Applications must be made through the Graduate Studies
Office at the University of Delaware using their online application. If you are considering applying to our program and would
like to hear from us about current events and more, please register here.
The admission requirements
are designed to bring students into the training program that have a balance of
skills in material culture studies (including anthropology, archaeology, museum
studies and history of technology), art and cultural history, science, and studio
arts and crafts. Applicants should possess an innate desire and ability to work
with their hands and derive a high level of satisfaction and sense of accomplishment
from working with artistic and cultural works.
Bachelor Degree: A minimum
of a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree is required. Applicants
must have an overall academic index (on a 4.0 point scale) of at least 2.5 and
an index of 3.0 in their field of concentration. The latter figure is computed
from the junior and senior years. These following majors are preferred areas of
study: anthropology/archaeology/technology, art and cultural history,
chemistry, or studio arts and crafts. Applicants with degrees in other majors
who meet the minimum course prerequisites will be considered.
GRE: An official copy of the Graduate
Record Examination (GRE) scores
must be submitted. The University of Delaware’s GRE Code is 005811-5101. When
taking the GRE, applicants are expected to obtain a GRE score of:
1. Sixty-fifth percentile or better for the Verbal Reasoning section
2. Fiftieth percentile or better for the Quantitative Reasoning section
3. 4.0 or above on the Analytical Writing section
In the case of a student for whom English is not the first
language, the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) scores may be substituted
for the verbal score to calculate the minimum GRE total.
The ETS University of Delaware institution code is "5811". You only need to submit the University
code of 5811. No department code is needed
for our institution.
Coursework: Applicants must
complete prerequisite coursework in art and cultural history/archaeology/anthropology, studio arts, and chemistry. Please review the
prerequisites for specific information and the number of college level credit
hours required in each area for to admission into the program. Contact art-conservation@udel.edu if you have any questions.
Conservation Experience: In addition to coursework, applicants must have completed at least
400 hours of documented conservation experience under the supervision of a conservator.
Appropriate experience may include work in regional, institutional, or private
conservation laboratories. Involvement in supervised collection care projects
such a collection assessments, rehousing, and exhibition design, as well as
examination and treatment of individual artifacts is also encouraged. Above
all, applicants are expected to be thoroughly acquainted with conservation as a
career option and to possess a fundamental knowledge of its philosophy, ethics,
and basic working procedures.
The application deadline is January
15. If all coursework has not been completed by January 15, the
application will still be considered if no more than two required courses are still
in progress. Applicants with more than one chemistry requirement in progress will
not be considered. Proof of registration must be submitted with the application
and satisfactory completion of the courses with a grade of C- or above is necessary
for entry into the program. (Applicants interested in Library and Archives Conservation studies are asked to note
their LACE preference on the Statement of Interest in their application
materials. More information about the Library and Archives Conservation
Education (LACE) Consortium is available here.)
Up to ten students
will be admitted into the program annually. Each student will receives a
fellowship that includes an annual stipend, which increases with each year of
study, and a tuition-free scholarship.