Admissions

Overview of Admissions to the HCI MS Program

Questions?

For any questions about applying to UCSC’s HCI MS program, please contact us at hci@ucsc.edu

Application deadline

Admission details

Students must meet following sets of requirements for graduate studies at UCSC. As these requirements sometimes change, please see the following websites for the most up to date information:

• General UCSC requirements for graduate admissions (contact information for three recommenders is required by the deadline; however, you only need two recommendation letters to be submitted by the deadline for your application to be reviewed).
• Specific requirements for the HCI MS program (CV/Resume, Statement of Purpose, Personal History Statement, Online Portfolio).
• International students must meet UCSC’s language requirements.

Beyond these requirements, there are no specific course requirements for HCI applicants.

The MS in Human Computer Interaction is designed to accommodate a diverse set of students, including:

• Students who have a technical background in interactive system creation but no particular design or analytics expertise (e.g., students graduating from the current UCSC B.S. in computer science or computer engineering or professionals working as programmers or hardware engineers).
• Students who have a background in analytics, but no particular design or technology expertise (e.g., students graduating from the current UCSC B.S. in cognitive science or professionals from technology companies working in user research).
• Students who have a background in design, but no particular analytics or technology expertise (e.g., students graduating from design schools or professionals working as technology designers).
• Students who have a background in social sciences, but minimal analytics or technical background.

International student resources

• International Applicant Information
• Language Requirements

Application fees

• Application Fee (Domestic): $135
• Application Fee (International): $155

Fee waiver application instructions

There are two possible ways to get a fee waiver:

1. If you are a US citizen, AB-540, or a US Permanent Resident, you may be eligible for the Graduate Admissions’ Fee Waiver for financial hardship or for students currently receiving financial aid, or for a Fee exemption for applicants who participate(d) in a qualifying program. Please see their website for more information.
2. If you do not meet the criteria above, you may request an application fee waiver directly from the HCI program if you meet ONE of the following criteria:
   • Current undergraduates and alumni of UC Santa Cruz/.
   • Current undergraduates and alumni of a University of California or California State University institution.

Please note that fee waivers are limited and are distributed based on students’ level of need.

Before you submit your application:

Please fill out the Application Fee Waiver Request Form for HCI M.S.2024-2025 with your application details. Be sure to include a brief statement regarding your financial need, which you can copy from the Statement of Financial Need in your application if you included one there.

To ensure sufficient time to process your fee waiver request, your fee exemption request must be received at least 2 weeks before the application deadline. (Application Deadline: Feb 3rd). Applications for the HCI program AND the Fee waiver request form that are incomplete after January 20th will not be eligible for an Application Fee Waiver.

After you apply for the fee waiver:

• On the “Fee Waiver/Payment” page of the application, please choose “no” to the question, “Do you believe you will need assistance paying for your application processing fee?” Then select “Yes” to “Has the program you are applying to agreed to pay for the application processing fee?” The page will tell you a credit card payment is required. Do not worry about this, and do not pay it; we will pay for it on your behalf. Please submit your application as soon as it is ready by the Deadline (January 20th).
• After you have submitted your application, you will be directed to the status portal. There will be a pay fee link, do not pay this fee, you will not be refunded.
• Processing Time: We will review your request within 5 business days and send you a confirmation email to inform you whether the fee waiver has been approved. If you haven’t received any updates after this period, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at hci@ucsc.edu.

Financials

Cost of attendance

The HCI MS program is a professional degree and is subject to the professional degree supplement tuition fees. All tuition and fees are subject to change. Please visit the Office of the Registrar for more information. Note that the program is four quarters long – the annualized program fees below reflect the costs for one academic year (three quarters).

	Program Fees Per Quarter 2022–23	Annualized Program Fees 2022–23
Tuition	$3,900	$11,700
Professional Degree Supplemental Tuition (CA resident)	$7,713	$23,139
Student Services Fee	$384	$1,152
UC SHIP Health Insurance (waivable)	$1,459	$4,289
Campus Fees	$453.70	$1,685.95
Total Fees (CA Resident)	$13,909.70	$41,942.95
Non-Resident Supplemental Tuition	$4,082	$12,245
Total Fees (Non-Resident)	$17,991.70	$54,187.95