Social Justice Education MEd Admissions

Admissions

The Social Justice Education admissions committee wants to know about your interest in social justice education and to understand how your prior personal, educational, and professional experiences have prepared you for graduate work in social justice education. Please be succinct yet specific about your interest in social justice education and the ways in which SJE can support your future plans and professional goals. Your personal statement will doubly serve as a writing sample (no more than 3 pages). Master’s applicants: Be sure your application indicates your preference to focus on K-12 education/youth-based settings or higher education.

Application Timeline

Applications are due by January 2. Decisions will be made in March/April for admissions the following September. There are no mid-year admissions.

Prerequisites

Applicants are expected to show evidence of applied social justice experience, at least one semester of which is supervised. Examples might include classroom teaching, peer education programs, mediation teams, residence assistants, or community outreach programs. Applicants may also have certification in teaching, school counseling, and special education or school administration. Evidence of at least one full year's work experience in a social justice-related area beyond the bachelor's degree is strongly preferred.

Application Materials

  • Online Application
  • Personal statement describing the applicant's prior experience with social justice education, professional objectives relevant to social justice education, and a description of what they hope to achieve through completion of the master’s program
  • Official Transcripts
  • Full résumé
  • 3 letters of recommendation (at least one faculty member)

Virtual Information Sessions

Interested applicants are invited to join us for a Virtual Information Session to learn more about our three graduate degree programs. We’ll be discussing our Master’s, Educational Specialists, and PhD programs. Info sessions will be led by current faculty and students and we will provide an overview of what makes our program unique, our courses and specializations, as well as details about our admissions process. Each session will last about an hour and we’ll have plenty of time for questions.

Information session dates:

  • Monday, October 21, 5:00-6:00 pm EST
  • Tuesday, October 29, 6:30-7:30 pm EST

Please complete this form to register; you will then receive the Zoom login information.

For more information, please contact the program socialjusticeed [at] umass [dot] edu (socialjusticeed[at]umass[dot]edu).