Requirements for admission to graduate study in the CSU and at San Francisco State University are in accordance with Title 5, Division 5, Chapter 1, Subchapter 3, of the California Code of Regulations.
Applicants must supply complete and accurate information on all application materials for admission, residence questionnaire, and financial aid forms. Failure to file complete, accurate, and authentic application documents may result in denial of admission, cancellation of academic credit, suspension, or expulsion (Section 41301, Article 1.1, Title 5, California Code of Regulations).
Admission will be cancelled automatically if a student is accepted by San Francisco State University for a given semester and does not enroll for that semester. Students who apply at a later date must file a new application, pay a new application fee, and meet the requirements for admission in effect at the time of admission.
The university reserves the right to select its students and deny admission to the university or any of its programs. The university, in its sole discretion, determines admissions based on an applicant's suitability and the best interests of the university.
Graduate and post-baccalaureate applicants may apply for a degree objective, a credential or certificate objective, or may have no program objective. Students applying for admission to a specific degree program must meet university AND department or program eligibility requirements. Depending on the objective, the CSU considers an application for admission as follows:
The minimum requirements for admission to graduate and post-baccalaureate studies at a California State University campus are in accordance with university regulations as well as Title 5, Chapter 1, Subchapter 3 of the California Code of Regulations. Specifically, a student shall: (1) have completed a four-year college course of study and hold an acceptable baccalaureate degree from an institution accredited by a regional accrediting association, or shall have completed equivalent academic preparation as determined by appropriate campus authorities; (2) be in good academic standing at the last college or university attended; (3) have attained a grade point average of at least 2.5 (A = 4.0) in the last 60 semester (90 quarter) units attempted; and (4) satisfactorily meet the professional, personal, scholastic, and other standards for graduate study, including qualifying examinations, as appropriate campus authorities may prescribe. In unusual circumstances, a campus may make exceptions to these criteria. Note that most graduate programs require students to meet higher standards than those listed above.
Students must be eligible for admission to post-baccalaureate status based on both Title 5 general requirements and program or department requirements. Students meeting university requirements for graduate study must also apply to the department of interest and follow all program selection criteria. Programs and departments housing graduate degrees and programs admit students based on academic qualifications and resource implications associated with the degree or program; therefore, not all students applying for admission to a program will be accepted. Students not accepted to a program may enter the university in unclassified status; however, enrollment as an unclassified graduate student does not assure admission to any graduate degree or credential program.
An applicant who is a graduate of an institution without regional accreditation or from an institution whose degree is not considered equivalent to a baccalaureate degree from this university in terms of quality and/or content (e.g., specialized, professional, or certain international institutions) may not be admitted directly to post-baccalaureate status at this university. Instead, the student may be considered for admission as an undergraduate student. Upon satisfactory completion of the undergraduate degree, the student may then apply and be considered for admission to post-baccalaureate status. International students should review the International Student Admission Requirements section below.
SFSU has separate application requirements for international applicants--individuals holding or requiring a visa (F, J, B, H, etc.) and all applicants who have earned degrees outside of the U.S. International applicants may have earlier application deadlines than those listed for domestic students. SFSU strongly encourages all international applicants to apply as early as possible. International applicants must also submit the SFSU Supplemental Application for International Students. This application can be found in the Forms section of the Division of Graduate Studies web site: www.sfsu.edu/~gradstdy.
Academic Eligibility. Applicants educated outside of the U.S. must have earned a degree or diploma that SFSU considers to be the equivalent to a 4-year U.S. bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited institution. An official determination of eligibility will be made during the application process.
Required Educational Documents. Applicants educated outside of the U.S. must submit original or certified/attested copies of all original academic documents in the original language of issue. Copies must be certified by the appropriate government or university official. Required documents include: the complete official academic record showing all courses or subjects, dates of enrollment and grades/marks received; official degree(s), diploma(s), or certificate(s) awarded. Official word-for-word English translations must be submitted in addition to the original language documents.
English Language Proficiency (TOEFL) Requirement. All graduate and post-baccalaureate applicants, regardless of citizenship, whose native language is not English and whose preparatory education was principally in a language other than English must demonstrate competence in English. According to Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations (Section 41040), "To be admitted to a campus as a postbaccalaureate or graduate student, an applicant who does not possess a baccalaureate degree from a postsecondary institution where English is the principal language of instruction must receive a minimum score of 550 on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)." Note that many graduate departments have higher English language proficiency requirements. Applicants who have earned degrees outside of the U.S., even if they have completed course work in English, should contact the Division of Graduate Studies to determine if they are required to take TOEFL. Score reports should be sent to SFSU Division of Graduate Studies, Institution Code: 4683.
Office of International Programs. Please refer to the Office of International Programs section of the Bulletin for more information or visit the OIP web site at www.sfsu.edu/~oip.
All graduate and postbaccalaureate applicants (e.g., joint Ph.D. and Ed.D. applicants, master's degree applicants, those seeking credentials, and those interested in taking courses for personal or professional growth) must file a complete graduate application as described in the graduate and postbaccalaureate admission booklet. Applicants seeking a second bachelor's degree should submit the undergraduate application for admission. Applicants who completed undergraduate degree requirements and graduated the preceding term are also required to complete and submit an application and the $55 nonrefundable application fee. Since applicants for postbaccalaureate programs may be limited to the choice of a single campus on each application, redirection to alternate campuses or later changes of campus choice will be minimal. To be assured of initial consideration by more than one campus, it will be necessary to submit separate applications (including fees) to each. Applications may be obtained from the Graduate Studies Office or the Admissions Office of any California State University campus. An electronic version of the CSU graduate application is available on the World Wide Web at www.csumentor.edu/.
San Francisco State University accepts applications for admission for the fall and spring semesters only. International applicants must complete an additional SFSU supplemental application for international students. Application forms for graduate study in the CSU are the same for all campuses. Departments and programs may have additional application requirements. All graduate and post-baccalaureate applicants (e.g., master's and joint-doctoral degree applicants, those seeking credentials or graduate certificates, and those interested in taking courses for personal or professional growth) must file a complete graduate application as described in the graduate and post-baccalaureate admission booklet and submit the $55 nonrefundable application fee. Application to a post-baccalaureate program is limited to the choice of a single campus on each application form. To be assured of consideration by more than one campus, students must submit separate applications (including fees) to each campus. Applicants seeking a second bachelor's degree should submit the undergraduate application for admission. Contact the Division of Graduate Studies for more information at (415) 338-2234.
Electronic versions of the CSU graduate applications are accessible on the web at www.csumentor.edu. A prospective student may also view multimedia campus presentations, send and receive electronic responses to specific questions, and apply for admission and financial aid. Applications may also be obtained from the Admissions Office at any of the campuses of the California State University. To ensure more rapid processing of the CSU Mentor application filed electronically, a student should submit the fee and two official transcripts in sealed envelopes from each college or university previously attended together in the same packet to the Division of Graduate Studies, ADM 254, San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94132-1722.
Rapid processing of paper applications to SFSU is guaranteed if the application form, the fee, and two official transcripts in sealed envelopes from each college or university previously attended are received together in the same packet by the Division of Graduate Studies, San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94132-1722. Please consult directly with the major department or program for information about additional materials the department may require or check on-line at www.sfsu.edu/~gradstdy for department-specific requirements.
All post-baccalaureate applicants must furnish the graduate admissions office with two official transcripts from each college or university attended. Separate transcripts from each college or university are required even though one transcript may show work taken at another institution. Credential applicants must send one set of transcripts to the Credentials Office in the College of Education and one set of transcripts to the Division of Graduate Studies. The SFSU Registrar's Office provides transcripts to graduate admissions for those applicants who have completed course work at SFSU.
A post-baccalaureate application filed during the initial open filing period (defined as the months of October/November for the following fall semester and August for the following spring semester, respectively) will be given every consideration for admission. Some departments/programs have earlier deadlines than the university deadlines or do not accept applications for spring admission. For specific department or program filing deadlines, contact the department or refer to the deadlines listed at the Division of Graduate Studies web site or the department web site.
Former graduate students of the university must apply for readmission if: (1) they have been absent for more than one consecutive semester as a matriculated student (excluding summer semester); or (2) they have attended another college in any interval of their absence. In order to be considered "in attendance" for any semester, the student must be enrolled in at least one class through the end of the twentieth day of instruction, and is therefore, given the status of continuing student. (See Planned Educational Leave of Absence information.) If a student has attended any other educational institution since previous attendance as a matriculated student at this university, transcripts must be supplied for all academic work for which the student enrolled in the period since last attending.
Applications for readmission and all supporting materials must be filed in the Division of Graduate Studies in accordance with current requirements and procedures. To be eligible for readmission, graduate students must have earned a minimum GPA of 3.0 in all course work attempted at SFSU in graduate status and all course work attempted at other colleges during their absence.
Graduate Approved Programs (GAPs) filed before leaving the university are automatically voided after one regular semester of absence has occurred and where no formal Planned Educational Leave of Absence has been granted. Upon readmission, a new GAP that meets current curricular requirements needs to be completed and filed (see specific program information).
Graduate courses taken at another university are not automatically transferable to a SFSU program. Programs/departments have the authority to determine which courses will be accepted on a Graduate Approved Program. (See section on Graduate Approved Program for complete information on how many transfer units can be used on the GAP.) Courses will be accepted for transfer credit under the following conditions:
It is the obligation of the student and of the student's adviser and graduate coordinator to determine that the proposed transfer course will meet all of the conditions for eligibility.
A student wishing to have a course taken at another institution included as part of his/her graduate program should do the following:
After review of all applications materials, departments or program admission committees may notify students that they have been recommended for admission to the program; however, students are not formally admitted until they receive an official notice of admission by the SFSU Division of Graduate Studies. Students applying for post-baccalaureate unclassified status only will receive admission notice from the Division of Graduate Studies.
The university does not require applicants to complete an entrance examination as a condition for graduate admission; however, some departments or programs require that graduate degree applicants submit results of the aptitude, advanced, or area tests of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT), or other required examinations. Applicants are responsible for having the required examination results forwarded directly to the department involved. Information regarding which examinations, if any, are required may be obtained from the department office or at www.sfsu.edu/~gradstdy.
Through SFSU Winter Session (part of the College of Extended Learning), a post-baccalaureate student may earn residence credit which may be used to satisfy some of the requirements for an advanced degree or credential. Enrollment in Winter Session only does not require formal admission to the university. A student who is planning to pursue an advanced degree at this university through attendance in Winter Session only should contact the Division of Graduate Studies and obtain instructions about how to attain classified graduate status.
This university offers extension classes through the College of Extended Learning which, under certain conditions, may be applied toward an advanced degree. The total number of units which can be allowed toward a 30-unit master's degree at this university is six semester units. (See section on Graduate Approved Program for complete information on how many transfer units can be used on the GAP.)
If a student meets the minimum requirements for graduate and post-baccalaureate studies, he/she will be considered for admission in one of the four following categories:
Graduate Classified: To pursue a graduate degree, a student is required to fulfill all of the professional, personal, scholastic, and other standards, including qualifying examinations, prescribed by the campus.
Graduate Conditionally Classified: A student may be admitted to a graduate degree program in this category if, in the opinion of appropriate campus authority, the student can remedy deficiencies by additional preparation. Students admitted in this category will be moved to classified status after submitting an approved GAP.
Post-baccalaureate Classified: Students seeking enrollment in a credential or graduate certificate program would be granted this status and will be required to satisfy additional professional, personal, scholastic, and other standards, including qualifying examinations, prescribed by the campus or program. Admission in this status does not constitute admission to, or assurance of consideration for admission to, any graduate degree.
Post-baccalaureate Unclassified: To enroll in graduate courses for professional or personal growth, or to complete prerequisites for graduate programs, a student may be admitted as a post-baccalaureate unclassified student. By meeting the general university requirements, the student is eligible for admission as a post-baccalaureate unclassified student. Some departments may restrict the enrollment of unclassified students due to heavy enrollment pressure. Admission in this status does not constitute admission to, or assurance of consideration for admission to, any graduate degree or credential program. For procedures to change to classified graduate status in a master's program, see Change of Major section. International students may not be admitted in the post-baccalaureate unclassified category. Read section below: Units taken prior to admission to classified standing.
If a student is admitted to the university before the final award of the baccalaureate degree, the student must file an official transcript showing the award of the degree before beginning their second semester. Any student who does not submit documentation of completion of an undergraduate degree is subject to one or more of the following actions: admission and registration cancellation, automatic reversion to undergraduate status, loss of all units taken for post-baccalaureate credit, disciplinary action as may be appropriate. Read sections below: Graduate courses taken as undergraduate in excess of bachelor's degree requirements and units taken prior to admission to classified status.
Courses taken prior to the award of the baccalaureate degree are considered as undergraduate courses. However, at SFSU, a student may request on the Application for Award of Baccalaureate degree that up to twelve semester units of upper division and/or graduate work taken in the final semester before the award of the baccalaureate degree be granted provisional post-baccalaureate status. If such request is filed, the total unit load taken, in all institutions and for all purposes, by the student during that final semester must not exceed the maximum unit load in effect for graduate-level students. Any exceptions must have the approval of the dean of the Division of Graduate Studies in advance of registration for the final term. Any units accepted for use as graduate credit must be in excess of those required for the baccalaureate degree and cannot be counted toward the undergraduate degree. Seniors may enroll in graduate courses only with special permission of the instructor. Inclusion of units in a graduate program taken as an undergraduate is subject to approval by the graduate program admission committee of the program or department.
If the baccalaureate degree is not completed at the end of the term in question, all the work taken with the intent to apply toward a graduate program will be counted as undergraduate work and the provisional post-baccalaureate status for specified courses will be voided.
None of the units earned as a post-baccalaureate second baccalaureate student can be considered for post-baccalaureate graduate credit. The only exception is if the credits were earned in the last semester during which the student earns the degree. Inclusion of units in a graduate program taken as an undergraduate is subject to approval by the graduate program admission committee of the program or department.
No more than twelve semester units of work completed prior to being formally admitted to classified status in a master's program may be applied to meet the requirements of that program, and even these units must have approval of the major department.
Approval for a second advanced degree is not typically granted when the new degree desired is closely related to the advanced degree already earned. If a second advanced degree is permitted, no course work earned for one degree can be applied to the second degree. Students must submit to the Division of Graduate Studies a petition stating reasons and justification for approval. Further information and petition forms may be obtained from the Division of Graduate Studies.
Pursuit of more than one graduate degree at a time is specifically precluded by the university. A student pursuing a graduate degree at San Francisco State University may not simultaneously enroll and complete course work for the purpose of meeting requirements for any other degree offered by this or any other institution of higher education. Each degree must be completed in its entirety before work may be taken for the purpose of meeting requirements for a new degree. Any questions regarding this policy should be directed to the dean of the Division of Graduate Studies.
Students intending to secure both a master's degree and a California basic teaching credential may in some programs pursue these objectives concurrently, although the same courses may not be used for both objectives.