• A completed and signed application form with the appropriate application fee. Application forms may be downloaded at www.montana.edu/wwwdg/apply.shtml or are available from: College of Graduate Studies, P. O. Box 172880, Bozeman, MT 59717-2580, or Department of Education, Graduate Program Office, P. O. Box 172880, Bozeman, MT 59717-2880.
• A completed GPA Calculation form: NOTE: We require a GPA of 3.00 for the last two (2) years of undergraduate course work.

• Three (3) letters of recommendation are required. Candidates must meet the following criteria for one of the three letters of recommendation. At least one of the three letters must be from the candidate's PRESENT direct supervisor. That means a school district administrator who (a) is currently administratively certified by Montana Office of Public Instruction or other equivalent state agency; AND (b) currently acts as direct supervisor for the candidate, and has done so for a minimum period of one semester.

  If for any reason you cannot secure a letter from your present supervisor, then:

  At least one of the letters of recommendation must be from a PREVIOUS direct supervisor. That means a school district administrator who is (a) currently certified by the Montana Office of Public Instruction or other equivalent state agency; AND (b) has, at some point preceding the date of this application, acted as direct supervisor for the candidate for a minimum period of one semester.

  Any applicant who does not have a letter from a present direct supervisor must indicate in the self-nomination letter (see below) the specific reason(s) why they were unable to secure a letter of recommendation from their present supervisor.

  For all letters of recommendation, please advise the authors that the following should be addressed:

  1. Specific examples of how this candidate has demonstrated leadership in the school setting
  2. Potential for success as a school administrator
  3. Specific examples of the candidate's professional disposition including work ethic, responsibility to students, school, community and profession
  4. Specific examples of the necessary experience, knowledge, judgment, and motivation to take on a school leadership role
  5. Development as a master teacher and how the candidate is regarded by colleagues, and
  6. The candidate's involvement in key professional development activities.

Additional Letters

Letters of recommendation should be completed by individuals who are qualified to assess your ability and potential as a graduate student. Your academic advisor, the head of your major academic department, and professors in your major field of interest from whom you have taken coursework are possibilities.

Self-nomination Letter

The letter of self-nomination is in addition to three (3) recommendation letters and replaces the essay required in the application materials. The letter will be reviewed for quality of writing as well as for content. The self-nomination letter should focus on the following:
1. Your development and growth as a teacher, including professional development
2. Your contributions to the school and district
3. Your development as a leader. Specific examples are needed that clarify how you have grown as a leader and your leadership activities
4. Your specific goals, including a timeline for assuming a school leadership position
5. Your motivation to become a school leader and an explanation of how you came to this decision, and
6. Personal qualities you possess that are desirable in a leader
7. Transcripts: Official transcripts verifying your Bachelor's Degree course work, Masters's Degree course work (if applying for the Doctoral program), and any transcripts that will verify course work you may want to transfer into your program or use to document your course work in a certain area.
8. Official GRE scores: The general test of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is required of all students prior to consideration for admission in the Department of Education. The expected total score is 850 on the Verbal and Quantitative, with a minimum Verbal score of 420. No one will be accepted into a graduate program until official GRE scores are submitted to the College of Graduate Studies. Copies of the scores can be sent to the Department of Education, but the College of Graduate Studies will not accept a student until the official scores have been received.
9. TOEFL--This is for international students only.
10. Financial Certificate--This is for international students only.

You may enter the graduate program fall, spring, or summer semesters. The Department of Education deadlines for applications are:

You should send/have sent all application materials to the Graduate Program Office in the Department of Education. All application materials are collected by the Department of Education Graduate Program Office and reviewed by a Department Graduate Program Screening Committee prior to submission of the complete package to the College of Graduate Studies.

Transfer Credits and Prerequisites
Educational Leadership programs vary in quality and in structure. Applicants are advised to attain all courses from a single program or to check beforehand whether courses taken outside of MSU Bozeman will transfer. The program structure at MSU Bozeman has been designed around national standards with the expectation that all standards will be met by the entire program taken as a whole. Transfer courses can only be considered if they represent the same level of quality and cover all topics in an equivalent manner.

Admission to the masters or doctoral program in Educational Leadership requires that a student hold a degree from a university with PROGRAM accreditation by NCATE or TEAC or from a university ranked at the highest Carnegie classification. Transfer credits will only be accepted from NCATE or TEAC accredited Educational Leadership programs or from Educational Leadership programs at universities with the highest Carnegie classification.

Graduate Teaching Assistantships are available in the Department of Education. Information about these may be obtained by writing to: Dr. Robert Carson, Department Head, Department of Education, Montana State University, P. O. Box 172880, Bozeman, MT 59717-2880.

Montana State University-Bozeman is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Educational Institution and actively solicits applications from minorities and women.

Should you desire further information, please contact us at (406) 994-6786 or (406) 994-3120.

The completion of the application process is the responsibility of the applicant. All completed applications are to be submitted simultaneously by you in one package to:

A program of study must be completed in the second semester of taking courses. Appropriate graduate forms can be found at www.montana.edu/gradstudies/forms.shtml.

NO ACTION WILL BE TAKEN ON AN APPLICATION THAT IS NOT COMPLETE!

Return to regular view	Text-only	Updated: 6/13/06