certificate mirrors the master’s foundation and core curriculum, and you’ll attend the same classes as degree students. If you later apply for the master’s program, you can transfer all 15 credits, provided you earn at least a 3.0 in each class. To apply for post-baccalaureate or certificate admission, please submit your application online through the Graduate School’s Admissions website.

Students can apply to the Post-Baccalaureate (Post-Bac) program with just a Bachelor’s degree. This allows enrollment in graduate courses required for the program, where strong performance and positive instructor references can help demonstrate aptitude. Afterward, students can re-apply to the DSBA program, using their improved academic record at UNC Charlotte to strengthen their application. While this does not guarantee admission, it provides a stronger case.

Up to six credit hours from the Post-Bac program can be applied toward the DSBA master’s degree.

The program is intentionally designed to accommodate working professionals. The majority of the classes meet once a week in the evening, usually from 5:30 to 8:15 p.m., on our uptown campus, the Dubois Center.

Candidates denied admission may reapply for a future semester. However, they should first address the areas of their application (e.g., GPA, GRE, TOEFL) that led to the denial.

Work experience is preferred, but not required for admission.   Employers recognize that a DSBA degree is most useful when combined with the practical knowledge gained through professional experience.

Transfer students follow the same application process as other applicants, including submitting all required documents. Once admitted, they can submit transcripts and syllabi to the Graduate Program Director to determine eligible transfer credits. UNC Charlotte’s policy allows up to 6 transfer credits, subject to faculty approval.

​Classes usually have 40-45 students.  Classes offered in the summer tend to be smaller.

The average admitted student to the DSBA program is 28 years old with 3-5 years of professional experience. A more detailed profile is available HERE. Please note that these are averages, and the DSBA program evaluates each application individually and holistically. Applicants do not need to match this profile exactly to be considered competitive for admission.

Yes. The DSBA program requires at least one semester of calculus and one semester of statistics prior to applying. The program requests a working knowledge of at least one higher-level procedural programming language (i.e. Python, Java, C/C++, etc.).

 It is highly recommended to have these courses completed prior to applying. However, candidates can apply and gain admission to the DSBA program before completing the prerequisite course requirements. To avoid encountering registration restrictions, candidates should plan to have all prerequisite courses completed before the start of their first semester.

Prerequisite courses for the DSBA program may be completed at any accredited institution or through accredited online college services or community colleges. We recommend the community college system which offers high flexibility and low cost.  For those in the Charlotte region Central Piedmont Community College and Rowan Cabarrus Community College have multiple campuses as well as online options. 

No. We admit students to the program in the fall and spring semesters.

Yes, applications submitted by the priority deadline will be reviewed first and given priority. Applications received after the priority deadline will be reviewed on a space-available basis.

The statement of purpose is your opportunity to explain why you want to join the DSBA program and outline your professional and academic goals. Most students’ statements range from 500 to 1000 words.

Three letters of recommendation are required, ideally from faculty, supervisors, or mentors who know you well and can speak to your work ethic, academic success, and ability to work in a team.

The application fee is $75 for domestic applicants and $85 for international applicants. The fee is assessed by Graduate Admissions, not the School of Data Science.  The application fee is not transferable or refundable.

For fall admission the priority application deadline is March 1st. For the spring semester, the priority deadline is October 1st. Applications received after this date will be reviewed on a space-available basis. 

Rolling admissions means the DSBA program reviews applications as they are received, rather than after a hard deadline. Applications will be accepted and reviewed as long as space remains in the program. Candidates should allow at least 30 days for the review process. Rolling admissions begin after the priority deadline—October 1st or March 1st.

Applicants can track the progress of their application through the application portal system.

Please upload all required documents (official transcripts, reference letters, statement of purpose, and resume) through the admissions system. The Graduate School will only forward complete applications and documents to the program. If your application is incomplete, the department will not receive it. A decision can only be made once the department receives a complete application from the Graduate School.

No. The graduate admissions office forwards applications to the DSBA program board only when all elements of the application have been received.

Yes. International applicants who have earned three-year bachelor’s degrees are required to submit a “foreign credential evaluation” along with their supplemental application requirement. Such evaluation must be performed by a member of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES), for example, the World Education Services (WES). Either a document-to-document or a course-by-course foreign credential evaluation meets this requirement. UNC Charlotte will consider such an agency’s assessment as to whether the academic credential earned is, or is not, equivalent to a U.S. bachelor’s degree as well as its recalculation of grades. A listing of other NACES members is available at https://www.naces.org/members.

There are several conversion tools available online. We recommend the free WES evaluation tool.

While some funding for graduate students is available, it is limited. U.S. citizens enrolled in the master’s degree or the graduate certificate can qualify for unsubsidized federal loans.  Once admitted, full-time students enrolled in the program can also apply for graduate assistantships.  The assistantships are highly competitive, and the majority are awarded through academic departments. Academic grants and scholarships may also be available. Details on potential graduate support at the University and program level can be found here.

The estimated tuition and fees for the DSBA program in the 2023-2024 academic year can be found on the Financial Information page.  

Please note that the total cost of attendance depends on a multitude of factors including tuition and fees, room and board, health insurance, cost of books and supplies, miscellaneous and personal expenses, the number of credit hours you take per term, the number of semesters you are enrolled, and whether or not you are a North Carolina resident.

The North Carolina Residency Determination Service is the centralized service for determining residency classifications for all graduate and post-baccalaureate students. Candidates should refer to the Residency Determination Service (RDS) website for specific information on residency requirements.

You can apply for an assistantship once you are accepted into the program. Most assistantship opportunities are emailed to students at the beginning of the semester. More information regarding Research and Teaching Assistantship opportunities can be found on the Graduate School’s website or through the Career Center’s Hire-a-Niner. The Hire-a-Niner website aggregates postings for internships, full-time positions, and campus jobs. SDS also provides assistantships for full-time students enrolled in the DSBA program. Additional information and how to apply can be found here.

Yes. If English is not your native language the Graduate School requires that applicants submit current scores from the TOEFL or IELTS academic exams, or the Duolingo English Test. Scores older than two years will not be accepted. Taking both tests is not required. Applicants who have received a degree from an institution in the US or UK are not required for TOEFL/ IELTS/ Duolingo.Register for the exams here:

• TOEFL at www.toefl.org
• IELTS at www.ielts.org
• Duolingo English Test at www.englishtest.duolingo.com

• A minimum TOEFL score of 220 (computer-based), 557 (paper-based), or 83 (Internet-based) is required. A minimum IELTS band score of 6.5 is required.  The minimum score for the Duolingo English Test is 115. 

As a reminder, this is a requirement for The Graduate School at UNC Charlotte. Only applicants who have received a degree from an accredited institution in the U.S. or United Kingdom can request a waiver.

UNC Charlotte’s school code is 5105, a department code is not necessary.

Yes, this is a STEM-designated program (52.1399). Under current DHS regulations, those who complete the MS in Data Science will qualify for a 24-month STEM-OPT extension after graduation.