Admission Process and Requirements

The Ed.D. program has been designed for candidates who have demonstrated potential for doctoral study and leadership, as substantiated during the admission process, and have obtained a master's degree in education or a closely related field from a regionally accredited institution. The admission process for acceptance to the Ed.D. program involves four steps.

Step 1. The prospective candidate submits the following program admission documents to the Director of Graduate Admissions.

• A Graduate Application for Admission.
• A $50 nonrefundable application fee (not required of students previously admitted to a graduate program at Concordia).
• Sealed Official Academic Transcripts from each post-secondary institution attended.
• A master's degree in education or a closely related field from a regionally accredited institution.
• Minimum graduate GPA of 3.5 on a 4-point scale.
• Three letters of recommendation on CUI online or PDF forms, one completed by the applicant's supervisor and two from persons who can attest to the applicant's potential for doctoral study and leadership.
• A current professional résumé.
• A Statement of Intent. This should be a double-spaced paper, five to seven pages in length detailing the applicant's: a) educational goals, b) short- and long-term professional goals, c) professional activities, d) research interests to be pursued in the program, e) research experience, f) distance learning experience, and g) reasons for choosing the CUI doctoral program.
• A seven to ten page writing sample that demonstrates the applicant’s ability to write cogently and use research and professional literature effectively in developing ideas and arguments (e.g., a master’s thesis, a scholarly article published in a journal, a comprehensive course paper, or a major district report).
• A valid California Certificate of Clearance (a copy of a valid California credential may be used in lieu of a certificate).

All program admission documents must be submitted before an application file is considered complete.

Step 2. Each Ed.D. application file is evaluated as a whole by a doctoral faculty committee to determine if the prospective candidate should be contacted for an in-person interview.

Step 3. During the in-person interview the prospective candidate meets with the Executive Director of the Ed.D. program and possibly one or more program faculty. In the interview the candidate is asked to discuss how candidate interest in the doctoral program in educational leadership related to the candidate’s career goals, experience with online learning environments, interests in scholarship, prior research activities, and how future educational pursuits align to the overall mission of Concordia University, Irvine.

Step 4. Within two weeks of the interview, the candidate is notified as to whether or not the candidate has been officially accepted to the Ed.D. program.

International Candidates

International candidates, who are English Language Learners (ELL), are required to submit Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) scores that must be taken within two years prior to submission of the Graduate Application for Admission. Scoring requirements should meet or exceed the minimum TOTAL score and minimum score for each of the four (4) sections, although these scores may not necessarily disqualify a candidate from admission into the program.  The scoring is as follows:

Section        Score

Reading        24

Listening      26

Speaking      26

Writing          26

Total             100