On November 2, the School of International begins accepting applications for the 2013-14 academic year. International applicants are advised to submit all necessary materials before March, in order to be considered for admission. The admissions cycle will close April 26, 2013.

The SIA will have 70 seats available for this year's class.

Financial aid is available to qualified applicants, international and domestic. All admitted students are automatically considered for SIA funding and do not need to make a separate application to be considered for these grants. Additionally, a small number of students will be selected for hourly wage research positions with the SIA faculty.

All applicants will need to complete/submit the following, in order to be considered for admission into the School of International Affairs:

• The Graduate School's online application
• Two letters of recommendation
• Current Resume or CV
• Two official transcripts from all previous institutions
• Official GRE Score report (LSAT acceptable for law student applicants)
• A Statement of Purpose that details:
  • the applicant's academic/vocational background and goals
  • any international/intercultural interests, experiences, or training
  • an area or areas of interest on which the applicant wishes to focus while in the program
  • any type of internship and job placement the applicant hopes to achieve during and after enrollment in the program
  • the applicant's specialized skills (language proficiency, research, etc….)
  • the applicant as a person/student and why they are a good candidate for admission to the School of International Affairs

Please note: International applicants are required to submit English proficiency test scores, unless they are from one of the countries listed as "exempt" on The Graduate School's English Proficiency page:

• If you are required to submit TOEFL or IELTS scores, you must have the minimum scores listed below, in order to be considered for admission:
  1. A minimum score of 6.5 on the IELTS
         OR
  2. A minimum TOEFL score of —
     • 550 from the Paper-based test, or
     • 80 from the Internet-based test (applicants with a score of 19 or higher on the speaking sub-section will be considered for admission, though a score of 23 or higher is desirable)
• International applicants also need to submit:
  1. Two official English versions of your transcripts along with two official transcripts in your native language
  2. Any official certificates of completion or graduation (not the diploma itself), if such documents are normally issued by universities in your country
     (Again, these must be submitted in English as well as your native language.)
• Finally, in order to be considered for admission, it is necessary to have a four year undergraduate degree. In some cases, the graduate school may determine applicants with three year undergraduate degrees are eligible for admission, if the applicant has transcripts which show an additional year of university level education beyond the three undergraduate years. If you are in doubt, please send questions to the e-mail address listed below.

Letters of Recommendation, Resumes, and Statements of Purpose are uploaded via The Graduate School's online application. Anyone writing a letter of recommendation who does not have access to e-mail may instead send letters by post to the address listed below. GRE, TOEFL, or IELTS scores are sent directly to Penn State by supplying the testing agency with Penn State's institutional code number: 2660. No secondary departmental code is necessary for submitted test scores to reach the School of International Affairs' admissions committee.

Please send all official transcripts to:
Stewart Combs
Director of Admissions
School of International Affairs
Pennsylvania State University
122C Katz Building
University Park, PA 16802

Please direct any admissions or application questions to: jsc7@psu.edu.

You will find information regarding application fees and detailed How To Apply information on the Graduate School Web site.