If you have any questions please contact the Office of Admissions at 303-546-3572 (1-800-772-6951) or at admissions@naropa.edu.
Apply online by creating a new account or signing in to an existing account.
At the end of your application, you will be prompted to pay a $60 nonrefundable application
fee. If your current financial situation warrants waiving of your application fee,
you may submit a fee waiver request.
We encourage you to be actively engaged in the admission process. Once you have submitted your application online, you can log back in anytime to check the status of your application and documents.
If you completed any coursework at a foreign college or university (other than a study abroad program), an international education evaluation is required.
Applicants must have a minimum cumulative undergraduate GPA of a 2.9 or higher. Applicants with a cumulative GPA lower than 2.9 must submit Miller Analogies Test (MAT) results taken within the last calendar year. Note that the MAT is only required for these applicants, and is optional for all others.
In a three-to-four page typed, double-spaced, 12 point font essay, please respond to the following three questions. Directly refer to Introduction to Art Therapy: Sources and Resources (J.A. Rubin, 2009) and Psychotherapy and Spirit: Theory and Practice in Transpersonal Psychotherapy (B. Cortright, 1997) when writing your essay. When pulling information from either book, paraphrase the author rather than lifting direct quotes.
Your resume/CV should detail all pertinent academic, employment, and volunteer history with exact dates of participation.
Applicants are required to submit a well-rounded portfolio of 20 different pieces of original art. Your portfolio must include both 2D and 3D work as well as any other areas of specialization. The portfolio needs to demonstrate two primary skill sets:
The portfolio needs to be accompanied by a portfolio summary that lists the following for each piece:
Portfolios may only be uploaded in the following file formats: GIF, JPG, PNG, PDF, PowerPoint or Word.
Two letters of recommendation are required. Recommendations must be from pertinent academic or professional sources, and may not be from family members, spouses, friends, or current or former therapists or spiritual advisors.
All courses are subject to approval and may require additional documentation such as a syllabus or course description.
A grade of "C" or above is required for all prerequisite coursework. All prerequisites are to be completed at accredited academic institutions for credit (not pass/fail or audited). Applicants must submit an official transcript showing proof of completion of the prerequisite coursework and bachelor's degree prior to the start of the program.
Please review the Prerequisite Coursework Guide for more information on acceptable alternative course titles, recommendations on where to complete coursework, and much more.
*Note for applicants wishing to waive a college level studio art requirement: in order to be considered for a waiver of a studio art prerequisite requirement, a separate, additional portfolio is required. To learn more, contact Jaime Tousignant, Graduate Admissions Counselor.
Domestic applicants: learn more about how to apply for financial aid.
International applicants: learn more about how to apply for financial aid.
In addition to the graduate admissions requirements, international applicants must also complete the following international applicant admissions requirements:
International applicants must document their English language proficiency by submitting scores for the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) tests. Applicants must earn the following required scores:
Exceptions are granted for applicants from countries where English is one of the official national languages.
Applicants (including U.S. citizens and permanent residents educated outside of the U.S.) must have all non-U.S. records of secondary and/or post-secondary education evaluated by a professional international education evaluation service. In this case, all non-U.S transcripts should be sent to one of the below evaluation service providers, not to Naropa University. Once the evaluation is completed, the applicant should request that the report be sent directly to: Naropa University, Office of Admissions (2130 Arapahoe Avenue, Boulder, CO 80302).
Naropa works with the three following credential evaluation services. Evaluations will not be accepted by other services.
All undergraduate and graduate applicants must submit a complete course-by-course evaluation.
Please note: international applicants who have completed their undergraduate degree
at an accredited U.S. institution do not need to provide an evaluated transcript.
If accepted to Naropa University, international students are required to submit the
following: