EdD, PhD & EdS Educational Leadership

Admission Requirements

• Graduate Application for Admission and $30 Application Fee
• Unofficial or official transcripts
  • Applicants can choose to submit unofficial transcripts for initial review. If admitted, the applicant must submit an official transcript for each unofficial transcript upload. See our full policy for more details.  
  • Applicants must have a master’s degree with a minimum 3.5 cumulative GPA
  • All transcripts from non-U.S. based institutions must be course-by-course evaluated by a NACES or AICE academic credential evaluation company to obtain equivalency information on courses, grades, and degrees earned. Upload a copy of this course-by-course evaluation to serve as your unofficial transcript from that institution. Please note: If choosing to upload an unofficial evaluation, please contact the evaluating agency to ensure the same official version can be sent at a later date. Unofficial and official evaluations must be conducted by the same evaluation company to ensure consistency.  
• Resume (one page)
• Three Letters of Recommendation
  • One from an immediate supervisor, one academic reference, and at least one professional with knowledge of the candidate’s ability in the chosen concentration
• An essay addressing the candidate’s motivation and goals while in the EdD or PhD program (no more than three double-spaced pages)
• Language Proficiency Requirement must be met. Submission of TOEFL, IELTS, PTE, or Duolingo English Test (DET) may be required. See our policy for full details.
• Interview
  • EdD applicants must contact Program Head Dr. Catherine Dunn Shiffman at cshiffma@su.edu to schedule an interview prior to the admission deadline
  • PhD applicants must contact Program Head Dr. Sarah Daniel at sdaniel@su.edu to schedule an interview prior to the admission deadline

For International Students who require an F-1, I-20 visa, due to lack of full-time credit hours, F-1 visas are not issued for this program.