Generally speaking, the course rotation for the PhD begins in the summer. We have a rolling admissions process which begins in the fall. Applications are reviewed and acted upon throughout the year. We encourage you to submit your application well before the Summer course rotations begin. The financial support we provide our PhD students is often tied to federal and state funding decisions. On our website, please note the PhD concentration areas with current funding opportunities.
As part of gaining admission to the PhD program, students are paired with a doctoral faculty advisor/mentor. We are currently accepting applications for the following concentration areas: Math Education, Science Education, Urban Ecologies, Assessment, and Administrative Leadership and Policy. Find more details about these areas under the Concentration Areas tab for this program.
The doctoral faculty may request a personal interview to complement the information provided in the application materials. Please download, print, and follow the materials below. We require that you submit all application materials in a single packet to the School of Education & Human Development.
- PhD Application Checklist
- Graduate Application Part 1
- In-state Tuition Classification Form
- $50 application fee
Check or money order made out to the University of Colorado Denver.
- Resume or academic vitae
Applicants must have and show evidence of relevant professional and/or academic experience.
- Written statement
In 4-6 pages (double-spaced, Times New Roman 12 point font or larger), discuss research goals and a problem of practical or theoretical importance that could lead to a research study. Be sure to address how your research would fit within either the Math Education, Science Education, Urban Ecologies, Assessment, or the Administrative Leadership and Policy concentration area.
- Three professional and/or academic letters of recommendation
Preferably, two letters should come from faculty in a university program in which you were previously enrolled. Provide each recommender with a recommendation form. The forms and letters should be returned to you in original, unopened envelopes to include in your complete application packet.
- Two official transcripts from every previous college/university attended
Transcripts should be issued to you and submitted together in the original, unopened envelopes with the complete application packet. Any transcript from an institution outside the U.S. must be accompanied by an evaluation from a professional accrediting service (such as World Education Services). Any transcript in a language other than English must also be accompanied by a certified English translation. Minimum requirements:
- Master's degree or equivalent
- 3.5 GPA in graduate-level course work recommended
- Completion of a basic or advanced statistics course with a grade of B or better in the last 5 years. (The course must have 'statistics' in the title.) Please include a note in your application packet, indicating when and where you completed this requirement. If you have not taken a statistics course and earned a B or better in the last 5 years, but you would still like to apply to the program, please see your options.
- General GRE scores
Verbal and quantitative scores are required with a recommended combined minimum of 1200 (if taken prior to 8/1/11.) The analytical writing score is also required, with a recommended minimum of 60th percentile. Scores must not be older than five years at the time of application and must be sent electronically by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) to UC Denver (institution code 4875). Please also include a note in your application packet, indicating your scores. Learn more about the General GRE at www.gre.org.
- Recommended: Master's thesis and/or published materials
Examples of published materials include articles, book chapters, newsletters, and technical reports.
- Important Note to International Student Applicants
International students should submit all application materials directly to the Office of International Admissions by October 1st. International Admissions requires items in addition to those listed above, including passing TOEFL or IELTS scores from non-native speakers of English. Furthermore, they require financial documentation showing support for at least one year of study, an international application form and a $75 application fee (in place of the $50 fee). International Admissions does not require an In-state Tuition Classification form. Please learn more about international student application requirements at www.internationaladmissions.cudenver.edu.