Executive Ph.D. Admission & Application Process

The Executive PhD Admissions Committee reviews candidate applications on an individual basis looking at both quantitative and qualitative aspects of an applicant's professional and academic background.

Program Start Dates

Admissions Criteria

• Bachelor's and master's degree in any discipline; no business prerequisites are required
  • Exceptional applicants with a bachelor’s degree, and extensive managerial experience, will also be considered
• GPA approximately 3.0 or higher from all previous degrees
• A minimum of ten years of work experience plus extensive managerial experience 
• GMAT/GRE scores are not required

**Applications received after March 14, 2025 will be considered based on space availability for the Fall 2025 semester or will be considered for early admission for Fall 2026. Contact ExecPhD@fau.edu for additional information.

Complete the Departmental Supplemental Application

Item 1: Submit Current Resume
Current resume with three academic or professional references on last page including: reference name, title, company, contact information.

Item 2: Submit Statement of Purpose
Submit a document of two (2) to three (3) pages double-spaced explaining why you want an Executive Ph.D. (your passion and desire for entering this program and goals influencing your decision to pursue this Executive Ph.D.) and how this Executive Ph.D. will help you in your career.  This is also your opportunity to showcase your research interests to the admission’s committee.

Item 3: Submit Unofficial Transcript(s) or Unofficial Transcript Evaluation
Upload your unofficial transcript(s) from both your bachelor’s and master’s program or transcript evaluation (this step is NOT required for FAU graduates). If you only have an official copy of your transcripts or evaluation, please mail them to our office. Graduates of a foreign college who have completed an academic program equivalent to a U.S. bachelor's degree are required to submit a course-by-course evaluation from a foreign credentials evaluation service that is a member of NACES.

Item 4: Submit Three (3) Letters of Recommendation
The supplemental application includes a "Recommendations" tab with space to enter email addresses corresponding to your recommenders. If email addresses are entered, please notify your recommenders that they can expect a request from you - via email - containing a link to our database. Alternatively, upload scanned letters of recommendation. Recommenders should be academic (professor, instructor) or professional (colleague, manager, associate) and can be a subset of your references. The letter should address your work ethic, preparedness for graduate studies, how the degree would help you advance your profession, etc. A one-page document composed of 2-3 paragraphs will suffice for this requirement for each letter.

Interview

The admissions committee will review applications based on the deadlines above and notify you of the next steps. When an application is fully complete (including all required materials), each applicant will be invited to participate in an online Kira assessment (the Kira assessment is an asynchronous online interview platform, which includes a series of questions centered upon the characteristics of a successful executive PhD student). When the admissions committee’s review is complete, the committee may also schedule an interview. Interviews are by invitation only. The invitation to participate in an interview indicates your application is under consideration, but it does not guarantee admission to the Executive Ph.D. program.

Decision and Next Steps

Upon successful completion of the interview, you will be informed of your admission status. Your admissions coordinator will then send you information for the next steps to complete the application process.

Additional Information

English Proficiency Exam: Non-native speakers of English must provide evidence of proficiency in English from: Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), International English Language Testing System (IELTS), or Duolingo. Please note, applicants are responsible for making arrangements to schedule the test(s). 

The minimum College of Business requirements:

• TOEFL is 600 for the Paper-Based Test and 100 for the Internet Based Test (FAU's school code is 5229)
• IELTS is a band score of 7.0
• Duolingo exam is 110

Here is the official FAU regulation on English Language Proficiency: Regulation 4.009. Non-Native speakers of English are not required to submit proof of English language proficiency if they meet one of the following:

• Completion of at least three years of secondary education from a high school based in the United States or abroad with full curriculum of instruction in English.
• Completion of at least three years of secondary education from a high school based in a country where English is the majority native-speaking language, or where English is the primary language of instruction starting in the primary grades.
• Completion of at least sixty (60) post-secondary credits or an associate degree or higher from a U.S. regionally accredited postsecondary institution or from a recognized post-secondary institution abroad with full curriculum of instruction in English