Program Admission

Regular Admission

Any student with a grade-point average of 3.00 or above (on a 4.0 scale) on the last 60 semester hours of undergraduate work before the baccalaureate and a GRE score on file in the Office of the Graduate College normally will be granted regular admission status. Students with complete admission documents (transcripts, application, and test scores) who do not meet the above minimum requirements may apply for conditional admission. Students must complete the Graduate Record Examination.

Students who have a GPA of 3.25 (last 60 hours before the bachelor’s degree) or above and have successfully completed the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) with a score of 140 or higher may petition the Director of Public Administration to accept these test scores as a substitute for the GRE score. If a student’s GPA is between 3.00 and 3.25 (last 60 hours before the bachelor’s degree), the LSAT score must be at least 150 in order to substitute the LSAT score for the GRE score.

Conditional Admission

Applications for conditional admission are reviewed by the graduate advisor in consultation with the M.P.A. faculty. In order to apply for conditional admission, a student must:
 

• Submit a Graduate College Application for Admission;
• Have completed the General Portion of the GRE (verbal and quantitative combined) and have the official score reported to the Office of the Graduate College;
• A student may submit a request for consideration of conditional admission to the M.P.A. Director, Public Administration Program, Texas State University-San Marcos, San Marcos, Texas 78666-4616, stating the reasons for consideration of admission.

Students are encouraged to submit supplemental information such as letters of recommendation, evidence of continuing education (training), awards, etc., for consideration by the committee. A meeting with the M.P.A. Director is also advised. The admission decision is made by a faculty committee upon recommendation of the M.P.A. Director.

The graduate advisor will recommend the stipulations and requirements for conditional admission. Students who are admitted conditionally must make a grade of “B” or better in each course for their first 12 hours of course work including background courses. When the conditions have been met, the graduate advisor will recommend regular admission status to the Dean of the Graduate College.

International Student Admission

International students, as defined in the front section of the Graduate Catalog, must submit an internet based (iBT) score with at least a total minimum score of 78 with the 4 minimum section scores of 19/reading, 19/listening, 19/speaking, and 18/writing. The iBT is required of international M.P.A. applicants who are native speakers of English as well as non-native speakers of English.