Anyone with a BA or BS degree! Students from ANY undergraduate major are encouraged to apply for a Master of Science in Environmental Studies.

January 15th for Fall semester: Priority is given to incoming fall applications for admission to the program, TAships & other funding opportunities. A complete application is due on Jan. 15th. Please ask for transcripts & letters of reference in December. 

October 15th for Spring semester: Incoming spring applications are considered on a space-available basis only. Incoming spring applicants rarely receive funding (inside the program) & are not considered for 1st year TAships.  

You can monitor the status of your application materials on the Slate site by logging into your account & viewing your Personal Activity Page.  Materials will be logged in as received and your application status will be marked “application complete” once we have all the required materials.

All completed applications are initially screened by the Environmental Studies Director. They are then shared with potential faculty advisors - based on the applicant's stated interests or by request. The decision for admission is based on the full consideration of the application materials, including, life experience as expressed in the written essays/statements & resume (we highly value evidence of service & engagement), undergraduate transcripts, and reference letters (with at least one academic reference). Writing samples, transcripts, and other test scores assist in deciding who is offered TAships and other funding opportunities. Final decisions for admission and funding are made by the entire faculty & Director.

Applicants usually hear back from Environmental Studies by the end of February. If an applicant is awarded a TAship or other funding, the letter of admittance will include an offer that the incoming student will need to accept or decline by April 15th.

Inside the Program: We currently offer eight (8) full-year TAships for 1st-year graduate students, four working within the Environmental Studies Program, and four working in the English department. We also offer several one-semester scholarships, usually for $5,000. 

Outside the Program/On-campus: The College of Humanities and Sciences offers a variety of competitive scholarships & awards. Please see the UM Scholarship Portal.

Indigenous (Native American, Alaskan Native, Native Hawaiian – U.S. citizens) incoming & current graduate students are eligible to apply for an A.P. Sloan Foundation scholarship.

Off-campus: There are numerous fellowships, scholarships & awards from off-campus programs that our students have successfully been awarded. Please contact us as soon as you plan to apply for us to help assist in the process.

The University of Montana classifies students, including applicants for admission, as either in-state or out-of-state for fee purposes. To establish in-state status, except for some exceptions, a person must reside in Montana for 12 continuous months (without taking any classes) & not be out of the state for more than a total of 30 days.

The Environmental Studies Program is approved as a distinctive program within the Western Regional Graduate Program (WRGP) of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE). This means -- if you are a legal resident of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, or Wyoming, -- you will qualify for a tuition rate of 150% of the Montana resident tuition rate.  The UM Graduate School will notify you of your WRGP in-state tuition rate status upon admission. (Subject to continued UM WRGP policy.)

Applicants interested in the Joint JD/Environmental Studies M.S. can apply to BOTH programs separately at the same time or students can wait to apply to the Law School during their first year in Environmental Studies. If you are interested in this option, please contact us for further information.

Please contact our administrator -- Adelle Thompson or call 406-243-4659.