For admission to the Graduate School, an applicant must hold either (1) a baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited U.S. institution or (2) a tertiary (postsecondary) degree that is deemed comparable to a four-year bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited U.S. institution. This degree must be from an officially recognized degree-granting institution in the country in which it operates.

All applicants are expected to have earned a junior/senior grade point average of 3.0 or higher.

Application Materials

Statement of purpose — specify reasons why you are interested in studying children's literature

Three letters of recommendation

Writing sample — sample of academic writing from a previous course or a 1,000-word minimum response to an article from a scholarly journal

Official GRE or MAT scores

English Proficiency — The language of instruction at Penn State is English. All international applicants must take and submit scores for the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or International English Language Testing System (IELTS), with some exceptions. Minimum test scores and exceptions are found in the English Proficiency section on the Graduate School "How to Apply" page.

Two official bachelor's degree transcripts, mailed to:

Judith Nastase
Department of Curriculum and Instruction
The Pennsylvania State University
270 Chambers Building
University Park PA 16802
Phone: 814-865-2168
Email: jcn3@psu.edu

When all materials have been received, we will notify you about your status and provide guidance about the next steps in becoming a Penn State student.

How to Apply
 

To apply to this program as a degree student, you must complete the graduate school application.

Applying to the Master's Degree
 

1. Read the admissions requirements.
2. Begin the graduate school application.
   1. On the "Admissions and Program Information Portal" page, choose "Apply Now."
   2. When you get to the "Campus, Major, Degree & Semester" page:
      1. Choose "WORLD CAMPUS" as the campus.
      2. Choose "CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION" as the major.
      3. Choose "M ED" as the degree.

Applying as a Nondegree Graduate Student
 

To begin taking courses right away, apply as a "nondegree" graduate student. You may take up to 15 credits in nondegree status before submitting your application portfolio.

Note: If you apply as a nondegree graduate student, you must re-apply to the master's degree to be considered for admission into the Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction degree program.

To apply as a nondegree student:

1. Read the admissions requirements
2. Begin the application process