If you are an international student, you must have a score of 570 (paper) or 230 (computer based) on the TOEFL exam, in addition to the other requirements. The TOEFL code for CSUF is 4589. Students who feel their English is not yet up to this level often do a semester in our English as a Foreign Language Program before commencing graduate classes. More information for international students can be found at
Our minimum requirement for GPA is a 2.75 in your undergraduate degree. The average GPA of our accepted students is 3.3 and we typically have far more applicants than we can admit. We are more likely to admit students if they are already in the public or nonprofit workforce and we take the written statement of purpose as an indicator of the ability to do graduate level writing. Our goal is to admit students whose university record demonstrates their ability and desire to succeed in both their coursework and the public workplace.For all students, we look at your grades in the last 60 units, how well you performed in your major, any experience in the public sector, the quality of your written statement of purpose, and letters of recommendation. The higher your grades, the less we will need to weigh your supporting documents.