How to Apply

Complete and submit CU Denver’s graduate application form.

The application fee is:

• $50 for domestic students (U.S., citizens, U.S. permanent residents, undocumented immigrants [DACA, etc.] and asylees/refugees)
• $75 for international students*

and must be paid by the application deadline. We accept payments via credit card (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, JCB, Discover, and Diners Club) or bank transfer from a U.S. checking account. 

The application fee may not be refunded under any circumstance, including withdrawal of the application from admission consideration prior to receiving a decision. 

*Graduate students opting to do an ECE or WES evaluation will not be charged the $75 application fee. However, students opting out of the ECE/WES requirement will now need to pay this fee during the application process unless they have an affiliation with a recruitment agency who is currently in contract with CU Denver. Please see the International Admissions website for more information.

Fee Waivers 

Applicants may be eligible for a fee waiver if they meet one of the following criteria and provide supporting documentation: 

• Member or participant of a federally funded, graduate preparation program (McNair, MARC U-STAR, IMSD, Bridges to the Baccalaureate, Bridges to the Doctorate, PREP, RISE, TRiO, IPERT, ENDURE, Cientifico Latino Graduate Student Mentorship Initiative, or Sally Casanova). 
• Member of the military: active duty, reserve and guard forces, or veterans and retirees. 
• Registered member of a federally recognized American Indian tribe or Alaska Native entity. 
• CU Denver Alumni (must have completed a degree). 
• Fulbright Scholarship recipients. 
• Individual with a disability that substantially limits one or more major life activities. 
• An individual who met a Graduate Recruitment representative at an event and submitted a Request for Information Form. 

Application fee waivers may also be considered for other circumstances such as financial hardship. 

Members of the military, registered members of federal recognized American Indian tribes or Alaska Native entities, and CU Denver alumni will automatically have their fees waived when they submit the application; nothing additional is needed. For all other individuals, to be considered for a fee waiver, please complete the Application Fee Waiver Form before your program’s deadline. Acceptance or denial of your fee waiver application does not affect your likelihood of admission into a graduate program.

You must list and provide your unofficial transcript for every post-secondary institution where you were enrolled—or are currently enrolled—in an undergraduate or graduate degree program. Even if you did not earn a degree from that institution, a transcript is still required. 

• CU Denver considers unofficial transcripts to be sufficient for the review process. When filling out an online application, upload transcripts as scanned copies or PDFs (no larger than 10 MB). Please refrain from uploading a secured PDF/transcript with a digital signature, as our system cannot upload these properly. If you earned a degree at the institution from which you are submitting a transcript, please ensure that the degree conferred and the degree conferral date are clearly visible on the document. If your transcript does not include your degree conferred and your degree conferral date, please submit a scanned copy of your diploma, a conferral statement, or a conferral document in addition to your transcript. Combine this documentation and the transcript into a single PDF. If you are currently enrolled in a degree program and will not have earned the degree by the time you submit your application, submit your most recent in-progress transcript. 
• If you are offered admission to CU Denver and accept the offer, you will be required to submit official transcripts/degree conferral documents during your first term as a student. If you do not submit your official transcripts, an enrollment hold will be placed on your account, and you will be unable to enroll in future terms. 

Unofficial vs. Official Transcripts

Unofficial transcripts are copies or downloads of official transcripts that are easily accessible to the student, such as a scanned copy of a printed official transcript, screenshot of an electronic official transcript saved as a PDF, or PDF copies downloaded via a self-service from a student or alumni portal. Unofficial transcripts generally have no associated cost. At CU Denver, unofficial transcripts are sufficient for application review purposes. 

Official transcripts are transcripts that come directly from the issuing school, institution, or agency. Printed/hard copies of transcripts must remain in a sealed envelope from the issuing school; transcripts that are removed from their sealed envelope are not considered official. Electronic copies of official transcripts are typically sent directly from the institution, or via a clearinghouse that the institution uses, with a passcode for the recipient to open in a secure manner; transcripts forwarded to CU Denver as an email are not considered official. At CU Denver, official transcripts are only required if you are offered admission and decide to enroll. 

Study Abroad 

If the transcript from your home institution reflects your study abroad coursework and grades, you do not need to submit original transcripts from your abroad institution. 

Foreign Institutions 

If your credentials include credits from a college or university outside of the United States, International Admissions requires that you provide an international credential evaluation report from Educational Credential Evaluators (ECE) or World Education Services (WES). Please visit the International Admissions website for details. 

Most programs at CU Denver require letters of recommendation for admission. These should be written by people who have supervised you in an academic, employment, or community service setting. The content of the letter should detail their experiences working with you, specific reasons why they are recommending you to the program, and evidence of your qualities and qualifications. Be sure to check with your program to see if they have any preferences for what types of letters of recommendation (academic or professional) they require. 

In the application, you will be asked to list the names and contact information for your letter providers, and an email will be sent to each individual with a unique link that they will use to submit their recommendation. The recommender will be asked to complete two components of the recommendation: 

1. A recommendation form asking recommenders to compare the applicant to other students/advisees/employees with whom they have worked, and how strongly they recommend the applicant for graduate study. 
2. A letter of recommendation. The recommenders may type the letter into the text box provided, or they may upload a letter in the form of a Word document or PDF. We highly encourage and prefer letters uploaded as a PDF. 

It is possible to submit your application without all letters of recommendation, so do not let this step prevent you from submitting your overall program application. However, you should communicate your program’s application deadline to your letter providers so they can submit their recommendation by the deadline. 

FERPA allows you to request access to your recommendation letters after being admitted to and enrolling in a school. If you decide to waive your right to access the letter of recommendation, you will not be able to access your recommender’s letter in your educational records if you are admitted and enroll at CU Denver. However, if you choose to not waive your right, then you will have access to your letter if you enroll at CU Denver.

There are a variety of ways for you to provide proof of English proficiency if your first language is not English. Learn more on the International Admissions website. 

Statement of Purpose 

Many graduate degree programs require a statement of purpose describing your reasons for applying, how you’ve prepared for this field of study, why the program is a good fit for you, your future career goals, and other aspects of your background and interests that might aid the admissions committee in evaluating your application. 

Statements of purpose for doctoral programs typically include your research interests and how they align with faculty in your desired program. For master's applicants, statements of purpose generally focus on how your previous work, background, and/or academic experience informs your decision to apply to the program, as well as how the program will impact your career goals.  

Check with your program to see if they require a statement of purpose, and if so, what you should include and how it should be formatted. Otherwise, we recommend using 12-point font and regular, one-inch margins as general formatting guidelines.

Resume or CV 

Depending on your program’s requirements, you may be asked to upload a resume or CV, whichever is most appropriate to your background, to the online application. Your program may require specific details on your resume/CV or a preferred format. If not, the typical one-page resume is most common, and your resume/CV should be formatted using 12-point font and regular, one-inch margins. 

Official Standardized Test Scores 

Some graduate programs require standardized test scores (such as GRE or GMAT) for admission. If your program requires a test score, you should send your score through the testing agency. We require official scores for an admission decision. Verify the requirement below with your program's school or college. 

GRE/GMAT Requirements