Graduate Admission

California State University, East Bay is the university of choice for many students seeking their graduate degree. With 32 graduate degrees from which to choose, students can focus on the specialty that will most benefit their career objectives.

Apply to the Office of Admission

For admission to California State University, East Bay as a graduate student, you are required to:

• Have an undergraduate degree from an accredited college or university.
• Be in good academic standing with the last college or university attended.
• Have a grade point average of a 2.5 or better in the last 60 semester (90 quarter) units attempted.
• Satisfactorily meet the professional, personal, scholastic, and other standards for graduate study (including qualifying examinations) established by the graduate department to which you are applying. Individual graduate departments establish admission standards for their programs. These standards may include a special departmental application form, letters of recommendation, and/or standardized test (i.e. GRE or GMAT). Visit the Graduate Programs section for individual program requirements.

Apply to Your Graduate Program

In addition to applying to the University, you must also apply to the academic department administering your graduate degree program. To enter a graduate program, you must be accepted by the University's Office of Admission and also be admitted to your graduate department. Visit the Graduate Degree Programs section for individual program requirements.

All students who wish to complete a graduate degree program must be admitted to the University AND to a graduate degree program offered by an academic department.

Declaring Your Graduate Objective

If you apply as an unclassified post-baccalaureate student, you must declare your graduate major program by submitting the Change of Graduate Objective form. This form needs to be completed after attending your first quarter of classes. Before unclassified students are accepted into a graduate academic program, they will be placed in Conditional Admission status. Be sure to fill out the form declaring your major after you receive your acceptance notice from your academic department, in order to remove the Conditional Admission status.

Students who remain in unclassified status and who do not fill out the Change of Graduate Objective form will not be permitted to graduate with a degree. You must declare a major AND be accepted into a graduate program within an academic department to earn a graduate degree. For more information about changing your degree objective, see an academic adviser.

Credential Program Applicants

Students interested in obtaining a teaching credential must meet the graduate admission requirements above, and the additional requirements specified by the Department of Teacher Education. Visit the Graduate Programs section for individual credential program requirements.

Graduate Application Instructions

To apply for admission as a graduate student, complete the following items. Be sure to submit your application by the appropriate application deadline for the quarter to which you are applying. Please note that not all graduate departments accept students for all four quarters. Visit the Graduate Degree Programs section for individual program information and deadlines.

• There are two steps to apply for admission to a graduate program.
  1. Submit an application for University admission online at CSU Mentor and pay the $55 nonrefundable application fee. Be sure to print the application submission confirmation page for your records. Paper applications are also accepted and may be downloaded from CSU Mentor.
  2. Check with your graduate department to obtain information on how to be admitted to the graduate program of your choice. Be sure to apply also to the graduate department if they have additional requirements. Not all graduate departments require the same documents or tests. Check the Graduate Degree Programs section for individual program information and deadlines.
• Request official transcripts from all colleges and universities attended to be sent to Cal State East Bay. Final official transcripts, showing degree completion, must be received prior to enrollment in classes. Transcripts will be accepted if mailed directly by the college or university or if hand-carried in their original sealed envelope to Cal State East Bay's Student Information Lobby in Warren Hall on the Hayward Campus, or to the Academic Services Center on the Concord Campus. After you have been admitted you will receive a decision letter indicating you have been admitted to the University.
• Submit the appropriate graduate department application form and any other supplemental admission requirements that are required by your specific graduate program. Visit Graduate Programs for individual program requirements and where to send documents. You will receive separate notification regarding your admission decision from the graduate department to which you applied.

Document Submission

Please submit all required documents in a timely manner to avoid delay in your admission decision. Official documents test scores, and transcripts in their original sealed envelope, may be hand-carried to Cal State East Bay's Student Information Lobby or to the Academic Services Center on the Concord Campus. Documents may be mailed to:

Office of Admission
Cal State East Bay
25800 Carlos Bee Blvd.
Hayward, CA 94542

Application Term of Entry Updates

Cal State East Bay's application for admission applies only to the term of entry indicated on the application form at the time of submission. If you would like to update the term of entry on your application, simply log back into your saved application stored in CSU Mentor, update your desired term of entry, confirm your address and previously attended institutions are still current, and submit the form with your application fee. Cal State East Bay will then notify you upon receipt of your updated application.