University requirements for graduate admission
All applicants for a graduate degree or certificate program must meet minimum University admission requirements, which include:
- A bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited institution
- Minimum GPA. For Regular admission, applicants must have a cumulative undergraduate GPA of 2.75 or higher. Applicants who have already earned 9 or more letter-graded graduate credits must have a cumulative graduate GPA of 3.00 or higher; this GPA supersedes the undergraduate GPA. For University Conditional admission, applicants must have a cumulative undergraduate GPA between 2.50 and 2.74.
- One official transcript from every college or university attended (except PSU), including junior colleges and community colleges
- $65 application fee
- Recommendation for admission from the appropriate graduate program
International applicants must also submit:
- Official degree certificate/diploma
- Financial documentation demonstrating adequate financial support for at least the first year of study
- Evidence of English language proficiency
- Completion of a bachelor's degree, master's degree, or doctoral degree in Australia, English-speaking Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the U.K., or the U.S., or;
- Minimum required official scores on the International Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), the PSU Institutional TOEFL, the International English Testing System (IELTS) exam, or the Pearson Test of English-Academic (PTE), or;
- Test more than two years old if the score exceeded the minimum requirement and the applicant has maintained continuous residency in the United States since the exam date.
Minimum Test Score Requirements
- TOEFL
- Internet-based: minimum overall score of 80; minimum subscores of 18 is reading and writing
- Paper-based: 550
- Computer-based: 213
- IELTS: minimum overall score of 6.5; minimum subscores of 6.5 in reading and writing
- PTE-Academic: 60 overall
In cases when a student does not meet minimum University admission requirements, departments may choose to submit a Graduate Admission – Special Approval Request (GO-20 form) to the Office of Graduate Studies. This process may only be initiated by a department.