Admissions

Graduate Admission

The candidate must submit an application to the Office of Admission. The application can be found at www.applytexas.org. A student must be admitted both to the College of Graduate Studies AND to a specific program in order to take courses for graduate credit. This applies to students with an undergraduate degree from Texas A&M University-Kingsville as well as to others

Students must receive a satisfactory score on the appropriate nationally standardized graduate aptitude examination(s). These scores are valid for a period of five years from the date taken. Students with graduate degrees from colleges officially approved by A&M-Kingsville who are seeking certificate or endorsement only are exempt from the nationally standardized graduate aptitude examination requirement.

Students must submit the following with their application for admission:

  1. Official transcripts of all college or university course work with final degree posted.
  2. Results of the nationally standardized examination scores.
  3. For international students, results of the TOEFL and either the GRE, GMAT (for Business Administration) or MAT (for Education). Also refer to item 5 under Degree Status.
  4. $35 application fee

Prerequisite Course work for Graduate Study

Eighteen semester hours of undergraduate courses in the major subject area, including 12 advanced semester hours, are prerequisite for all graduate study. Each department has the right to examine an applicant's prerequisites and to accept certain equivalent hours or to require additional work if the graduate coordinator and the student's program chair feel it is necessary.

Graduate Readmission

Students who were admitted with a graduate status within the last five years may be readmitted as graduate students. Those students who have remained continuously inactive in excess of five years must meet the current admission standards before being readmitted. Post-masters students from A&M-Kingsville who are returning for certification can be readmitted under the initial admission standards of their masters program.

Admittance to a Specific Program

Admittance to graduate studies does not guarantee acceptance into a specific program. Standards for admittance to a specific program are set by the college that offers the program. Students must therefore check the admission requirements to the program of interest before they seek admission to the College of Graduate Studies.

Before admission to a specific degree program, the graduate coordinator for the program must accept the student. The program advisor will direct the degree plan and research through the student's graduate committee. The composition of the student's graduate committee varies from college to college; however, at least one member must be from each program segment.

If, after admittance to a specific program, the applicant desires a different program, the student must be admitted to the new program before being allowed to register again. Failure to follow policy and procedure may void the application of any courses completed toward a degree in a specific program.

Graduating Seniors

A Texas A&M University-Kingsville student in the last semester or summer of undergraduate work may, by written request to the graduate dean, undergraduate dean, and graduate coordinator enroll for a maximum of 6 semester hours of graduate work consistent with the normal load regulations for graduate students. The graduate courses may not be used to satisfy requirements for the baccalaureate degree. The student must satisfy the communication skills competency requirements and must have a grade point average in excess of 2.6 (effective Fall 1998) on a 4.0 scale. This request must be approved before the student registers for the graduate courses.

Transfer Students and Transferred Grades

Only grades of A or B earned on applicable graduate level courses which have been approved in writing by the graduate coordinator/advisor may be transferred for graduate level credit. Course work in which no formal grades are given (ex., CR) is not acceptable for transfer credit without the approval of the graduate dean. Transferred grades cannot be used to raise the grade point average of either the major or supporting field courses taken at Texas A&M-Kingsville.

The total number of graduate credit hours that may be transferred and accepted to apply toward a specific degree is found under the description of each degree plan offered. In all cases, no more than one-half of the total number of semester hours required for a master's degree (not including the Thesis 5306 research courses or the Research Project 5305 course) and no more than one-half of the semester hours for the major subject area or for each supporting field may be transferred. Such courses must be approved by the graduate dean upon recommendation of the appropriate graduate coordinator and the student's program chair. None of the transferred courses may have been applied toward a previous degree.

Concurrent Enrollment

Credit earned by a student at another institution while concurrently enrolled at Texas A&M-Kingsville will be transferred only if the student has received written approval from the graduate coordinator/advisor. This approval will be given consistent withA&M-Kingsville's's normal course load regulation.

Summary:

Test and Minimum Scores GPA: 2.00-2.59 2.00-2.99 3.00-4.00
GRE Scores (Q+V) 1000 (D) <1000(P) 800 (D)
MAT Scores (Edu.) 398 (D) <398(P)  
GMAT Scores (Business) 540(D) 450(P)
490(D) 		400 (P)
440 (D)
 

D = Degree (unconditional status)
P = Probationary Status
Note: the applicant is allowed into Graduate School when he/she meets the above requirements. To enter into a specific graduate program, the student must then meet the program's specific requirements which are based on GRE/gpa sliding scales (i.e., engineering, business, and agriculture). Most of the programs in education and the arts and sciences accept students who meet the minimal Grad School requirements.

Degree Status

Unconditional

This status is assigned to entering students who have earned a baccalaureate degree from a recognized college or university and who meet the following College of Graduate Studies minimum requirements (see item 2, below):

  1. Applicants will be assigned Degree status when they have an overall undergraduate GPA between 2.00-2.59 and a minimum GRE composite (Q+V) score of 1000, GMAT score of 540 (Business Administration majors, only), or MAT score of 398 (optional test to the GRE for Education majors, only).

    Applicants with a GPA between 2.60-2.99 must have a minimum GMAT score of 490.
  2. All applicants must be accepted by the department/college program coordinator into a particular program for which they are applying after they have been screened to meet the minimum entrance requirements to the College of Graduate Studies. Admission to the College of Graduate Studies does not guarantee admission to a particular program.
  3. International students must have a minimum TOEFL score of 550 to enter graduate programs in engineering or business administration. All other graduate programs require a minimum of 500.

    International students who are not graduates of this university may be admitted to a graduate program only if they qualify as Degree Status (unconditional admission).

Probationary

Applicants not meeting the requirements for degree status may be considered for admission on probationary status if the applicant has at least a 2.6/4.0 undergraduate GPA. Individual colleges may also have a minimum standardized test score requirement for admission to this category.

Students must satisfy this status by earning a "B" average on the first 12 semester credit hours before being recommended to Degree Status. An individual program may also have a minimum test requirement for admission to this status.

Students admitted under probationary status will be allowed to complete 12 semester hours of graduate work. Students who maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.0/4.0 may apply for degree status. Students not achieving this requirement will be withdrawn from graduate school. The student must apply for degree status through the graduate program coordinator to the graduate dean before enrolling in additional course work. Any graduate course work taken beyond the 12 semester hours while on probationary status will not count toward a degree.

Conditional Admission

Conditional Admission means that an applicant's standardized test results have not been received by the Admission Office by the time of registration for a given semester. A student will be allowed to enroll in a maximum of 9 semester hours when admitted conditionally. The student must submit standardized test scores during the first semester of enrollment to be admitted to Degree Status or Probationary Status. Until this condition is met, the student may not enroll in subsequent semesters.