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We are delighted you are considering applying to the Executive M.A. Program in Jewish Education. Our goal is to help you in your quest to go back to school while still working as a Jewish educational practitioner. To that end, we do not require any admissions exams such as the GRE or the Miller Analogies Test. Below are the prerequisites for admission to the program along with a brief description of the admissions process.

Learn more about our application requirements.

Eligibility Requirements:

• Register for XED500 Introduction for Jewish Educational Leadership course: Following your preliminary interview with Lesley Litman and the filing ofPart 1 of your admissions application, you will need to register for XED500 by filling out the registration form and sending it with a check made out to HUC-JIR in the amount of $300 to Office of the National Registrar, HUC-JIR, 3101 Clifton Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45220-2488
• A minimum of five years of leadership experience in Jewish education (supervising staff and creating, supporting, and assessing compelling Jewish learning experiences beyond a single classroom);
• A bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university;
• Successful completion of the seven week online Introduction to Jewish Educational Leadership course that takes place from the third week in January through the first week in March. The goal of the course is to give you the opportunity to try out the online environment and time commitment of the program BEFORE going through the application process. There is a $300 fee for this course.

Additional Characteristics of Successful Candidates:

• Strong academic potential;
• Effective communication skills;
• The ability to think critically and reflectively;
• Formal study of Hebrew and Judaica is strongly recommended.

Application Process:
You will receive your application via email following a preliminary conversation with Lesley Litman, the Program Coordinator, to establish your eligibility. Applications are due at the end of the second week of March and include:

• Admissions Essays and Personal Statement: Admissions essays help us get to know you as an individual, a student, a Jew, and a Jewish educator. Your personal statement and two essays should comprise no more than 12 pages total. Please be sure to double space, use a font type of Times New Roman, a font size of 12-point, and provide margins of no less than one-inch.

• Personal Statement: In no more than six double-spaced, typed pages, and respond to the following questions:
  • Why did you choose to become a Jewish educational leader?
  • Why are you interested in pursuing a masters degree at this point in your career?
  • Discuss your intellectual, religious and spiritual development as well as the life experiences that have led you to make these decisions. Please include your personal reflections on your strengths as a Jewish educational leader and the challenges you have faced in this role.
• Short Essays: Please respond to each of the following questions separately. Limit your response to the two questions to a total of six double-spaced, typed pages, in 12-point font.
• 1. Select a particular Torah portion that is meaningful or challenging to you. What impact does it have on how you think about Judaism and/or the Jewish community? What are the essential ideas you would want to convey to others?
• 2. Select an issue that you believe is confronting Jewish education. Discuss why this issue is important and what effect it potentially has on the vitality of Jewish education. What have you done to explore the complexity of this issue?
• Transcripts: Please provide us with one copy of an official transcript from:
• The college from which you graduated as well as any other colleges you attended. (This includes any school at which you took a college-level class.)
• Any graduate schools where you have been enrolled as well as schools where you have taken graduate-level classes.
• Any "Year Abroad" programs or other foreign study. (If grades from international programs are recorded on your college transcript you do not need to submit a separate transcript.)
• Schools must mail the transcripts directly to:
  National Office of Admissions and Recruitment
  Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion
  Jack H. Skirball Campus
  3077 University Avenue
  Los Angeles, CA 90007
• Personal interview by video conference call: If you meet all of the requirements and pass the introductory course, you will be notified the third week in March that you have been granted a personal interview along with the scheduled day and time. Interviews will last about thirty minutes and are scheduled for the final week in March each year. Admissions decisions are made shortly thereafter.

Possible Admissions Outcomes:
Within 2-3 weeks of your interview, we will notify you of the committee's decision. There are three possible outcomes:

• Acceptance: The committee decision is that you are qualified to be part of the program
• Not at this time: The committee feels that you have many strengths and could be a successful student at HUC-JIR, but there are areas that you need to work on prior to reapplying to the program. We will strongly encourage you to reapply to the program once you have worked on the recommended areas.
• Rejection: The committee has decided that you are not a good fit for our program.

The Executive M.A. students are deeply inspiring in their commitment to ongoing learning, to their fellow cohort members and to enriching their communities with opportunities for rich Jewish learning and living. The seriousness of purpose students bring to the Executive M.A. experience is breath taking.

Lesley Litman, Coordinator, Executive M.A. Program in Jewish Education

Contact Us
Have a question? Contact Lesley Litman at (857) 756-7759 or llitman@huc.edu.

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