Program Admission
Admit Terms and Deadlines
Applications are accepted on a rolling basis; students may start the program in the Summer, Fall, or Winter. See Application Deadlines.
Minimum Graduate School Requirements
For full admission, applicants must have 1) Earned a four-year baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited U.S. institution or an equivalent degree from a non-U.S. institution, 2) a minimum cumulative undergraduate grade point average of 2.7 on a 4.0 scale, or 3.0 in the last half of the undergraduate program. Conditional admission may be available to applicants not meeting minimum admission requirements.
Program Requirements
Applicants must also meet the following program requirements. Requirements may be more stringent than the minimum graduate school requirements.
- Applicants must have completed a master’s degree from an accredited university with a minimum GPA of 3.3 on a 4.0 scale.
- Submit recommendation forms from two professional supervisors and/or supervising professors that address the applicant’s professional work quality. The completed forms are due within the online Application for Graduate Admissions. By entering the recommender’s email address within the online application, they will be able to upload a letter and the required recommendation form directly to your application. The recommendation form must come directly from your reference.
- Submit a résumé that details their professional and educational experiences.
- A personal statement of accomplishments and academic goals portion describing the reasons for requesting admission. This essay must be a minimum of 250 words and will be reviewed as an indicator of writing ability.
Application
Your application will be submitted using GradCAS, a Centralized Application Service (CAS) hosted by Liaison. After reviewing the admission requirements, please review the application instructions and select the appropriate application.
- Go to 2023-2024 GradCAS to apply to a program beginning in Summer 2024, Fall 2024, or Winter 2025.
- Go to 2024-2025 GradCAS to apply to a program beginning in Summer 2025, Fall 2025, or Winter 2026.
Domestic Applicants Within the application, applicants will follow the instructions to submit official transcripts from the institution(s) that granted their bachelor’s and graduate degrees.
If the bachelor’s degree-granting transcript does NOT list 30 or more credit hours with an overall GPA of 3.0 or over OR list 60 or more credit hours with an overall GPA between 2.7 and 2.99, the applicant is required to submit transcripts from all previously attended institutions. The University may ask applicants to submit additional transcripts after applying.
International Applicants Before applying, applicants must review the international application/process deadlines at emich.edu/international as they may differ from general program requirements.
For additional information regarding the application process, please see Graduate Admissions or International Admissions.
Admission Process
The admission process for the post-masters certificate is as follows:
- Completed applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
- The Office of Admissions will receive and gather all required documents. Completed applications containing the required GPAs, confidential appraisal forms, and the résumé will be forwarded to the advising coordinator for the educational leadership program.
- The faculty review committee will review completed applications. Those applications that include acceptable GPAs, résumé, recommendations, and personal statements will be admitted, assigned an advisor, and invited for an advising interview. Applications may be deemed “questionable” due to a combination of low GPA, fair or poor recommendations, poor writing ability, and/or statements inconsistent with the student’s goals as an administrator. The entire faculty will review these “questionable” applications, giving special consideration to the student’s life experiences, verbal skills, writing skills, educational background, and GPAs.
- Applicants who are accepted will be notified following the admission decision.
- All decisions by the faculty regarding admissions are final.
For more information about the program, admissions, etc., contact the department head or visit www.emich.edu/coe/lc.
Additional Information
Course Substitutions/Program Changes - The advisor must approve changes in the student’s official program and substitution of courses before registration.
Courses Outside the Program - The Program faculty has prepared a suggested list of courses. Other courses may be used for electives in this area if approved by the student’s advisor.
Internships - Information is available from the director of the intern program or at emich.edu/coe/lc. Internship placements should be arranged at least one semester in advance and approved by the internship director.
Contact the department head for more information about the program, admissions, etc.
Critical Graduation Information
Each graduate student is responsible for fulfilling the requirements or their equivalents of the Eastern Michigan University catalog in force at the time of their initial registration or a subsequent catalog, including the one in effect at the time of their graduation.
Graduate Certificate requirements must be completed within three (3) years of first enrollment in a course applicable to the certificate. Dually enrolled students (certificate and master’s program) must complete both degrees within six years of first enrollment in the master’s degree.
In the event a student does not complete the graduate certificate degree requirements within three years of the date of their original registration, the student may be required to have their credits re-evaluated by the academic department(s) of their degree in keeping with catalog requirements in force during the year of their graduation.
The following are the minimum requirements for all graduate certificate degrees awarded by Eastern Michigan University. Some programs require more than the minimum in one or more areas below.
- A graduate certificate must require a minimum of 12 credit hours.
- No more than six credits of independent study courses and 12 credit hours of special topics and independent study courses combined may be applied to a graduate degree.
- Residency Requirement - For students admitted to a graduate certificate program, at least nine graduate hours beginning the semester of acceptance and enrollment into the program must be earned at EMU. Students completing multiple certificate programs must have a minimum of 9 unique credit hours per certificate.
- Application of completed certificates toward prior degree credit - Only credits from one completed graduate certificate may be applied to a master’s or specialist degree in a relevant field of study, as determined by the Graduate School and with the approval of the degree-granting academic department, and be included in the residency hours of the master’s program.
- The Graduate School does not permit the use of undergraduate courses (499 and below) to meet degree requirements on graduate programs of study.
- Students must maintain a 3.0 cumulative GPA in all graduate-level courses taken at EMU and in their program of study to remain in good academic standing and be eligible for graduation. Students do not need to be registered for classes during the semester of graduation.
