Recommendation letters should be written by individuals well placed to discuss your academic qualifications for graduate study (unless you are five or more years removed from your undergraduate studies). Recommendations that come from former supervisors should comment on and provide examples of your performance as an intern and/or an employee, including the nature of your work and what you contributed to the company or organization.
Please note that letters from personal acquaintances or those who are not familiar with your academic or professional qualifications are not helpful to the admissions committee.
Provide a current résumé or curriculum vitae, which includes your education, employment history, awards and accolades, international exposure, publication credits, and leadership roles in any volunteer and/or extracurricular activities.
You are required to upload copies of official transcripts/records/degree certificates from all institutions you've attended. All transcripts and academic records uploaded to the application are then considered “unofficial” and will be used for application purposes only.
Official/original transcripts/records/degree certificates are required for any degree or diploma earned, as well as any and all institutions attended that are listed on your application to the Graduate School. If you are recommended for admission to a graduate degree plan of study, you will be notified with detailed instructions on how to submit the documents.
If your transcript is in a language other than English, you are asked to provide an official translation of the entire transcript and an explanation of the grading system of the university. You are strongly encouraged to use a credential evaluation service, particularly if you are not sure of how to obtain original transcripts or face difficulties obtaining them. See the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services for a list of providers. Transcripts and translations must be received by the Office of Admissions before the relevant deadline, so please make any requests well in advance.
GRE scores are optional.
Applicants do not need to submit GRE scores to be considered for admission or merit-based scholarships.
Applicants wishing to submit GRE scores are welcome to do so should they choose. However, not submitting GRE scores will not negatively impact your application in any way.
If you decide to submit GRE scores, SIA will only accept scores directly from the testing service. Please arrange for all standardized test scores to be sent in advance of the application deadline using our school code, 2660.
The Admissions Committee seeks students that show promise for success in graduate school. As such, the statement of purpose is a critical part of the application.
All applicants are required to submit an essay that answers one of the two questions below:
As part of your statement of purpose, describe your academic and research interests, career objectives, how a degree from SIA will enable you to achieve your goals, and what unique skills, talents, and/or perspectives you will bring to our program. Please be specific. -OR-
Please discuss an issue of global importance you wish to address in your professional career. Please include how SIA will prepare you to address this global issue.
Statements should be saved in PDF format before being uploaded to your application. There is no required length for the statement of purpose but it is typically 500-750 words.
Academic Integrity: Follow academic integrity guidelines regarding plagiarism – "using someone else's words or ideas without properly giving credit." Plagiarism includes the use of material from sample essays and any website. To ensure academic integrity, all essays will be confirmed through iThenticate software. Failure to follow these guidelines will result in a "deny" decision.
When completing your application, all writing submitted must be your own ideas and words. While we understand that you may wish to use ChatGPT and other AI technology to generate ideas, your essays (i.e. Statement of Purpose and supplemental essays) must be written entirely in your own words and verbatim use of language produced by generative AI technology is prohibited. All applications and its components will be run through AI detection/plagiarism software. If it is deemed that your application is plagiarized, the admissions committee withholds the right to deny your application and admission to the program.
An application will not be reviewed until the application fee is paid. Applicants should pay within the application as the final step after all other sections of the application are completed. All application fees are nonrefundable.
Prospective students interested in applying to the Master of International Affairs (MIA) program may request a fee waiver by completing the following fee waiver form. Please note that fee waivers are approved on a case-by-case basis and not all fee waiver requests will be granted.
Important Application Guidelines
Once an application has been submitted, no changes can be made. We ask that all applicants carefully review their materials before submission. Please note that failure to follow these guidelines will result in ineligibility.
Resume or Curriculum Vitae (CV)
First Name, Last Name, and Email Contact Information of Recommenders
Copy of Official Transcripts
Statement of Purpose
Answers to All Supplemental Essays
You are responsible for submitting your application by the necessary deadlines.
Please monitor the status of your application by checking the application portal to ensure all required materials are received and posted. Only complete applications will be reviewed by the admissions committee.
Information for International Applicants
If you are an international applicant, you may have additional requirements to complete your application, including:
The minimum scores considered acceptable for admission by the Graduate School are:
TOEFL—80 on the Internet-based test (iBT)
IELTS—An overall band of 6.5 on the Academic Examination
Scores must be sent to the university by the testing agency (self-reported scores are not accepted). The Educational Testing Service (ETS) institution code for Penn State University is 2660. There is no institutional code for the IELTS examination. To fulfill the requirement with scores from the IELTS, please use the IELTS electronic score delivery service to send your scores to the “Pennsylvania State University - The Graduate School, 310 Kern Building, University Park” account.
As of November 2022, Penn State has added Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Singapore, South Africa, and Uganda to the list of countries that are exempted from the TOEFL/IELTS requirement. Applicants who were educated in one of these countries DO NOT need to submit a TOEFL or IELTS score to be considered for admission to the Penn State School of International Affairs. Visit the Graduate School website for a full list of countries that are exempt from the TOEFL/IELTS requirement.
The Penn State School of International Affairs recognizes that educational systems are different across the world. For admission to SIA, applicants must have received a four-year baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution earned under residence and credit conditions substantially equivalent to those required by Penn State. To help you determine if your degree is comparable to a U.S. bachelor's degree and to understand the documents that need to be submitted for admission, please review the requirements for the country from which your credential was earned on the Graduate School's Admission Eligibility by Country website.
