Application Opens: October 1, 2023 

Application Deadline: June 1, 2024 

Step 1: Complete the University Graduate Application online. 

• Submit your Cal State Apply application online. 
• You can find our program by filtering the results: 
  • Campus: Sacramento State 
  • Source: Extended Education 
  • Start Term: Fall 
  • Select “Educational Leadership & Policy Studies (Workforce Development Leadership)” as the program   
• While completing the application, you must list all colleges/universities you have attended, even if you did not earn a degree from that institution, or if you only enrolled in one class and dropped it. 
  • You do not need to list each individual course you completed through each institution. 
• The $70 non-refundable University Application fee will be paid online at the end of the application before submission. 
• If you have technical issues with the application, please call (857) 304-2087 for assistance. 
• We strongly urge you to submit your application several weeks in advance of the deadline in order to give you enough time to complete the remaining steps in the application process. 

Step 2: Submit Supplemental Program Application Documents 

In order to be considered for admission, you must also submit all supplemental program application documents. Submit these items in Quadrant IV of the Cal State Apply application. 

WDL Supplemental program application documents include: 

• A Resume highlighting relevant experience;  
• A Personal Statement; (maximum 500 words) that addresses:  
  • Your experiences or the factors that led you to apply for the program; 
  • The leadership characteristics you believe you possess; 
  • Those personal characteristics you believe you possess that will enable you to be successful in the program; and  
  • Your professional interests 
• Essay (Writing Sample Prompt)  
  • Describe your ultimate objective(s) in workforce development advocacy. What steps do you plan to take to achieve these objectives? 
  • Maximum 250 words  
• One set of unofficial transcripts from all colleges and universities attended including ALL community colleges attended and colleges where credit was earned as a high school student;  
  • If you have transcripts from institutions outside of the United States, please submit your transcripts one month prior to the deadline to allow time for a foreign credential evaluation. Please review the Office of Graduate Studies website for information about applicants with foreign documents. 
• Two letters of recommendation 
  • Two letters of recommendation are required. It is recommended that one of the references be from a person who has observed the applicant’s graduate-level academic potential (e.g., current or former instructor) and the other reference from a person who has observed the applicant’s relevant experience in diverse settings (e.g., supervisor). NOTE: References from friends or family members will not be accepted. 
  • Once you have saved an electronic recommendation, an email request will automatically be sent to the recommender on your behalf. Please advise your recommender to look for this email in their inbox, as well as their spam or junk-mail folder, as emails do occasionally get filtered out. 

For detailed instructions about applying to Cal State Apply, see the Office of Graduate Studies Application Information and Procedures webpage.  

After you have submitted all application materials 

About mid-November, program staff will contact you to set up a brief group interview.  Interviews may take place through video conferencing or via other online technologies. 

We will start sending notifications of admission decisions to applicants shortly after all applicants have been interviewed. 

Please keep an eye out for further instructions from the program staff regarding your next steps. If you are formally admitted, you will receive instructions for submitting your $50 departmental fee, and any other final steps in the formal admission process before you can begin the program. 

International Applicants 

This program is not eligible to provide the I-20 form for the purpose of receiving the F-1 student visa. If you are admitted, you will have to complete your coursework from your home country or another location. If you are already in the US but under a different visa status, you should contact the office of International Programs & Global Engagement (IPGE) first to determine if you are allowed to apply to this program. You may also choose to contact IPGE (intlinfo@csus.edu) to see if they have any other program recommendations for international students.