Admission Requirements

Applications for admission into the program are accepted at any time throughout the year. However, if you are applying for a graduate assistantship for the ensuing academic year, the following information must be received in the program office by February 1:

• Completed online admission application to The Graduate School (including payment of nonrefundable application fee to The Graduate School)

• All supporting materials required for admission to the Educational Theory and Policy program (see below)

• Completed Graduate Assistantship Application

Please refer to the How to Apply page for more details.

Supporting materials required for admission to the Educational Theory & Policy program:

• Official GRE score report from ETS; at the discretion of a graduate program, a student may be admitted provisionally for graduate study in a program without having taken the GRE.

• Two official transcripts from each institution attended (undergraduate and graduate)

• Two-page Statement of Purpose

• Current vita

• Writing sample (may be master's paper or thesis or term papers from a class)

• Three letters of recommendation (no form needs to be completed by the letter-writers)

• All international applicants whose first language is not English or who have not received a baccalaureate or master's degree from an institution in which the language of instruction is English must take the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) examination. A TOEFL score of 550 on the paper test or a score of 213 on the computer based test is required for admission; official TOEFL score reports must be sent directly to Penn State by ETS.