18 Characteristics of UTSA Doctoral Programs

Program Admission Requirements. Applications are screened by the doctoral program faculty or a representative selection committee thereof. Applicants must meet or, as applicable, submit information related to the following criteria to be considered for admission:

• a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution;
• a master’s degree in education or other appropriate field;
• a grade point average of 3.5 or better out of a possible 4.0 in a master’s degree program;
• submission of an official score on the verbal, quantitative, and analytical writing sections of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE);
• for applicants whose native language is not English, a score of at least 550 on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL; paper version);
• demonstrated experience in a work environment where education is the primary professional emphasis (e.g., teaching, administration, curriculum development in elementary, secondary, postsecondary, governmental, or private industry settings);
• three letters of recommendation from those who have supervised the applicant in an academic, employment, or community service capacity; letters should comment on the applicant’s intellectual ability, discipline, creativity, sensitivity to others, and cite examples of leadership and scholarly potential; at least one letter should come from a university professor familiar with the applicant’s academic work; and
• a statement of purpose outlining, at a minimum, (1) the applicant’s reasons for pursuing a doctorate in educational leadership, (2) a biographical sketch of the applicant’s experiences relevant to the field of education, (3) career plans, (4) scholarly interests, and (5) views on and roles in current and future educational reform efforts.

Qualified applicants may be required to interview as part of the admissions process. Interviews are conducted by the Doctoral Program Committee or a subcommittee thereof. As part of the interview process, students may be asked to produce an extemporaneous writing sample. The number of students admitted to this program may be limited.

For more details, see http://www.graduateschool.utsa.edu/prospective_students/academic_programs