Admission Requirements
Applicants must satisfy the minimum admission requirements for the Boise State Graduate College. Admission is competitive and the achievement of minimum Graduate College and PPA requirements does not guarantee admission into the program. Applicants are required to have a Bachelor’s, and preferably a Master’s degree from a regionally accredited institution and must comply with the following application procedures after receipt of the PPA Doctoral Application packet available from the PPA doctoral program coordinator.
Application Procedures
Applicants must submit all application materials to the University by January 15 to be considered for acceptance in the cohort for the following Fall term. The Admission decisions are made each year in February, but applications are accepted at any time per Graduate College guidelines. Consideration of admission applications to the PPA program requires acceptance to the Boise State Graduate College AND submission of official transcripts from all previous academic institutions to the Graduate Admissions Office. Admission to the doctoral program is competitive and requires:
- Apply to the Graduate College, with the requisite transcripts and test scores as applicable, and satisfy the minimum admissions requirements of the Graduate College.
More information:
- Complete the data form to receive more information on Graduate Assistantships, Scholarships, etc.
- Student resources on our GoogleSite
- International graduate applicants must demonstrate their proficiency in English in order to be considered for admission to Boise State. There are several approved ways for applicants to demonstrate English proficiency. Please refer to the International Admissions Office website for current test score requirements.
All application and admission materials must be received by
January 15 for Fall admission!
At a minimum, students must demonstrate satisfactory academic competency by attaining an overall GPA of at least 3.0 in previous college-level course work and a minimum score of 300 (verbal and quantitative; 1,000 for older scoring system). The GRE requirement can be waived for students who have earned a master’s degree from a regionally accredited program. Students whose native language is not English must submit a TOEFL score of 587 or higher for the written exam and 240 or higher for the computer-based examination. International students may also submit a score of 6.5 or greater in the IELTS test (an alternative to the TOEFL), to be considered for admissions. All test scores must be submitted directly to Boise State University. Once the applicant’s file is complete and during the admission decision period for the doctoral program, the PPA Graduate Program Committee or an admission subcommittee designated by the Graduate Program Committee will evaluate the file. An admission recommendation will be forwarded by PPA to the Dean of the Graduate College. The graduate dean will make the final admission decision and notify the applicant and the PPA Graduate Program Committee.
Applicants who are not recommended for admission to the PPA PhD program at Boise State University may appeal this decision initially within the program. Students who are denied admission have 14 working days, from informal notification by the Program Director that the program will not recommend admission, to submit a written appeal to the Program outlining their rationale for challenging the Admission Committee’s decision. The Admissions Committee, in consultation with the Program Director, will review that appeal and notify the student of their decision to admit or to uphold the denial of admission. If the denial is upheld upon appeal, then the applicant may appeal the program’s decision to the graduate college.
Students who are denied admission have the option to reapply once to the PPA PhD program, but must offer substantive changes to their application materials so that the complete application file merits reconsideration. Admission is not guaranteed if a student resubmits a second application. Meeting the minimum academic requirements does not guarantee admission to the PhD program.