Prospective Students

A student admitted to Regular Status has an earned bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university with a cumulative GPA of at least 2.75 or a 3.00 on the last 60 semester credit hours for master’s programs. For doctoral study, most programs require a minimum 3.00 graduate GPA. All required elements for acceptance to graduate study as outlined by the Office of Graduate Studies and within an identified program must be met.

Several academic departments maintain additional specific requirements for admission to graduate study in terms of courses taken, grades in relevant courses, documentation of discipline specific experiences, additional letters of recommendation, test scores, a departmental application, and/or an essay. ALL required elements in these categories have also been met.

An applicant may be admitted to Conditional Status with an earned bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university with a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.50. Students with a cumulative GPA below 2.50, who have acquired relevant experience that could contribute to ensuring their success in graduate study, may be considered for conditional admission based upon a holistic review and recommendation by the respective department head and dean.

Students who hold bachelor’s degrees with a minimum GPA of 2.50 and who wish to take graduate course or seek graduate-level certification without qualifying for a degree can be admitted as a Non-Degree Seeking student. Students must meet all course prerequisites in order to be admitted to advanced courses.

Transient Status

A student wishing to take graduate courses to satisfy degree requirements at another institution may qualify for Transient Status. A student must have a 2.50 GPA.

Graduate Work by a Senior

A University senior who is within 12 semester hours of completing the requirements for an undergraduate degree may, upon being recommended by the department head and the dean of the school or college, register for up to six semester hours of graduate courses while completing undergraduate degree requirements. Applicants must meet GPA requirement for Regular Status to graduate study. The combined load of the graduate and the undergraduate courses must not exceed 18 semester hours. Graduate courses used to meet undergraduate requirements may not be used to meet graduate requirements.

Accelerated Bachelor’s to Master’s

The Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Department offers a Five-Year BS/MS Degree Program leading to a Master of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering. Qualified students can earn the MS degree within one year following receipt of the BS degree. Students admitted to the program have access to graduate-level ECE courses and opportunities to do graduate level research under the supervision of faculty before completing their bachelor’s degree. Students with junior or senior class standing, within 30 hours of degree completion, must meet additional departmental requirements and must follow guidelines apply to graduate studies.

The Bachelors-to-doctorate degree program, offered by select programs, is designed to ensure that the program results in student learning outcomes aligned with the typical doctoral program in exit outcomes. A program is structured to admit students with either the bachelor’s and/or the master’s degrees. These programs are designed to also help reduced the challenges that some MS degree holders possess because they did not have the foundational skills in research and statistics and are unable to move into dissertation research. The BS to PhD program will respond to these needs by providing the needed structure as part of the doctoral program.

Students will also be admitted at the MS level, but their curriculum must be reviewed to make sure that they have taken the courses needed to be in the doctoral program and have had the foundational support that they need to complete the program. Students will be required to complete additional courses with a focus on the lifespan rather than on children and adolescents and complete an empirical thesis.

A Master’s program in Clinical Adolescent is not offered, but the student will receive a master’s within this process when they matriculate through the entire program. Students start seeing clients during the second (2nd) year and the clinic would be the place for r4eeiving training. As the student gains supervised experience within the academic program, opportunities will be available to receive training in other settings. The clinic provides basic clinical skills and then the student can build relationships with other facilities.

Concurrent Study for Two Different Degrees

A student pursing a graduate degree program at Prairie View A&M University may not simultaneously enroll and complete course work for the purpose of meeting requirements for any other degree offered by this institution. However, a graduate student within three to six semester hours of completing the first graduate degree requirements may seek approval to enroll in up to six semester hours of graduate courses applicable to the second degree. Courses completed in this category must be applicable to the second degree ONLY. Total enrollment for the term may not exceed nine semester credit hours.

The first degree must be completed in its entirety before additional work may be taken for the purpose of meeting requirements for the second degree. The format and requirements for a request to pursue two different graduate degrees concurrently may be obtained from the Office of Graduate Studies.

Second Master’s Degree

Students that wish to pursue a second masters degree must meet all Regular Status criteria as defined by the degree program and obtain permission from the Graduate Studies Dean to be able to pursue a second master’s degree in a different field of study. The following conditions must be met for consideration for the second master’s degree:

1. A complete admission application packet for the second master’s degree and application evaluation charge submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies;
2. The proposed second master’s degree must be in a different major field of study than the previous degree;
3. A degree plan submitted for the Graduate Dean’s approval;
4. Courses counted toward a previously earned master’s degree may not be applied to the second master’s degree unless they constitute specific course requirements for the major concentration in the second master’s degree program. In such cases, no more than 12 semester hours of such courses may be counted toward the second degree and must be included in the degree plan for the second master’s degree. Only courses with a grade of “B” or better may be counted. Courses must be less than six years old at the time the degree is awarded. No more than six semester hours may be transferred from another institution. Transferred courses must meet the established time limit.

Degrees beyond the second master’s degree are considered “stand alone” degrees. Hours from previous degrees will not be accepted toward “stand alone” degrees.