Admission to Penn GSE requires satisfactory completion of a baccalaureate degree from an accredited U.S. university or its equivalent prior to your matriculation into any program. Transcripts uploaded must reflect all coursework taken from every post-secondary institution attended, even if you transferred, withdrew, or did not graduate. 

When requesting official documents to be sent to Penn GSE, please ensure that you have indicated the appropriate office. In instances, where multiple University of Pennsylvania profiles are available, you should select the option for University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education when possible. Otherwise, use the address provided to the left or have documents emailed directly to admissions@gse.upenn.edu.

Institutions in the United States

For each post-secondary institution you’ve attended in the U.S., you must upload a transcript for review through the online application system.  Copies of official transcripts issued from a registrar’s office are permissible for application review purposes. The Admissions Office will not consider grade reports, student advising reports, or screenshots of student accounts. 

Please note that should you be admitted and choose to enroll at Penn GSE, official transcripts must be sent directly from the registrar’s office of the relevant institution(s) before you begin coursework. Penn GSE can receive official transcripts from U.S. institutions in hard copy (Office of Admissions and Financial Aid, University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, 3700 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104) or e-copy (admissions@gse.upenn.edu).

Institutions Outside the United States

For each post-secondary institution you've attended outside the U.S., we require that you contact a member of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) to have a course-by-course evaluation of your non-U.S. transcript(s) sent directly from the NACES member to Penn GSE Admissions and Financial Aid. This evaluation should include course titles, grades received, GPA, and U.S. degree equivalency.

Penn GSE does not accept transcripts directly from institutions outside the U.S. nor English language translations of such transcripts. Any document uploaded as a transcript for an institution outside of the U.S. without the NACES course-by-course evaluation will not be reviewed and your application will be considered incomplete. The evaluating agency will provide instructions for how to request and submit the required academic documents for review, and the process can take several weeks to complete, so we encourage you to begin this process at least 8 weeks in advance of the application deadline.

While Penn GSE accepts course-by-course evaluations from any NACES member,  many of our applicants have been successful using: 

Exchange Programs or Study Abroad

Exchange program or study abroad at an institution in the United States

If the course names and grades from any exchange programs do not appear on your home institution’s transcript, you must upload a copy of a registrar-issued transcript directly through the online application system. Applicant-uploaded copies will be considered unofficial and used only for faculty review purposes. Should you be admitted and choose to enroll at Penn GSE, official transcripts must be sent directly from the registrar’s office of the relevant institution(s) before you begin coursework.

Exchange program or study abroad at an institution outside the United States

If the course names and grades from your exchange program do not appear on your home institution’s transcript and your host institution was a non-U.S. school, please upload an English copy of your registrar-issued transcript from your exchange institution to the online application system. If you have completed more than two semesters of study at an institution based outside of the United States, you must submit all official transcripts to a member of NACES and request to have an official course-by-course evaluation sent directly from a NACES member to Penn GSE.