Graduate Program

Admissions

Letters of Recommendation

We require two letters of recommendation as part of your application to the Master of Science in Adult Education program. The letters must come from people who can speak directly to your academic skills, your work with adult learners, or your work in related areas.

Preferred recommenders include professors or work supervisors, although co-workers or individuals with whom you work in volunteer or community organizations are also acceptable. Please do not submit recommendations from personal friends or family members.

All recommendations must be current and must include:

  • the recommender's reason for believing you will succeed in Master of Science in Adult Education program.
  • a response to the following statement: Among the students at this level in the applicant's discipline that I have known, I would rank this student among the top ______ percent.
  • the recommender's detailed comments and commendations.
  • the recommender's name, address, and position/title.
  • the date of the recommendation.

Recommenders should either email their letter to adulted@iupui.edu, or mail their letters to:

Department of Adult Education
Indiana University
408 N. Union St.
Bloomington, IN 47405

Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 opens many student records for students' inspection and protects those records from release to others.

The rights provided in FERPA impact your letters of recommendation in several ways. If you are requesting a recommendation from a professor or other academic, you may be required to give that person permission to include in the letter of recommendation protected information such as course grades, GPA, and class rank.

The law also permits students to retain or relinquish access to recommendation letters. The adult education program's admissions committee is informed as to which recommenders send confidential letters and which do not. It is not required that recommendation letters be confidential (i.e., you do not have to waive your right to read them), but the committee and most recommenders prefer confidential letters.