Admissions Requirements

Submit the online portion of your application and pay the application fee.

Must be submitted to the Office of Graduate Admission:

Office of Graduate Admission
University of San Diego
5998 Alcalá Park
San Diego, CA 92110-2492
grads@sandiego.edu

Official E-Transcripts are acceptable only if emailed to grads@sandiego.edu.

Official transcripts from the university where you earned your bachelor’s degree are required at the time of application. Applicants must have a minimum cumulative Grade Point Average is 2.75 (on a 4.00 scale) in all graduate coursework.

If you earned a degree from an institution outside the United States, you are required to submit an official international transcript evaluation (also called a foreign credential evaluation) as part of your application. Please note that the evaluation must be a course-by-course evaluation. You must order your official course-by-course evaluation from one of the following evaluation services.

• World Education Services, Inc. (WES)
• Educational Credential Evaluators, Inc. (ECE)
• SpanTran: The Evaluation Company (SpanTran)
• International Education Research Foundation, Inc. (IERF)
• Foreign Academic Credential Service (FACS)
• Josef Silny & Associates, Inc. (JSA)

Please be sure to carefully read the application checklist for international students found on the University of San Diego's Graduate Admission website.

*The SpanTran link leads to a custom application with discounted rate for USD applicants.

A current resumé or curriculum vitae

A minimum of two professional letters of recommendation from a current supervisor or a professor attesting to both academic and personal skills, and if possible, to teaching abilities.

Please address each of the following questions. Each response has a maximum length of 200 words, for a total maximum length of 800 words for the Statement of Purpose. When writing your response please remember that this is an opportunity for you to demonstrate your writing skills and academic readiness.

1. The Mission of Catholic Schools in the Diocese of San Diego is to "educate in the image of Christ for our Church and for our World". What does this mission mean to you? How would you contribute to this mission as an ACT teaching fellow in the Diocese of San Diego? Describe your purpose for becoming a Catholic school teacher. How do you hope to impact your students and the community?
2. Review the mission of the Department of Learning and Teaching. What does this mission mean to you? How would you contribute to this mission as a student-teacher within the USD learning and teaching program?
3. In addition to the service of teaching, the ACT program is built on pillars of spirituality and community involvement. Describe how you plan to grow spiritually within your community through this program.
4. Attending a rigorous master’s and credential program while student teaching, passing required assessments, and maintaining relationships can be a delicate balance. What will you do to prepare and support yourself throughout the program?

After an initial review of applications to the program, final candidates will be invited to interview in-person with education administrators from the San Diego Diocese and USD program faculty.