Social Justice Education PhD 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. Our goal is to admit outstanding groups of students who can contribute to the development of a learning community in which all members grow personally and professionally.

Application Timeline

January 2; Applications due.  Incomplete applications, those missing any part of the required application materials listed below, are reviewed at the discretion of the admissions committee.

Priority Deadline: December 1st.  We will continue to review applications until the final College of Education application deadline (January 2), however, we encourage applicants to apply by the December 1st deadline in order to obtain full consideration for fellowships.

Late February/Early March; Applicants considered for admission are invited on-campus to interview with current faculty and doctoral students.

March; Recommendations for admission are submitted by the program to the Graduate School.  

April 15; Students offered admission by the Graduate School must enter a decision by this date.

There are no mid-year/off-cycle admissions.

Prerequisites

Applicants are expected to have completed a Master's degree that is related to social justice education, and have prior professional experience in related areas of teaching, counseling, youth development, civic engagement, social work, professional development of teachers and staff, education administration,student affairs, special education, and college residential 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 that describes the applicant's prior experience with social justice education, professional objectives relevant to social just education, and a description of what they hope to achieve through completion of the Doctoral Program of Study.  As part of the personal statement, applicants are also expected to clearly indicate their interest and background to conduct doctoral level research in social justice education in alignment with faculty interests.
  • Writing sample (i.e., published or unpublished article, chapter from a master's thesis, paper written for a graduate level class) that demonstrates advanced writing on theory, research, and/or practice appropriate to doctoral level scholarship.
  • Official transcripts: Admissions materials not submitted electronically should be mailed to the following address: Graduate Student Service Center, 534 Goodell Building, University of Massachusetts, 140 Hicks Way, Amherst, MA 01003-9333.
  • Full résumé/CV
  • 3 letters of recommendation, at least two from a faculty member who has taught the applicant at the undergraduate or graduate level.

GRE scores are not required for completion of our application but scores can be submitted optionally and will be considered along with the rest of your application materials.

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  Ph.D. 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 21st,  5:00-6:00 pm EST

  • Tuesday, October 29th, 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).