Online Application Submission

Completed applications must be submitted on Cal State Apply by the following deadline:

Fall 2025

Application period begins: October 1, 2024

Application due date: Extended to February 15, 2025

Applications are not accepted after the deadline.

Use Cal State Apply to apply and be sure to complete all components of the application by the published deadline.

The Cal State Apply dashboard is divided into four quadrants/sections:

• Personal Information: contact information, biographic information and financial information, etc.
• Academic History: colleges attended, GPAs, etc.; do not hand-enter transcript information
• Supporting Information: enter “I am not adding any experiences”
• Program Materials: Statement of Purpose, recommendations, etc.  - you will not upload any items here

There is a non-refundable $70 application fee. Your application will not be processed until this fee has been paid. Please note that the CSU system does not offer a fee waiver for graduate level applications.

For technical assistance with Cal State Apply, please contact the Cal State Apply Help Desk:  (857) 304-2087, CalStateApply@liaisoncas.com or visit the Cal State Apply Applicant Help Center.  Cal State Apply Application Support is available Monday – Friday, 6AM – 5PM PT.

After you complete and submit the university application, please upload supplementary program application materials via MyCED by the extended February 15^th application deadline:

1. Statement of purpose (prompt provided below)
2. Resume (see guidelines below)
3. Writing Sample (see guidelines below)

Statement of Purpose Prompt

The function of the Statement of Purpose is to allow the Ed.D. Program admissions committee an opportunity to learn more about each candidate. Please limit the statement to 3-5 double spaced typed pages. The statement should be clear, concise, mechanically correct; please organize using subheadings for each question and draft in 12-point font. It should address the following areas:

• The educational experiences that have prepared you to embark on a doctoral program.
• How the doctoral degree will help you achieve your professional goals. 
• Your professional work experiences in education, highlighting specific examples that demonstrate your leadership skills and your philosophy of leadership.
• What do you see as 1-2 major challenges facing educational leaders and how do you expect to apply your doctoral degree to address 1 or more of these challenges to promote racial equity, social justice, inclusiveness, and diversity in urban education settings,
• How you anticipate meeting both your professional responsibilities and the demands of doctoral study

Resume 

Please upload the most recent copy of your resume that includes a contact phone number and email.  Your resume must include all pertinent and dated education and work experience information that responds to the following four areas:

• demonstrated experience in and potential for leadership related to education.
• professional or community service engagement
• scholarship and research potential which might include professional presentations, academic awards, evaluation and program improvement activities, professional development, publications, thesis work, or research interests.
• proficiency with technology (e.g., software use, operating systems)

Please limit the resume to no more than 3 professionally formatted pages.

Writing Sample

The purpose of the writing sample is to demonstrate the level of the applicant’s writing skills and degree of readiness to embark on a writing intensive graduate experience. The writing sample should reflect mostly or completely your own work, and generally in the range of 10-15 pages.

Preferred writing samples include publications, class papers, or a master's thesis. If these are unavailable, other acceptable samples include professional or research reports and grant proposals. If your work is the result of a collaboration (e.g., grant proposal), please specify your contribution. If you have questions, please consult with the associate director.

The sample will be evaluated on the following four dimensions:

• the ability to identify and critically analyze a significant educational problem or issue within your discipline.
• the ability to demonstrate insight and thoughtful commentary regarding the problem.
• the ability to communicate ideas clearly and concisely.
• the ability to produce a product that is mechanically correct and free from grammatical and spelling errors.

Letters of recommendations must be submitted through  MyCED 

Access to  MyCED is only permitted once you have completed and submitted the University application in Cal State Apply 

Be prepared to enter the names and e-mail addresses of your recommenders.

You are allowed to submit up to 4 letters: Three (3) letters of recommendation are required, one of which should be from your current supervisor, in a professional setting.  If you're unable to secure a recommendation from your current supervisor you have two options:

1. Preferred Option: Letter of Support from Supervisor indicating his/her knowledge of your intention to enroll in a doctoral program and his/her support of the endeavor.
2. If a supervisor's letter cannot be provided, please include a personal statement describing your plan for meeting your professional responsibilities and the demands of the program.  Please keep the statement to no more than 1 typed double spaced page.

Other recommendations can be from former supervisors, university faculty members, or other general recommenders.

We encourage you to seek the strongest possible letters. Therefore, we suggest speaking with your recommenders before completing this section of the application. Please ask them to write specifically and candidly about your educational leadership potential and skills, ability to succeed in a rigorous program of doctoral study, and interest in critically assessing and bringing about improvements in educational policies and practices.

Please ask recommenders to:

1. Attach your letter (on letterhead) using the link provided in the email 
2. Please write candidly about:

•     the applicant’s educational leadership potential and skills
•     ability to succeed in a rigorous program of doctoral study.
•     interest in critically assessing and bringing about improvements in educational policies and practices.

When specifying a Due Date enter: February 15, 2025

Once you have entered and saved information for a recommender, an email request will automatically be sent to the recommender on your behalf. Please advise your recommender to look for this email in their inbox, as well as their spam or junk-mail folder, as emails do occasionally get filtered out.