Pre-admission Writing Assessment (PWA)

Pre-admission Writing Assessment (PWA)

The University requires that all applicants meet a pre-admission (Level 1) writing standard prior to entering a graduate program.

LEVEL I:

I. Satisfactory performance on the Personal Statement should be achieved to gain admission to the degree program. 

II.  Applicants who do not meet this requirement will be denied admission, or, if all other areas of the application are strong, a faculty member may choose to file a petition with Graduate Studies to request conditional admission. The student will need to pass a pre-determined standardized test, or complete an English Writing course from an approved list that will be maintain by the department within one semester of conditional admission.

LEVEL II

Students will be required to complete one of the following Culminating Experiences:

Option I (6 units):    

• SPED 896EXM Culminating Experience Examination 
• Two elective graduate seminars in consultation with an advisor. One must be outside of the student's interest area.                                                            

Option II (6 units):  

• SPED 894 Creative Work in Special Education (3 units).
• One graduate seminar outside the interest area selected in consultation with an advisor. 

Option III (6 units):

• SPED 898: Master’s Thesis (3 units) 
• One graduate seminar outside the interest area selected in consultation with an advisor. 

Note: Options II and III are by selection process only with an approved proposal (see program advisor).