University Application and Fee

Those seeking admission to an MSU graduate program must complete an online university graduate application and pay the application fee. The fee (payable in U.S. dollars drawn on a U.S. bank or with credit card) is $65 for domestic applicants and $75 for international applicants. We are unable to offer waivers of this fee.

When completing the Test Scores section of the university graduate application:

• The CITE program does not require nor accept Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores.
• International applicants with English Language test scores to report should provide those here. To determine if you need English Language test scores, please see the Graduate School’s English Language Competency web page. Please note: Official test scores must also be sent directly to MSU.

Once the university application is complete (including payment), applicants will have access to the Graduate Education Application Portal to upload: CV, Statement of Professional Goals (if not already uploaded), and Writing Sample (if not already uploaded). Please upload only one copy of each of these materials.

Letters of Recommendation

Applicants should identify three (3) individuals to write recommendation letters in support of their application. Recommenders should be able to attest to the applicant’s academic ability and/or professional qualifications as related to success in a doctoral program (e.g., course professor, master’s degree advisor, professional supervisor). Letters from university faculty (e.g.,  instructors at the master’s or undergraduate level, researchers with which the applicant has worked) are particularly effective for this purpose. 

Applicants provide contact information for recommenders and choose whether to waive or not waive their access to the letters as part of the university application. Once that information has been submitted, MSU will contact the recommenders to request letters. 

Statement of Professional Goals

Applicants submit a Statement of Professional Goals. (Specific points that should be addressed in this statement are outlined below). Applicants should not upload separate Personal and Academic Statements. Instead, these should be integrated into a single Statement of Professional Goals.

The Statement of Professional Goals should be uploaded either with the university application or in the Graduate Education Application Portal. If uploading to the Portal, please select “Statement of Purpose” as the file type.

This statement is a very important part of the review process. Applicants should present a thoughtful and extended verbal portrait (3-page, single-spaced) that describes their background and reasons for pursuing a doctoral degree in the CITE program. In particular, the statement should address the following questions: 

• How have your experiences and intellectual growth shaped the questions you hope to explore in a doctoral program? 
• What questions or major issues are you most interested in exploring in a doctoral program?
• How do your experiences and scholarly interests center issues of justice? (This could include, but is not limited to, issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion.) 
• What sorts of leadership roles do you envision the CITE doctoral program helping you to assume? 
• How do your goals match characteristics of the CITE doctoral program? For example:
  • Are there professors whose work is particularly meaningful to you? 
  • Are there aspects of the program that seem well-suited to your goals? 
  • In what ways do your experiences and scholarly interests reflect some of the Department of Teacher Education Core Principles?
• Optional (as applicable):
  • What leadership roles have you held?
  • What professional/personal obstacles have you overcome?

Writing Sample

Applicants submit one or more examples of their academic writing (e.g., something that they have published, a master’s thesis or a paper submitted to fulfill graduate course requirements).

The Writing Sample should be uploaded either with the university application or in the Graduate Education Application Portal. If uploading to the Portal, please select “Writing Sample” as the file type.

The writing sample should be at least 10 pages long (double-spaced) and must have been authored exclusively by the applicant. Because analytical writing is a central component of advanced doctoral study, the purpose of the writing sample is purpose is to demonstrate the candidate’s ability to write in academic English. The writing sample is particularly important for international students to demonstrate their command of English. (For this reason, a translated abstract of a master’s thesis cannot be used for this application requirement.) 

If an applicant does not have an appropriate extended piece of academic work in English that can be submitted along with the application, please contact the PhD Program Director. 

Current Curriculum Vitae

Applicants may choose their own format for the curriculum vitae (CV). A copy of the CV should be uploaded to Graduate Education Application Portal. (Applicants will have access to this portal after completing the university application and paying the application fee.) 

Transcripts

University admissions requires official degree-granting transcripts. Transcripts from institutions other than MSU should be sent to the Graduate Programs Assistant directly from degree institutions in sealed university envelopes. (Transcripts for degrees from MSU are not required.) International applicants should refer to the For International Students webpage for additional transcript requirements. 

Applicants should also upload unofficial transcripts to the Graduate Education Application Portal to be reviewed with other application materials.

Conviction Disclosure

If on the Graduate Application you checked “yes” to the question:

Have you ever been convicted of a criminal offense (including in juvenile court) other than a minor traffic violation, or are there criminal charges pending against you at this time?

The College of Education, in an effort to protect your privacy, requires that you submit a College of Education “Conviction Disclosure Form” (available at http://education.msu.edu/academics/graduate-forms.asp#conviction-disclosure-form) directly to the Director of Undergraduate Student Affairs, versus uploading the form to the Graduate Application Portal. The form can be e-mailed to kdumont@msu.edu or mailed to:

Kristy Dumont
College of Education Student Affairs Office
620 Farm Lane
Room 134 Erickson Hall
East Lansing, MI  48824

It is helpful if you include the name of the program for which you applied. The form must arrive and be reviewed before you can be recommended for admission to Michigan State University.

Review Process

Faculty from the Department of Teacher Education and in the applicant’s area(s) of interest review each application. The review committee considers the following factors in assessing applicants:

• Strength of academic and professional education record
• Relevant professional experience
• Potential for intellectual, educational, professional or civic leadership
• Fluency in oral and written expression
• Compatibility of applicant’s stated goals with those of the program
• Commitment to justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion
• Conformity with university admission requirements
• Alignment of commitments with the Department of Teacher Education Core Principles

Applicants are notified of the program’s decision by email as soon as possible after the review. If the recommendation is to admit the applicant, a temporary advisor will be assigned to the applicant.

The program reserves the right to make a provisional recommendation to the program when the faculty reviewers identify a particular area of weakness in the student’s application that could be resolved within a year of the provisional admission to the program. How the student can meet the required provisions will be spelled out in detail in the letter of provisional acceptance, including a date when failure to meet those requirements will mean that the student cannot continue in the program.