Master’s in Education Degree

TSLI Master in Education Admissions Information

General Requirements

Admission standards are set by the Graduate School of the University of Florida, the College of Education, the School of Teaching & Learning, and the Teacher Leadership for School Improvement program area faculty.

* Be a current, full-time, practicing educator in a PreK-12 setting.

* Have a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college of university. You should also have a minimum grade point average of 3.0 for all upper-division (the last 60 credits) undergraduate work.

* An acceptable score on the General Test of the Graduate Records Examination (GRE). We will consider applications from individuals who have acceptable scores on both the verbal and quantitative sections. We holistically evaluate all applications and the score on the verbal and quantitative sections of the GRE are considered data points of information about the applicant. This also allows applicants who are not strong standardized test takers to highlight their skills and abilities.

* Three letters of recommendation from university faculty. If you have been out of the university setting for 3 or more years, you may also use letters of recommendation from your school principal and other school or district administrators/supervisors.

* A statement of purpose (this is your admission essay) with a description of your educational job, explaining your career goals and how the TLSI master’s program enables you to best reach these goals. You should also discuss your passion about teaching and working toward school improvement issues. This is considered as your writing sample and why we do not require you to take the essay component of the GRE. It is important that you present yourself well in this component of the application process.

* Submit a resume detailing your work experience as an educator.  It is important that you include the following:

• Name
• Full Contact Information (home address, phone number, and email address)
• School, District, and State where you are currently teaching
• Certification area(s)
• Current job assignment:  Make sure to state explicitly whether you are teaching/working in a PreK-12 school/district environment.
• All previous jobs as an educator (or related to education)
• Future job goals:  Make sure to include whether you are planning on staying in the PreK-12 school/district environment or moving to other venues when you earn your TLSI degree.

The TLSI admissions review committee evaluates applicants’ folders holistically. Each piece of data included in your admissions folder is considered one data point and we carefully look at all of the evidence before making an admissions decision.

Admission Procedure

1. Apply Online to the University of Florida Graduate School and pay the application fee.

In the “Special Program Info” section, select the “Distance Learning Program” check box.

In the “Primary Program” section, please use the following information:

As part of the online application, you also are required to provide a statement of purpose (your admission essay). You can copy and paste up to two pages of a single spaced document into this space.

The Graduate School also requires three letters of recommendation from professors who know the applicant as a student and can evaluate academic abilities and potential for success in a graduate program. You can do this in two (2) different methods.

Method A: The online application process allows you to enter in the names and email addresses of 3 people. Once you submit your online application, this will trigger the UF Admission system to send an electronic recommendation form to these individuals. All the person providing your recommendation has to do is complete the form and hit the submit button.

Method B: If you would like to provide your references with printed forms, you can do that as well by downloading the recommendation form. Letters of recommendation can be emailed to stlgradadmiss@coe.ufl.edu, brought to Norman 2423, or mailed to: Graduate Admissions, School of Teaching & Learning, P.O. Box 117048, 2403 Norman Hall, Gainesville, FL 32611-7048.

2. Submit all transcripts from institutions of higher education to the UF Office of Admissions (P.O.Box 114000, 201 Criser Hall, Gainesville, FL 32611-4000, USA). You need to ask the registrar at your prior institutions of higher education to send these directly to the UF Office of Admissions. These must be official copies from the institutions of higher education. If the original transcripts are not in English, you must send one in the original language AND send an English translation.

3. Submit acceptable GRE and TOEFL (if necessary) scores. Please make sure to have ETS send your official GRE scores to the University of Florida (code 5812) and the School of Teaching & Learning (code 3101).

4.  Submit your resume with all information detailed above to Ms. Kay Curcio in the STL Graduate Studies Office at kcurcio@coe.ufl.edu or mail to:  Ms. Kay Curcio, PO Box 117048, Gainesville, FL  32611-7048.

5. Explore financial aid options and apply for all that apply to your situation.

6. If you are a non-US applicant, send your Certification of Financial Responsibility Form to the UF International Center (P.O.Box 113225, 123 Grinter Hall, Gainesville, FL 32611-3225, USA).