Admission

Application Deadlines for the 2024-2025 Cohort

Admission Requirements

• All applicants must complete the online SMU application. 
• A baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution
• A minimum cumulative undergraduate and graduate (if applicable) grade point average of 2.5* (on a 4.0 scale)
• For applicants with a GPA below 2.5, GRE (Graduate Record Exam) scores within the last five years are required. Please use the institution code 6660.
• Copy of valid Texas teacher certification
• Copy of service record reflecting two years teaching experience in an accredited public, private or charter school

• Applicants must be able to communicate, listen, read, write, and comprehend the English language sufficiently to use it easily and readily in daily communication. English language proficiency will be evidenced by one of the following:
  
  1) Completion of an undergraduate or graduate degree at an accredited institution of higher education in the United States; or
  
  2) Verification of minimum scaled scores on the Test of English as a Foreign Language internet-based Test (TOEFL iBT) of 24 for speaking, 22 for listening, 22 for reading, and 21 for writing; or
  
  3) An undergraduate or graduate degree that was earned at an institution of higher education in a country outside of the United States from the following list: American Samoa, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Canada (except Quebec), Cayman Islands, Dominica, Federated States of Micronesia, Gambia, Ghana, Gibraltar, Grand Cayman, Grenada, Guyana, India, Ireland, Jamaica, Liberia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Singapore, Trinidad/Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, United Kingdom, U.S. Pacific Trust.
  
  4) An educator who has received a State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC)-issued standard certificate is not required to demonstrate English language proficiency.
  
  

• Employed by a partner district/charter management organization.
• Two (2) references –– one must come from your current Principal
• Essays—four prompts will be provided in the application
• Updated Resume.  See Resume Tips for guidance and review our suggested, though optional, Resume Template.
• Official copies of all graduate and undergraduate transcripts where a degree has been conferred or you have received 9 or more credit hours.* 

Official Transcripts must be sent directly by the institution to SMU.

Electronic transcripts should be sent to:

gradappmaterials@smu.edu

Paper transcripts should be sent to: 
Graduate Application Processing
PO Box 518
Dallas, TX 75275-0518

* calculated in accordance with current TEA guidelines. Simmons reserves the right to rescind an offer of admission should any misrepresentation occur. 

Principal Certification

Any candidate seeking TEA certification must obtain the conferred degree for the program along with the completion and passing of the required TEA exams (268 and PASL). 

Frequently Asked Questions (PDF)