Admission
Location: Greeley
Start Term: Fall
General Doctoral Degree Admission Requirements
Educational Psychology Ph.D.
Admission Deadline
Fall Admission: Jan. 31
Admission Requirements
Applicants must apply to the Graduate School at the University of Northern Colorado before the program area reviews the applicant’s request for admission. Failure to submit all required materials will delay the evaluation and screening of your application.
Each applicant must:
Take the following steps to be considered for admission:
Step 1: Complete the Application
Complete the online application.
- Answer the application questions.
- Send your requests for letters of recommendation.
- Request three (3) academic or professional letters of recommendation from those who can attest to your academic potential and abilities. You will be asked to supply information for your recommenders in the application.
- Submit the application and pay the non-refundable application fee.
- Domestic Students: $50 non-refundable application fee
- International Students: $50 non-refundable application fee
- The Graduate School is waiving application fees for all current UNC students and alumni! (The waiver applies only to the UNC Graduate School application.) Click for details.
Once you submit your application you will be assigned an Admissions Portal, allowing you to upload supplemental items, as listed below, and track your application through the admissions process.
Step 2: Request Transcripts
Request one official transcript from any Institutionally Accredited college or university where a bachelor’s degree or higher was earned or is in progress (if you have earned multiple degrees, bachelor’s level or higher, an official transcript is required from each college or university where a degree was conferred). If you received a degree from UNC, you do not need to request a transcript from UNC. The Office of Admissions reserves the right to request that applicants provide official transcripts from other colleges or universities as needed. Applicants who have earned or are directly pursuing a higher degree from a regionally accredited institution without receiving a bachelor’s degree (e.g., PharmD) may be eligible to apply to the Graduate School without the conferral of a bachelor’s degree.
Exceptions: If an applicant intends to use Veteran’s Education Benefits, an official transcript from all colleges or universities attended will be required in order to maintain compliance with Veteran’s Affairs policies.
Official transcripts from U.S. institutions should be sent via mail directly from the educational institution in an unopened, sealed envelope or through an electronically secure digital program from the issuing institution.
Mailed transcripts should be sent to:
University of Northern Colorado
Office of Admissions
Campus Box 10
501 20th St
Greeley, CO 80639
Electronic transcripts from U.S. institutions should be sent directly from the educational institution to: grad.admissions@unco.edu.
The Office of Admissions does not accept email, scanned or PDF transcripts directly from applicants. All official transcripts, submitted as part of the application process, are retained by UNC and not returned to applicants or admitted students.
UNC retains submitted transcripts, from institutions other than UNC, for admitted students for up to five years after graduation or date of last attendance at UNC. Transcripts provided by applicants who were not admitted, denied admissions or did not complete their application are destroyed after one (1) year. The Office of Admissions will make every attempt to use previously submitted transcripts if they are within these timeframes. However, if the Office of Admissions cannot locate previously submitted transcripts, the transcripts fall outside the timeframes listed above or they are considered illegible, applicants must provide new transcripts.
Applicants with academic credentials from outside the U.S. will need to follow therequirements for submission of foreign transcripts. Click on the Transcripts tab for information about international transcripts.
Step 3: Note About the GRE
This program does not require GRE scores.
Step 4: Supplemental Items
Log back into the Admissions Portal to submit the following:
- Current Vita
- Written statement of career goals. This personal statement should clearly articulate why you have selected our Educational Psychology Doctoral program, the types of research that you are interested in conducting while in the program, how your interests align with faculty expertise and research programs and your post-Ph.D. career goals.
Additional Information
Students may apply for admission to the Ph.D. in Educational Psychology and complete their M.A. in Educational Psychology on the way to the doctoral degree. The application process and the admission criteria are the same as for the Ph.D. program.
Once you apply to the UNC Graduate School and your application packet is complete, your application will be reviewed by the Graduate School and then sent to the faculty/program for an admission recommendation. The timing of the admission decision depends on each individual program’s deadline and review process.
International applicants (non-U.S. citizen/non-U.S. Permanent Resident) please refer to the International Admissions Requirements page for further information about submitting transcripts, English proficiency scores, passport copy and financial documentation.
For More Information
For more information about the admission process, please email the Office of Admissions at grad.admissions@unco.edu or call 970-351-2881.
Educational Psychology M.A. en route to Ph.D.
Students in the M.A. en route to Ph.D. program should focus first on completing the following 30 credits that comprise the M.A. degree.
After completing the M.A. requirements listed below, students can focus on completing the remaining requirements for the en route to Ph.D. Students can take courses that count toward the Ph.D. degree before completing the M.A. requirements.
| PSY 530 | Life Span Developmental Psychology | 3 |
| | |
| PSY 540 | Theories and Principles of Learning | 3 |
| or | |
| PSY 681 | Learning and Instruction | 3 |
| | |
| PSY 575 | Educational Assessment | 3 |
| PSY 644 | Motivation in Education | 3 |
| PSY 661 | Trends and Issues in Educational Psychology | 3 |
| PSY 674 | Measurement I: Classical Test Theory | 3 |
| | |
| PSY 697 | Master's Project in Psychology | 3- 6 |
| or | |
| PSY 699 | Thesis | 1- 6 |
| | |
| SRM 600 | Introduction to Graduate Research | 3 |
| SRM 602 | Statistical Methods I | 3 |
| Elective Credits | 3 |
The following courses also count toward the Ph.D. degree. These 9 credits count for both degrees.
PSY 681; PSY 644; PSY 674
MA en route to PhD Requirements — 89 credits
Proseminar — 3 credits
| PSY 705 | Proseminar in Doctoral Studies | 3 |
Foundations — 18 credits
| PSY 530 | Life Span Developmental Psychology | 3 |
| PSY 575 | Educational Assessment | 3 |
| PSY 630 | Advanced Child and Adolescent Psychology | 3 |
| PSY 644 | Motivation in Education | 3 |
| PSY 654 | Seminar in College Teaching | 3 |
| PSY 661 | Trends and Issues in Educational Psychology | 3 |
Learning — 3 credits
Select 1 of the following courses:
| PSY 540 | Theories and Principles of Learning | 3 |
| PSY 681 | Learning and Instruction | 3 |
Diversity and Cultural Awareness — 3 credits
Choose 1 of the following courses:
| ECLD 593 | Language, School and Society | 3 |
| ECLD 602 | Teaching Culturally Linguistically Diverse and Bilingual Learners | 3 |
| EDF 777 | Social Justice in Education Reform | 3 |
| ET 527 | Social Justice in the Digital Age | 3 |
| HESA 655 | Multiculturalism in Higher Education and Student Affairs | 3 |
| HESA 665 | International Higher Education and Student Affairs | 3 |
| PSY 640 | Cultural Issues in Education Psychology | 3 |
M.A. Research Core — 12 credits
| SRM 600 | Introduction to Graduate Research | 3 |
| SRM 602 | Statistical Methods I | 3 |
| PSY 674 | Measurement I: Classical Test Theory | 3 |
Choose 1 of the following courses:
Ph.D. Research Core — 9 credits
Research Tools — 12 credits
Total credits from Research Tool I and II must add up to 12 credits.
Research Tool I: Quantitative Methods — 6-9 credits
Take the following course:
Optional additional courses:
| PSY 566 | Programming for Experimental Psychology | 3 |
| PSY 675 | Measurement II: Contemporary Test Theory | 3 |
| SRM 608 | Experimental Design | 3 |
| SRM 625 | Applied Multiple Regression Analysis | 3 |
| SRM 626 | Applied Multilevel Modeling | 3 |
| SRM 627 | Survey Research Methods | 3 |
| SRM 629 | Structural Equation Modeling | 3 |
Research Tool II: Qualitative Methods — 3-6 credits
Take the following course:
| SRM 680 | Introduction to Qualitative Research | 3 |
Optional additional courses:
Doctoral Seminar — 1 credit
Electives — 12 credits
Electives may be any course with the prefix PSY 500-level and above or SRM 600-level and above. Other electives may be selected in consultation with your advisor and you will need to submit a Course Adjustment before registering for the elective.
Dissertation — 16 credits
| PSY 797 | Doctoral Proposal Research | 1- 4 |
| PSY 799 | Doctoral Dissertation | 1-12 |
PSY 797: Take 4 credits
PSY 799: Take 12 credits
Notes: Students have the option of doing a master's project or a master's thesis. Students are also required to complete comprehensive exams for the Ph.D. program. Specific procedures for written comprehensives and oral defense of the comprehensives are available from the program website an the educational psychology graduate handbooks.