Information for Fall 2025 PhD Applicants

On March 12, 2025, several dozen applicants to the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at UMass Chan Medical School who received provisional offers of acceptance to pursue a PhD in biomedical sciences, beginning in the Fall 2025 term, were informed that these provisional offers of admission have been rescinded.

With uncertainties related to the funding of biomedical research in this country, this difficult decision was made to ensure that our current PhD students’ progress is not disrupted by the funding cuts and that we avoid matriculating students who may not have robust opportunities for dissertation research.

All impacted applicants are being offered the opportunity to receive priority consideration without the requirement to reapply, should they wish to join our PhD program in a future admissions cycle.

Importantly, current PhD candidates are not impacted, nor are any applicants to UMass Chan’s two other graduate schools: the T.H. Chan School of Medicine and the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing.

While this difficult decision is unfortunate and was not made lightly, UMass Chan is not alone in making such a decision. Numerous peer universities in the commonwealth and across the country are reducing or rescinding offers of admission as one means of controlling spending during a highly uncertain time. Traditionally, PhD candidates do not pay tuition but, rather, earn a stipend that is funded by research grants.