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The Ed.D. program has been designed for candidates who have demonstrated the potential for doctoral study and leadership, as substantiated during the admission process, and obtained a master's degree in education or a closely related field from a regionally accredited institution with a minimum GPA of 3.5.

Ed.D. Program Requirements

Please submit the following program admission documents to the Director of Graduate Admissions.

  1. A Graduate Application for Admission
  2. A $50 non-refundable application fee
  3. Your sealed official transcript from each post-secondary institution attended
  4. Current resume or vita
  5. Three current letters of recommendation on CUI online or PDF forms - one completed by the applicant's supervisor and two from persons who can attest to your potential for doctoral study and leadership
  6. A Statement of Intent. This should be a double-spaced, 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.
  7. 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)

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

Start Term Start Date Application Deadline
Summer 2022 August 18, 2022 August 8, 2022
Spring 2023 March 6, 2023 February 20, 2023

International Candidates

A TOEFL or IELTS score is required if the international student has an undergraduate or master's degree from a non-English speaking university*. The required scores are:

  • TOEFL - 100 or higher
  • IELTS - 7.5 or higher

If an international student has an undergraduate or master's degree from an English speaking university, a TOEFL or IELTS score is not required.

ALL non-US equivalent transcripts must arrive with a certified English evaluation and translation, and evidence of degree posted. The student must have a minimum GPA of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale, or equivalent to that according to the grading system used by the country that a student is applying from*.

Please note that CUI does not have a translation or evaluation service, and students are responsible to get an official translation and evaluation done by a NACES-approved evaluation agency verifying the equivalent of a regionally accredited U.S. bachelor's degree or higher – CUI prefers international transcripts to be evaluated through IERF.

Please ask for a Detail Report (also known as a course-by-course report)
Mail it to:
Concordia University Irvine
ATTN: Graduate Admissions/School of Education
1530 Concordia West Irvine, CA 92612

*Scoring and grade requirements should meet or exceed the minimum, although these may not necessarily disqualify a candidate from admission into the program.

After You Submit Your Application

  • 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.
  • 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. You will be asked to discuss how your interest in the doctoral program in educational leadership relates to your career goals, what experience you may have with online learning environments, your interests in scholarship, prior research activities, and how future educational pursuits align with the overall mission of Concordia University, Irvine.
  • Within two weeks of the interview, you will be notified if you have been officially accepted to the Ed.D. program.
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