Educational Leadership and Organizational Development (PhD)

• Completed application submitted at https://apply.graduate.louisville.edu/apply/ 
• Official transcripts from all undergraduate and graduate coursework completed.  To be considered official, transcripts must be sent by the issuing institution to the UofL Graduate School directly.  Transcripts issued to the student are considered unofficial. 
• ​International transcripts must be evaluated per the grad school requirements: https://graduate.louisville.edu/admission/international/evaluation
• ​Current resume or curriculum vitae 

Personal Statement 

• Prompt: Your Personal Statement is an opportunity for you to offer the admissions committee insights about your background, interests, future contributions to the academic community at the University of Louisville, and academic potential with your field of study. 
• As you author your Personal Statement, consider how your background and life experiences – including educational, cultural, financial, geographical, and/or other opportunities or barriers – motivated your decision to pursue a doctoral degree at the University of Louisville? 
• In your statement, share your research interests and career goals, as well as how you see this doctoral program helping you achieve those future goals as well as why you have chosen to pursue doctoral study at this time. 
• ​Tell us about what you have done, what is unique about you, what you have learned and achieved (including evidence of progress) to support and recognize your accomplishments to date and how that has prepared you for doctoral study in this program. 

Analysis Essay 

• Prompt:  For this essay, please identify a contemporary issue, challenge, or opportunity in your specialty area (e.g., human resource development, higher/postsecondary education, education administration, program evaluation, sports administration). Your essay should intertwine several messages that: (a) provide a background to your chosen topic, (b) inform your reader why your chosen topic is important and what is known about the topic, (c) articulate at least two avenues for how you could address your chosen topic using research articles in support of your points, (d) recommend an avenue or perspective in which to take along with supported rationale, and (e) provide a summary along with concluding remarks that bring your essay to a logical conclusion.  
• Your essay should demonstrate some level of analysis and be between 2500 and 3000 words (8- 10 pages double spaced) not including a title page, references or citations, tables, figures, or graphs.  
• Include any references to literature and empirical research sources that you use to help shape your analytic essay. 
• Your analysis essay does not need to be on a topic that you think you’d like to focus on in your doctoral studies, but it can be. Ultimately, we are interested in learning more about how you present a topic, offer competing perspectives, and your analysis associated with that discussion. 

• International applicants must submit additional application items, and meet additional admission requirements.  Information on the international application and admission requirements can be found here: https://graduate.louisville.edu/admission/international 

• Interview 
• GRE Scores 
• ​Any academic or published works/ creative artifacts you have been a part of or produced. If you have published any academic research or been a part of some form of creative artifact that adds to your application packet, please feel free to include those works as a .pdf within your packet as optional material. 

• Completed application (including all checklist items) to be holistically reviewed 
• Interview: Using a holistic process, the LEAD PhD Admissions Committee will evaluate your application packet. They may, at their discretion, invite you for a brief interview with faculty in your chosen area of concentration to learn more about your interests. The interview is optional, but often can be helpful in finding fit within an academic program of study. 
• Unconditional admission requires a minimum cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 2.75 for all undergraduate coursework taken. Cumulative undergraduate GPAs ranging from 2.5 to 2.74 will be considered for conditional admission on a case-by-case basis. 
• Conferred Bachelor’s and Master’s degree from a institutionally accredited institution required for unconditional admission.