How to Apply

You must apply through CU Boulder Graduate Admissions. Review the Prepare to Apply information before starting the process. International applicants must follow the directions on the International Admissions website.

The following tabs provide prospective students with a step-by-step walk through of the online application. 

This section of the application asks applicants to input information like your name, address, biological information, military status, citizenship, etc. 

Applicants must select the following from this section's drop down menus: 

• Department/Program (required): "Masters of the Environment"
• Degree (required): "Masters of the Environment - MENV"
• Subplan/Track (required): please select your desired Specialization 
• Entry Term (required): "Fall 2025"

Students are admitted to their Specialization of choice and automatically assigned to a Specialization Lead. Note, if you are asked to name one or more faculty members of interest, this is not the MENV Application. 

An unofficial transcript from each institution attended (including work that appears as transfer credit on a later transcript) should be uploaded to your online application. To ensure review, transcripts must be submitted to CU Boulder by the deadlines listed above.

Please make sure that all post-secondary institutions you have attended, including institutions you are currently attending, are included. This includes community colleges, summer sessions, and extension programs. List them in order of attendance, starting with the most recent. For all international academic work, you must provide the original, native language version of both the transcript and, separately, the degree document, as well as a certified English translation of those documents.

*Missing and/or incomplete and insufficient transcripts must be submitted by February 25, 2025 to be considered for the Priority Deadline. Missing and/or incomplete and insufficient transcripts must be submitted by April 11, 2025 to be considered for the Rolling Deadline. After this, your application will be withdrawn. 

GRE: The MENV program does not consider the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) as part of its review process. After extensive review, the admissions committee has decided that the GRE, although a useful indicator for some graduate programs, does not accurately predict the success of a student pursuing a professional program such as the MENV program. 

TOEFL: International students whose native language is not English must take the TOEFL exam. You are not required to submit a score for the TOEFL if: your native language is English or you have completed at least one year of full-time study at a U.S. institution, or at an institution in a country where English is the native language at the time you apply, and within two years from your desired admission term. Score minimums are: internet based TOEFL score of 75; IELTS score of 6.0; Duolingo score of 100. You can learn more about the English Profeciency Requirement here.

In addition, official test scores must be reported by the testing service directly to the university. Please request that the appropriate testing service report scores directly to the University of Colorado Boulder. The institution code for TOEFL exam is 4841.

*Missing English Profeciency Test Scores must be submitted by January 24, 2025 to be considered for the Priority Deadline. Missing English Profeciency Test Scores must be submitted by March 10, 2025 to be considered for the Rolling Deadline. After this, your application will be withdrawn. 

The MENV program requires two (2) letters of reference be submitted in an application. 

References should be requested from individuals qualified to judge your potential for success in graduate school. Make sure to give your recommenders enough time to write and submit their letters before the application deadlines listed above; incomplete applications will not be reviewed. Please only submit information for the required number of referees. Adding additional names may delay the processing of your application. The MENV admissions team strongly recommends submitting one professional and one academic recommendation. 

Once you input your referee's information, they will be notified and asked to submit their letters. As a prospective student, you do not need to do anything other than input your referee's information. 

Our system will accept incoming letters of recommendation either before or after submission of the application. All letters must be received by the program deadline.

*Missing letters of recommendations must be submitted by January 24, 2025. Missing letters of recommendation must be submitted by March 10, 2025 to be considered for the Rolling Deadline. After this, your application will be withdrawn. 

Applicants must submit a Personal Statement which reponds to the following question: 

Please use up to 750 words to answer the following question: Describe your personal and professional goals and how your life experiences, including cultural, economic, educational, and/or other opportunities or challenges, have influenced your decision to pursue a professional master’s degree with the Masters of the Environment Graduate Program at the University of Colorado Boulder?

Real MENV community members will review your applications and we want to do our best to appreciate the real and honest stories from our applicants.

This is a file uploaded directly to the application. 

The video essay is a way for the Admissions Committee to get to know you a little better. Within the application, you will be prompted to do the following: 

• To begin the recording process, click 'Ready'.
• The prompt will then appear, and you have 120 seconds to prepare a response before recording automatically begins. To begin recording sooner, click 'Start Recording'.
• Once recording has begun, you will have 180 seconds before the recording automatically stops. You may choose to stop the recording early by clicking 'Stop Recording' or you may allow it to stop automatically at the end of the allotted time.
• You may make 3 attempts, but each new attempt will erase the previous recording.

The video essay prompt is as follows: 

At MENV, community is at our core. We are welcoming, accessible, and value unique identities, backgrounds, and perspectives. Please explain how you will cultivate and contribute to our diverse and inclusive community.

If you have difficulty submitting the video, please reach out to: MENVAdmissions@colorado.edu

Please note, that this essay is optional but encouraged.

To make sure the video essay is an option in your application, please make sure you are in the correct application. To do this, go to the "Program Details" section of your application. Applicants must select the following from this section's drop down menus: 

• Department/Program (required): "Masters of the Environment"
• Degree (required): "Masters of the Environment - MENV"
• Subplan/Track (required): please select your desired Specialization 
• Entry Term (required): "Fall 2024"

If you are still running into issues after completing the above requirements, feel free to reach out to the us at MENVAdmissions@colorado.edu to troubleshoot. 

This information is in regards to your parents education, how you heard about MENV, if you attended any of our information sessions, if you are interested in a dual degree (MENV/MBA), etc. 

This sections asks applicants to input the honor and/or learned professional societies they are members of. 

This section asks applicants to either invidually enter any nonacademic, industrial, or professional experience from start of undergraduate work to present. 

If you prefer, you may skip this section and upload your C.V./Resume. 

You must upload a C.V./Resume regardless of completion of the section above. Please include all relevant education, training, skills and professional experience that make you a good candidate for the MENV program.

If you have any questions about what qualifies as work experience, please contact a member of the MENV admissions team at MENVAdmissions@Colorado.edu. 

The answer to this section helps figure out if you are elegible for in-state tuition classification. 

See the online application. 

Signature: This section asks for a signature from the applicant to ensure validatity of application materials. 

Review: This section allows you to review your application materials as they will be submitted to the Admission Committee. Missing items from the "Required Field or Error" list will prevent you from submitting your application. Please return to these sections and complete any missing fields.

If you have any missing items in the "Warning" section, you may still submit your application, but it will not be reviewed until the missing fields or documents are received. You will be able to upload any missing documents from your status page after submitting your application.
 

A non-refundable application fee of $60 USD is required of all domestic applicants ($80 USD for international applicants). You must pay via credit card when submitting your online application.

Application Fee Waivers: Requests for application fee waivers will be considered if an applicant has participated or is currently participating in one of the following programs: AmeriCorps, Fulbright, Leadership Alliance, McNair, Peace Corps, or U.S. Military. Application fee waivers will also be considered for applicants who have experienced financial hardship. To request a fee waiver, please email MENVadmissions@Colorado.edu with proof of participation in one of the above named programs or a brief explanation of your eligibility for a fee waiver. Please note that review of fee waivers may take up to 10 days, so plan accordingly. We are unable to offer refunds once applications fees have been paid. 

Wondering why the application fee is different for domestic and international students? This is due to the additional resources needed to process international applications (Visa review, processing, etc.)

*Started and unpaid applications must be submitted by January 21, 2025 to be considered for the Priority Deadline. Started and unpaid applications must be submitted by March 7, 2025 to be considered for the Rolling Deadline. After this, your application will be withdrawn. 

*"Pending Payments" applications must be submitted by January 28, 2025 to be considered for the Priority Deadline. Started and unpaid applications must be submitted by March 14, 2025 to be considered for the Rolling Deadline. After this, your application will be withdrawn.