Admissions Requirements

General Requirements

The following admissions requirements represent the university's general policies. Individual departments may establish additional criteria for admission as deemed necessary, including, but not limited to, specifying appropriate academic backgrounds and requiring higher minimum language test scores.

Eligibility requirements for Master’s programs

Applicants must have a first degree from a recognized university or institution of higher education, or provide documentation indicating that they will earn such a first degree before enrolment in a CEU Master's program.

For its one-year US accredited Master’s programs, CEU normally accepts students who have completed four years of undergraduate university study. Applicants with a three-year Bachelor's degree will be considered for two-year Master's programs (both for the ones accredited in the US and in Hungary).

Admission into the US accredited one-year programs with a three-year Bachelor’s degree will also be possible for suitable candidates.

Eligibility requirements for doctoral programs

Applicants must have a Master's degree (or equivalent) in a related field from a recognized university or institution of higher education, or provide documentation indicating that they will earn such a degree before enrolment in a CEU doctoral course of study.

Students enrolled in a doctoral program at CEU must not be simultanously enrolled in other institutions of higher education, and are required, at the beginning of their studies at CEU, to sign a declaration to this effect.

Language Requirements

Applicants must demonstrate proficiency in English by submitting standardized English language test scores, e.g., the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or other substitute tests listed below.

If your first language is English, you will normally be exempted from this requirement. You may also be exempted if:

1. You are a current or a former CEU student applying to CEU's doctoral programs;
2. You have earned a Bachelor's or a Master's degree taught exclusively in English.

To be exempted from the English language proficiency requirement, you must make a request on the application form. Decisions regarding exemptions are at the discretion of the department admissions committee and will be communicated to applicants online after the first stage of the selection process.

Students taking TOEFL should upload a scan of their score report into their online application and, if admitted, request a hard copy of their results to be sent to the CEU Admissions Office (CEU’s institution code is 0069.) Other substitute tests of the English language are as follows:

Minimum test scores required by Master's programs 

Minimum test scores required by doctoral programs 

 English-language and other admissions tests administered by CEU

In several locations, CEU organizes and sponsors department-specific subject tests (on February 16, 2013 for selected programs) and an institutional paper-based TOEFL (in late March 2013, for candidates for all degree programs except Erasmus Mundus programs). Candidates who apply by January 24, 2013 may take the CEU examinations to be held at the locations listed here.

Additional Requirements

Departments may establish additional requirements for admission as deemed necessary. Please see the relevant department for details.

Individual Interviews

Some CEU departments may interview their candidates as part of the selection process. Individual interviews may commence shortly after the first review of the application files, and continue until early March. Each department will contact its applicants to make the necessary arrangements. In the case of Skype or telephone interviews, arrangements may be made to invite candidates to a location where their identity can be verified.

Test of Writing Ability

In order to help make the best possible decision about your application, some departments, such as the Department of Political Science, require a sample of academic writing completed under exam conditions. This requirement is called the Test of Writing Ability (TWA), and it is taken on the same day as the institutional (paper-based) TOEFL test administered in those countries where the institutional TOEFL is used (Central Europe and the former Soviet Union). If you are submitting scores for standard English tests accepted by CEU (or have been granted exemption from standardized English testing), you do not need to complete the TWA as these tests already contain a sample of your writing.

The Test of Writing Ability requires you to write a short essay in response to a given question, asking you to assess the impact of one phenomenon on another (for example, the impact of globalization on education). The essay should be written in a formal academic essay style, and will be evaluated on the basis of your language and writing skills. The TWA is a timed essay; you will have 45 minutes to plan, draft and finish the essay, without using any dictionaries or language books.