Application information

Applications will re-open Summer 2025. Below are the instructions for the prior year. Please return here later to see updated directions. 

To apply to the Clinical Health Psychology Program, please go to

https://passport.ucdenver.edu/slate/landing.php?sr=ce3d18bd-7d79-453e-908f-bb2caca52ed8

1. You will see two options:

1. "Already started an application?" Log in to continue application or check status
2. "Apply now"

1. After you choose your option and the login process that it requires, you will reach an application page that allows you to “Start New Application” or continue an In Progress application.
2. If you click “Start New Application” you will see a dialogue box that says “University of Colorado Denver Graduate Admissions” and a button to “Create Application”
3. In the “Academic Interest” tab (see hyperlinked options on the upper left side of the page), you will see the question: “Are you interested in applying for a Doctorate or Masters- EdS, Licensures and/or Endorsements?”
4. Choose Doctorate
5. A drop down box will then appear with the header “Doctorate”. Within the options presented to you, choose Clinical Health Psychology (PhD) within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
6. Another drop down box will then appear for “Please select the term you plan to enroll”
7. Choose “Fall, 2026” and “Continue”

Questions about the online application: graduateadmissions@ucdenver.edu

Questions about the CHP Program and admissions process: CHP_Admissions@ucdenver.edu

Application Materials

• Complete Graduate School application (e.g., contact information, other basic fields), accessed via the steps above.
• Personal Statement: In the application, you will be asked to identify a core Clinical Health Psychology faculty member who would be a good fit with your research interests. If there is more than one such faculty member, you are allowed to choose up to three such faculty members. The written statement should be a total of 3-4 double-spaced pages in length and should address the following (please use the following four headers in your statement):
  1. Fit- describe your fit with our program. Specifically, discuss your (a) relevant clinical, research, and/or educational experiences, (b) why our scientist-practitioner program in Clinical Health Psychology is a good fit for you, and (c) which core faculty member(s) you most want to work with and why
  2. Accomplishment - Tell us about a project or goal you set for yourself that took you a great deal of time and/or effort to accomplish. What challenges and obstacles did you face and how did you overcome these?
  3. Future Impact - What impact do you hope to have on the field in the long term (after acquiring a Ph.D.)
  4. Diversity - The University of Colorado Denver’s CHP program is committed to promoting diversity and fostering an environment of inclusion within our program.  This is part of our mission to equip future researchers and clinicians to be culturally responsive as they engage in the science and practice of psychology. Please comment on your commitment to fostering a culture of inclusion within the program and growth in cultural responsiveness, and how any of your experiences and/or interests might contribute to fostering a culture of inclusion in the program.
• Resume or Curriculum Vita: Include education, employment, publications, theses, research and other activities related to clinical health psychology. Applicants upload their resume or CV directly into the online application.
• Letters of Recommendation: Three letters of recommendation, at least two of which must be academic references, are required. Once applicants submit their applications, their recommenders receive email instructions from CU Denver on how to upload their letters into the online application. 
• Transcripts: One official transcript from each college and university attended. Transcripts are mostly sent electronically on the applicants' request via the online application or are scanned and uploaded into the online application. If you do not submit transcripts with the application, you can also send transcripts to admissionstranscript@ucdenver.edu to be loaded to your file. Alternatively, send via standard mail: Graduate Admissions, University of Colorado Denver, Campus Box 167, PO Box 173364, Denver, CO 80217. Express Delivery (that requires a receiver signature): Graduate Admissions, University of Colorado Denver, 1201 Larimer Street Suite 1005, Denver, CO 80204
• Application Fee: $50 for US citizens; $75 for international students. Until the fee is received, your application will not be officially submitted. There are many ways applicants may be eligible for an Application Fee Waiver. Requests for waivers must be submitted at least 1 week before the final application deadline. For a list of who may be eligible for a waiver please see Diversity and Equity - Graduate Programs at CU Denver (ucdenver.edu). For the link to the form to apply for a waiver, see: https://application.admissions.ucdenver.edu/register/applicationfeewaiverform  Contact graduateadmissions@ucdenver.edu if you have questions regarding an application fee waiver.
• International Students - The additional admissions requirements for international students can be found at CU Denver International Graduate Admissions. Conditional admission is not offered.
• NOTE: We strongly recommend, but do not require, that applicants submit both general GRE and Psychology GRE subject test scores to assist with review of applications. 

The CHP Program does not send individual confirmation to students regarding receipt of applications. We do review all complete applications sent to us from Graduate Admissions. The admissions committee reviews all applications to the CHP Program from the November 1 application deadline through mid-January. Again, we do not individually notify each applicant that they are being reviewed.

Initial invitations begin mid December to late January, but additional invitations may continue to be made through the entire duration of the process (typically until April 15th). About 20 of the around 200 individuals who apply to the program each year are invited for one of the two interview dates in February. Interview invitations are made by phone calls or emails from faculty directly to those applicants. 

After the interviews, 5-6 applicants are chosen to receive an offer of admission to the CHP Program. Offers of admission are made by phone calls or emails from faculty directly to those applicants. Allowing for the time needed for programs to decide upon and issue offers of admission, and for applicants to accept or decline those offers, the CHP Program generally has received acceptance forms and knows the composition of its incoming cohort by early April. However, the final deadline for decisions from applicants who have been given an offer is April 15th. If an applicant declines an offer on April 15th, it is possible that the program will make additional offers after that time. After the final class is determined, the program begins to send notices to all applicants regarding final decisions.

We may ask for additional information beyond your application at various stages of the above process to help us make our decisions.

A maximum of 24 credit hours of transfer course work may be applied toward the doctoral degree though the program does not guarantee that any transfer credits will necessarily be accepted. Decisions must be made on a course by course, case by case basis. Transfer credit is defined by the Graduate School as any credit earned at another accredited institution in the United States, or credits earned as a non-degree student within the University of Colorado system. All transfer courses must meet the following criteria: 

• The courses are recommended for transfer by the Program Director, the course instructor(s), and the student's primary advisor for transfer and are approved by the Graduate School Dean.
• The courses are graduate level (5000 or above).
• The student received a grade of B or better (no pass/fail or satisfactory/unsatisfactory grades are transferable).
• The courses were completed within five years of the student's request for transfer.

In some instances the Program Director, course instructor(s), or student's primary advisor may accept the transfer of credits only if additional requirements are satisfied that demonstrate the student's competence in the subject matter under consideration. Determination of these requirements is at the discretion of the Program Director, course instructor(s), or student's primary advisor and will be decided on a case by case basis.