How to Apply

Apply to one of Naropa University's graduate programs in one of the following ways:

1. Apply online and pay the $60 nonrefundable application fee. This is the preferred method for applying.
2. Print a paper application. Complete and send along with a $60 check made payable to Naropa University.

Application documents should be sent to:

Naropa University
Office of Admissions
2130 Arapahoe Ave
Boulder, CO 80302

If your current financial situation warrants waiving of your application fee, submit a fee waiver request.

If you completed any coursework at a foreign college or university (other than a study abroad program), an international education evaluation is required.

The MA Contemplative Psychotherapy and Buddhist Psychology program offers skills training and counseling career preparation, engagement toward cultural humility, contemplative practice, community involvement, and opportunity for personal reflection individually and as an interdependent member of a group. 

Given this, in a three-to-five page, double-spaced essay, please respond to the following, making sure that you respond to each prompt fully:

How are you prepared to participate in this learning community, and how would your life and educational goals be reached by attending the Contemplative Psychotherapy and Buddhist Psychology program?

Using specific examples from your life experience, please describe your inspiration, intention, and commitment to studying psychotherapy in the Contemplative Psychotherapy and Buddhist Psychology program. Describe your vision of how your education will allow you to be of service to yourself and the world at large.

Please be sure to include:

• Your experience with working in service to others, as a professional or volunteer, in a mental health or comparable setting and what you have learned about yourself in the process.
• How you have engaged in working with your own personal process and how these experiences have prepared you for completing the program to which you are applying.
• Your experience with sitting meditation and/or body/mind awareness disciplines.
• Read the following article, Oppression and Privilege: Two Sides of the Same Coin, by Diane Goodman (Oppression and Privilege: Two Sides of the Same Coin, in Japan SIETAR Journal of Intercultural Communication, 18, 2015) and comment on your understanding of the concepts brought up in the article. Include your own ideas about how understanding and integration of these concepts is an ethical necessity for a counselor in working with clients.

Your resume/CV should detail all pertinent academic, employment, and volunteer history with exact dates of participation.

Submit copies of your official transcript(s), statement of interest, and resume/CV.

Upload your documents 

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.

REQUEST LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION

Due to the number of applications received each year, it may not be possible to schedule an interview for every candidate. The Office of Admissions will assess a candidate’s completed application to determine if the candidate will move forward in the process and be invited to an interview. On-campus interviews are a required part of the admissions process.

The 2019 interview dates are:

• Saturday, February 23rd
• Saturday, March 16th
• Saturday, April 27th

We encourage you to be actively engaged in the admission process. You can check your application status online at MyNaropa. Once an application has been submitted you will receive login information via email.

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:

English Proficiency Testing

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:

• TOEFL
  • Internet test (iBT): 80 or higher
  • Computer test (cBT): 213 or higher
  • Paper test (pBT): 550 or higher
• IELTS
  • 6.5 or higher

Exceptions are granted for applicants from countries where English is one of the official national languages.

Non-U.S. Education Records

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.

1. Global Academic Evaluators (www.aevaluators.com, 720-298-9564)
2. Josef Silny & Associates, Inc. (www.jsilny.com, 305-273-1616)
3. World Education Services (www.wes.org, 212-966-6311)

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:

• Copy of passport
• Financial documentation