Online Ed.S.

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 program area to which you are applying. This web page provides you with the Graduate School, College of Education, and School of Teaching & Learning minimums. You need to carefully check your program area web page to see the specific admission requirements for that area.

• GPA: A minimum grade point average of 3.0 for all upper-division (the last 60 credits) undergraduate work
• Recommendations: Three letters of recommendation from university faculty
• Statement of Purpose: Explain why this degree would enable you to meet your career goals and how this specific specialist program in the School of Teaching & Learning at UF enables you to best reach these goals. Your statement of purpose is considered as your writing sample and why you are not required to take the essay component of the GRE.
• Resume: Submit a resume in which you indicate your current professional employment and career goals.

Every program area’s 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.

Again, please note that the requirements here are the minimal requirements. You should explore your program area for additional admission requirements for the specialist degree.

Admission Procedure

Please review our Admissions Directions Document and reach out to GradAdmissions@coe.ufl.edu with application questions.

1. Apply Online to the University of Florida Graduate School and pay the application fee. When you are instructed to enter your specialist program, all of the specialist programs in the School of Teaching & Learning are in the Curriculum and Instruction category.  As part of the online application, you also are required to provide a statement of purpose. You can copy and paste up to two pages of a single-spaced document into this space. Your statement of purpose should address the following areas:
   • Why you want an Educational Specialist degree
   • How this degree will enable you to reach personal and professional goals

   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. The online application process allows you to enter the names and email addresses of 3 people. This will trigger an electronic system to send electronic forms to these individuals. All the person providing your recommendation has to do is complete the form and hit the submit button.

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). These must be official copies from the institutions of higher education. If the original transcripts are not in English, you also need to send an English translation.
3. Submit an example of your academic writing.
4. Submit a current resume or curriculum vitae.
5. Explore financial aid options and apply for any appropriate for your situation.

For international students:

• You may submit either TOEFL, IELTS, or MELAB scores. Here are the minimum scores considered for admissions: IELTS: 6, MELAB: 77, TOEFL (computer):213, TOEFL (Internet): 80, and TOEFL (paper-based): 550.

If you are unable to upload any application materials, please email Kara Dawson, Ph.D. at dawson@coe.ufl.edu.