Graduate Admission Requirements
All students seeking a degree, endorsement, approval, license, or certificate change must be formally admitted to graduate study. When completing the graduate application, check the box for "degree-seeking," even if you are applying for an endorsement, approval, license, or certificate change.
A maximum of six graduate credits earned before graduate admission may apply to degree requirements. In addition to university Graduate admissions requirements in the GVSU Catalog, students must meet the Master of Education (M.Ed.) Admission Criteria.
- Submit a Graduate Application to enroll in Graduate coursework, and pay an application fee.
- Provide Official Transcripts from all previous colleges or universities attended, and copies of teaching/administrative certificates if required for your program.
The following items are admission criteria for specific fields:
Graduate Admission
- Completed application.
- One letter of recommendation.
- If an applicant has a GPA of 3.0 or higher and a positive letter of recommendation, then the applicant will be admitted. If the applicant has a GPA less than a 3.0, then the applicant can be admitted by demonstrating one or more of the following:
- evidence of responsible professional work experience
- graduate certification/endorsement
- previous graduate work
- previous Master's degree
- or acceptable GRE scores. Candidates may submit test scores from the Graduate Records Examination General Test. If you took the test prior to August 1, 2011, your scores must be at least 760 (360 Verbal, 400 Quantitative) and 3.5 on Analytical Writing. If you took the test on or after August 1, 2011, your scores must be at least 282 (144 Verbal, 138 Quantitative) and 3.5 on Analytical Writing. Official test scores should be sent to Grand Valley State University, Admissions Office, 1 Campus Drive, Allendale, MI 49401.
- Completed application.
- One letter of recommendation.
- If an applicant has a GPA of 3.0 or higher and a positive letter of recommendation, then the applicant will be admitted. If the applicant has a GPA less than a 3.0, then the applicant can be admitted by demonstrating one or more of the following:
- evidence of responsible professional work experience
- graduate certification/endorsement
- previous graduate work
- previous Master's degree
- or acceptable GRE scores. Candidates may submit test scores from the Graduate Records Examination General Test. If you took the test prior to August 1, 2011, your scores must be at least 760 (360 Verbal, 400 Quantitative) and 3.5 on Analytical Writing. If you took the test on or after August 1, 2011, your scores must be at least 282 (144 Verbal, 138 Quantitative) and 3.5 on Analytical Writing. Official test scores should be sent to Grand Valley State University, Admissions Office, 1 Campus Drive, Allendale, MI 49401.
- Completed application.
- One letter of recommendation.
- If an applicant has a GPA of 3.0 or higher and a positive letter of recommendation, then the applicant will be admitted. If the applicant has a GPA less than a 3.0, then the applicant can be admitted by demonstrating one or more of the following:
- evidence of responsible professional work experience
- graduate certification/endorsement
- previous graduate work
- previous Master's degree
- or acceptable GRE scores. Candidates may submit test scores from the Graduate Records Examination General Test. If you took the test prior to August 1, 2011, your scores must be at least 760 (360 Verbal, 400 Quantitative) and 3.5 on Analytical Writing. If you took the test on or after August 1, 2011, your scores must be at least 282 (144 Verbal, 138 Quantitative) and 3.5 on Analytical Writing. Official test scores should be sent to Grand Valley State University, Admissions Office, 1 Campus Drive, Allendale, MI 49401.
- Completed application.
- If an applicant has a GPA of 3.0 or higher, then the applicant will be admitted. If the applicant has a GPA less than a 3.0, then the applicant can be admitted by demonstrating one or more of the following:
- evidence of responsible professional work experience
- graduate certification/endorsement
- previous graduate work
- previous Master's degree
- or acceptable GRE scores. Candidates may submit test scores from the Graduate Records Examination General Test. If you took the test prior to August 1, 2011, your scores must be at least 760 (360 Verbal, 400 Quantitative) and 3.5 on Analytical Writing. If you took the test on or after August 1, 2011, your scores must be at least 282 (144 Verbal, 138 Quantitative) and 3.5 on Analytical Writing. Official test scores should be sent to Grand Valley State University, Admissions Office, 1 Campus Drive, Allendale, MI 49401.
- Completed application.
- Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution of higher education. The program prefers candidates who have optained an undergraduate major, minor, or graduate degree in English, modern languages, bilingual education, or an equivalent program.
- Official transcripts from degree-granting undergraduate and graduate institutions.
- You must have a minimum 3.0 GPA; if lower, you may be admitted into the program with conditions.
- All applicants to the program must demonstrate an ability to serve as effective models of spoken and written English. This is needed to complete all the required coursework. If English is not your native language, you must provide scores from one of our approved standardized tests such as:
- the PTE Academic
- TOEFL
- IELTS
- or Duolingo
- Students must meet the certificate program guidelines indicated in the Graduate Studies Policies and Procedures Manual.
- Candidates from other disciplines must take an introductory course in linguistics, EDR 634: Linguistics for Teachers.
- Students are encouraged to take EDR 602: Teaching English Language Learners Across Content. This course is for teachers in content area classes and addresses methods and strategies for teaching ESL students.
- For candidates with an elementary or secondary teaching certificate, the English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Graduate Certificate requires a minimum of 24 semester hours and passing scores of the appropriate Michigan Test for Teacher Certification exam. Once candidates have officially added the English as a Second Language (ESL) Endorsement to their current Michigan teaching certificate, they can support English Language Learners within a Kindergarten through 12th Grade setting.
- Completed application.
- Official copies of transcripts from all previously attended institutions of higher education are required. Transcripts must be sent directly from those institutions to the GVSU Admissions Office. Official transcripts from Grand Valley are not required.
- One letter of recommendation.
- Resume
- A personal statement of 500-750 words. Prompts:
- Tell us why you are interested in pursuing a graduate degree in higher education and student affairs.
- Tell us what you believe to be the most important issue facing higher education and student affairs in the United States and/or globally and why.
- evidence of responsible professional work experience
- graduate certification/endorsement
- previous graduate work
- previous Master's degree
- or acceptable GRE scores. Candidates may submit test scores from the Graduate Records Examination General Test. If you took the test prior to August 1, 2011, your scores must be at least 760 (360 Verbal, 400 Quantitative) and 3.5 on Analytical Writing. If you took the test on or after August 1, 2011, your scores must be at least 282 (144 Verbal, 138 Quantitative) and 3.5 on Analytical Writing. Official test scores should be sent to Grand Valley State University, Admissions Office, 1 Campus Drive, Allendale, MI 49401.
- Completed application.
- One letter of recommendation.
- If an applicant has a GPA of 3.0 or higher and a positive letter of recommendation, then the applicant will be admitted. If the applicant has a GPA less than a 3.0, then the applicant can be admitted by demonstrating one or more of the following:
- evidence of responsible professional work experience
- graduate certification/endorsement
- previous graduate work
- previous Master's degree
- or acceptable GRE scores. Candidates may submit test scores from the Graduate Records Examination General Test. If you took the test prior to August 1, 2011, your scores must be at least 760 (360 Verbal, 400 Quantitative) and 3.5 on Analytical Writing. If you took the test on or after August 1, 2011, your scores must be at least 282 (144 Verbal, 138 Quantitative) and 3.5 on Analytical Writing. Official test scores should be sent to Grand Valley State University, Admissions Office, 1 Campus Drive, Allendale, MI 49401.
- Completed application.
- One letter of recommendation.
- If an applicant has a GPA of 3.0 or higher and a positive letter of recommendation, then the applicant will be admitted. If the applicant has a GPA less than a 3.0, then the applicant can be admitted by demonstrating one or more of the following:
- evidence of responsible professional work experience
- graduate certification/endorsement
- previous graduate work
- previous Master's degree
- or acceptable GRE scores. Candidates may submit test scores from the Graduate Records Examination General Test. If you took the test prior to August 1, 2011, your scores must be at least 760 (360 Verbal, 400 Quantitative) and 3.5 on Analytical Writing. If you took the test on or after August 1, 2011, your scores must be at least 282 (144 Verbal, 138 Quantitative) and 3.5 on Analytical Writing. Official test scores should be sent to Grand Valley State University, Admissions Office, 1 Campus Drive, Allendale, MI 49401.
- Completed application.
- One letter of recommendation.
- If an applicant has a GPA of 3.0 or higher and a positive letter of recommendation, then the applicant will be admitted. If the applicant has a GPA less than a 3.0, then the applicant can be admitted by demonstrating one or more of the following:
- evidence of responsible professional work experience
- graduate certification/endorsement
- previous graduate work
- previous Master's degree
- or acceptable GRE scores. Candidates may submit test scores from the Graduate Records Examination General Test. If you took the test prior to August 1, 2011, your scores must be at least 760 (360 Verbal, 400 Quantitative) and 3.5 on Analytical Writing. If you took the test on or after August 1, 2011, your scores must be at least 282 (144 Verbal, 138 Quantitative) and 3.5 on Analytical Writing. Official test scores should be sent to Grand Valley State University, Admissions Office, 1 Campus Drive, Allendale, MI 49401.
- Completed application.
- One letter of recommendation.
- If an applicant has a GPA of 3.0 or higher (or an earned Master's degree) and a positive letter of recommendation, then the applicant will be admitted.
- If the applicant has a GPA less than a 3.0 but no Master's degree, then the applicant can be admitted by demonstrating acceptable GRE scores. Prior to August 1, 2011, GRE scores must be at least 760 (360 Verbal, 400 Quantitative) and 3.5 on Analytical Writing; after August 1, 2011, GRE scores must be at least 282 (144 Verbal, 138 Quantitative) and 3.5 on Analytical Writing.
- Completed application.
- One letter of recommendation.
- If an applicant has a GPA of 3.0 or higher and a positive letter of recommendation, then the applicant will be admitted. If the applicant has a GPA less than a 3.0, then the applicant can be admitted by demonstrating one or more of the following:
- evidence of responsible professional work experience
- graduate certification/endorsement
- previous graduate work
- previous Master's degree
- or acceptable GRE scores. Candidates may submit test scores from the Graduate Records Examination General Test. If you took the test prior to August 1, 2011, your scores must be at least 760 (360 Verbal, 400 Quantitative) and 3.5 on Analytical Writing. If you took the test on or after August 1, 2011, your scores must be at least 282 (144 Verbal, 138 Quantitative) and 3.5 on Analytical Writing. Official test scores should be sent to Grand Valley State University, Admissions Office, 1 Campus Drive, Allendale, MI 49401.