Application Requirements

Application Form

Complete and submit CU Denver’s graduate application form.

Application Fee

The application fee is:

• $50 for domestic students (U.S., citizens, U.S. permanent residents, undocumented immigrants [DACA, etc.] and asylees/refugees)
• $75 for international students*

and must be paid by the application deadline. We accept payments via credit card (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, JCB, Discover, and Diners Club) or bank transfer from a U.S. checking account. 

The application fee may not be refunded under any circumstance, including withdrawal of the application from admission consideration prior to receiving a decision. 

*Graduate students opting to do an ECE or WES evaluation will not be charged the $75 application fee. However, students opting out of the ECE/WES requirement will now need to pay this fee during the application process unless they have an affiliation with a recruitment agency who is currently in contract with CU Denver. Please see the International Admissions website for more information.

Fee Waivers 

CU Denver offers application fee waivers in a variety of ways for eligible graduate applicants:

1. Automatic fee-waivers
   
   The application fee is automatically waived for individuals from the following groups: 
   • CU Denver Alumni (must indicate CU Denver as a school on the Academic History page)
   • Current CU Denver Student (must indicate CU Denver as a school on the Academic History page
   • Members of the military, including active duty, reserve and guard forces, or veterans and retirees (must indicate military affiliation on the Personal Information page)
   • Registered members of a federally recognized American Indian tribe or Alaska Native entity (must indicate tribal affiliation and provide supporting documentation on the Personal Information page).

   How to apply for this waiver:

   1. There is no need to apply for an automatic fee waiver. As long as you fall in one of the groups above and provide supporting documentation (if necessary), then your fee will automatically be waived by our system within 24 hours of submitting your application. 
   2. Please be patient and wait for the fee to be waived automatically; we do not issue refunds to applicants who paid the application fee while waiting for a fee waiver decision. You are also welcome to reach out to your program directly to inquire about the status of your waiver.
2. Manual Graduate Admissions fee waivers
   
   The application fee is reviewed and manually waived by Graduate Admissions personnel in each school/college for individuals from the following groups:
   • Applicants experiencing financial hardship.
   • Applicants with a disability that substantially limits one or more major life activities.
   • Applicants who have attended a Central Graduate Admissions/Recruitment event, either on- or off-campus.
   • Applicants experiencing difficulty submitting payment due to sanctions in their country.
   • Applicants who are current students, staff, or faculty members at a University of Colorado institution (CU Denver, CU Anschutz, UCCS, CU Boulder).
   • Applicants who are/were participants (in good standing) of a graduate preparation program, scholar program, service organization, or public service program (must provide documentation).
   • Applicants who are/were participants (in good standing) of a University of Colorado-affiliated research program (must provide documentation).

   How to apply for this waiver

   For both graduate degree-seeking applicants, and graduate non-degree/certificate applicants, please do NOT submit this form unless you have already submitted your application; your program application allows you to submit without making a payment, as you are not prompted to pay until AFTER you submit your program application.

   1. After submitting your application, start the Graduate Application Fee Waiver Request Form and under “Reasons for Fee Waiver,” select the option that best applies to you.
   2. For applicants who are/were participants (in good standing) of a graduate preparation program, scholar program, service organization, public service program, or a University of Colorado-affiliated research program, you must complete and upload a signed Program Participation Verification Form.
   3. Submit the Graduate Application Fee Waiver Request Form.

   Upon submitting the form, you will receive a decision on your fee waiver request within 3-5 business days, so please ensure that you are submitting your fee waiver request with enough time to meet your program’s deadline. Please be patient and wait for a decision on your request; we do not issue refunds to applicants who paid the application fee while waiting for a fee waiver decision.

   NOTE: As we have a limited number of fee waivers to grant, not all requests are approved. If your fee waiver request is denied, you will be instructed to pay the application fee. Application fee waiver decisions are final, and do not affect your likelihood of admission into a graduate program.

College and University Transcripts

You must list and provide your unofficial transcript for every post-secondary institution where you were enrolled—or are currently enrolled—in an undergraduate or graduate degree program. Even if you did not earn a degree from that institution, a transcript is still required. 

• CU Denver considers unofficial transcripts to be sufficient for the review process. When filling out an online application, upload transcripts as scanned copies or PDFs (no larger than 10 MB). Please refrain from uploading a secured PDF/transcript with a digital signature, as our system cannot upload these properly. If you earned a degree at the institution from which you are submitting a transcript, please ensure that the degree conferred and the degree conferral date are clearly visible on the document. If your transcript does not include your degree conferred and your degree conferral date, please submit a scanned copy of your diploma, a conferral statement, or a conferral document in addition to your transcript. Combine this documentation and the transcript into a single PDF. If you are currently enrolled in a degree program and will not have earned the degree by the time you submit your application, submit your most recent in-progress transcript. 
• If you are offered admission to CU Denver and accept the offer, you will be required to submit official transcripts/degree conferral documents during your first term as a student. If you do not submit your official transcripts, an enrollment hold will be placed on your account, and you will be unable to enroll in future terms.

Unofficial vs. Official Transcripts

Unofficial transcripts are copies or downloads of official transcripts that are easily accessible to the student, such as a scanned copy of a printed official transcript, screenshot of an electronic official transcript saved as a PDF, or PDF copies downloaded via a self-service from a student or alumni portal. Unofficial transcripts generally have no associated cost. At CU Denver, unofficial transcripts are sufficient for application review purposes.

Official transcripts are transcripts that come directly from the issuing school, institution, or agency. Printed/hard copies of transcripts must remain in a sealed envelope from the issuing school; transcripts that are removed from their sealed envelope are not considered official. Electronic copies of official transcripts are typically sent directly from the institution, or via a clearinghouse that the institution uses, with a passcode for the recipient to open in a secure manner; transcripts forwarded to CU Denver as an email are not considered official. At CU Denver, official transcripts are only required if you are offered admission and decide to enroll.

Study Aboard

If the transcript from your home institution reflects your study abroad coursework and grades, you do not need to submit original transcripts from your abroad institution. 

Foreign Institutions

An International Credential Evaluation Report is required for any applicant who attended one or more academic institution(s) located outside the United States. All international credentials from academic institution(s) located outside the United States will need to be verified for authenticity and evaluated by CU Denver or an external evaluation provider (ECE or WES). Please visit the International Admissions website for details.

Letters of Recommendation

Most programs at CU Denver require letters of recommendation for admission. These should be written by people who have supervised you in an academic, employment, or community service setting. The content of the letter should detail their experiences working with you, specific reasons why they are recommending you to the program, and evidence of your qualities and qualifications. Be sure to check with your program to see if they have any preferences for what types of letters of recommendation (academic or professional) they require.

In the application, you will be asked to list the names and contact information for your letter providers, and an email will be sent to each individual with a unique link that they will use to submit their recommendation. The recommender will be asked to complete two components of the recommendation:

1. A recommendation form asking recommenders to compare the applicant to other students/advisees/employees with whom they have worked, and how strongly they recommend the applicant for graduate study.
2. A letter of recommendation. The recommenders may type the letter into the text box provided, or they may upload a letter in the form of a Word document or PDF. We highly encourage and prefer letters uploaded as a PDF. 

It is possible to submit your application without all letters of recommendation, so do not let this step prevent you from submitting your overall program application. However, you should communicate your program’s application deadline to your letter providers so they can submit their recommendation by the deadline.

FERPA allows you to request access to your recommendation letters after being admitted to and enrolling in a school. If you decide to waive your right to access the letter of recommendation, you will not be able to access your recommender’s letter in your educational records if you are admitted and enroll at CU Denver. However, if you choose to not waive your right, then you will have access to your letter if you enroll at CU Denver.

Proof of English Proficiency

There are a variety of ways for you to provide proof of English proficiency if your first language is not English. Learn more on the International Admissions website.

Possible Program-Specific Requirements (check with your program)

Statement of Purpose

Many graduate degree programs require a statement of purpose describing your reasons for applying, how you’ve prepared for this field of study, why the program is a good fit for you, your future career goals, and other aspects of your background and interests that might aid the admissions committee in evaluating your application.

Statements of purpose for doctoral programs typically include your research interests and how they align with faculty in your desired program. For master's applicants, statements of purpose generally focus on how your previous work, background, and/or academic experience informs your decision to apply to the program, as well as how the program will impact your career goals.

Check with your program to see if they require a statement of purpose, and if so, what you should include and how it should be formatted. Otherwise, we recommend using 12-point font and regular, one-inch margins as general formatting guidelines.

Resume or CV

Depending on your program’s requirements, you may be asked to upload a resume or CV, whichever is most appropriate to your background, to the online application. Your program may require specific details on your resume/CV or a preferred format. If not, the typical one-page resume is most common, and your resume/CV should be formatted using 12-point font and regular, one-inch margins.

Official Standardized Test Scores

Some graduate programs require standardized test scores (such as GRE or GMAT) for admission. If your program requires a test score, you should send your score through the testing agency. We require official scores for an admission decision. Verify the requirement below with your program's school or college.

GRE/GMAT Requirements