Application Information

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 2026"

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 official or 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. 

Unofficial transcripts are okay at the time of application. If and/when a student is admitted, they will have until the end of the first semester to upload their official transcript. 

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.

International applicants: We will evaluate all international academic records in-house, and will convert grades from any educational system into an equivalent U.S. grade point average (GPA). You will not be required to do this yourself. CU Boulder does not accept academic record evaluations from any external companies like WES, ECE, or Spartan.

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 120. You can learn more about the English Proficiency 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.

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 to which you are applying. 

Priority Deadline: December 1, 2025 

Early Deadline: February 5, 2026 

Final Deadline: May 1, 2026

Applicants must submit a Personal Statement which responds to both of the following questions: 

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. Our admissions team is looking for student's "clarity of vision" so being able to understand where you are right now, where you are trying to go, and how MENV specifically fits into how you get there. 

This is a file uploaded directly to the application. 

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 eligible 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.)