Prerequisites for admission into the graduate program include all the general requirements of the Graduate School, an undergraduate engineering degree (or remedial engineering coursework), and identification of a departmental professor who is willing to serve as research director for the master's or Ph.D. project. International students must obtain a TOEFL score of 550 PBT (79 iBT) or IELTS score of 6.5 or higher.
An applicant who has not fully met the GPA requirement stipulated by the University may be admitted on a provisional basis. The provisionally-admitted student is eligible for a change to regular status after receiving a 3.00 GPA on the first 9 hours of graduate courses at Mississippi State University (with no grade lower than a C). The first 9 hours of graduate courses must be within the student's program of study. Courses with an S grade, transfer credits, or credits earned while in Unclassified status cannot be used to satisfy this requirement. If a 3.00 is not attained, the provisional student shall be dismissed from the graduate program. Academic departments may set higher standards for students to fulfill provisional requirements, a student admitted with provisional status should contact the graduate coordinator for the program's specific requirements. While in the provisional status, a student is not eligible to hold a graduate assistantship.