The Prairie View A&M University Office of Graduate Studies is an administrative and educational support unit within the organizational jurisdiction of the Office of Academic Affairs.  The mission of the unit is to provide administrative coordination for graduate studies through joint supervision of graduate program planning, delivery, and evaluation within a rigorous, intellectually challenging, and stimulating environment.

Prairie View A&M University was authorized to establish a Division of Graduate Studies in 1937, Prairie View A&M University has sustained its dedication to excellence in teaching, research, and service through commitment to advanced educational offerings which include multiple masters, doctoral, and certification programs. The Office of Graduate Studies provides the infrastructure for advanced study by providing opportunities for qualified students seeking graduate education and/or degrees. Comprehensive programs are offered under the joint supervision of the Office of Graduate Studies and the various colleges and schools. A strong partnership has been developed to assist students in realizing their educational goals.

The Office of Graduate Studies is the primary source of information about studying for an advanced degree. Similarly, the University Catalog is the official sourcebook to graduate programs at the University. General inquiries about the graduate study should be directed to the Office of Graduate Studies. Specific questions regarding a major program should be directed to the college or school offering the program. Graduate students are held fully responsible for understanding and adhering to all rules policies and procedures established by the Office of Graduate Studies and the colleges and schools in which programs of study will be undertaken. Programs, regulations, and course offerings listed herein are subject to modification and/or deletion at any time by action of appropriate University authorities.

Colleges and Schools with Graduate Programs

• College of Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources
• School of Architecture
• Marvin D. and June Samuel Brailsford College of Arts and Sciences
• College of Business
• Whitlowe R. Green College of Education
• Roy G. Perry College of Engineering
• College of Juvenile Justice
• College of Nursing
• School of Public and Allied Health

Graduate programs leading to Master's degrees, Professional Certification,  Certificate Endorsements, and Doctoral degrees are offered. Prairie View A&M University offers the majority of its graduate degree programs on the main campus at Prairie View. However, it also offers selected degree programs in education, business, engineering, and nursing at distance sites primarily in the Houston area. Off-campus sites are located at the Prairie View A&M University Northwest Houston Center and the College of Nursing in the Houston Medical Center. Selected graduate programs are offered online.

Application Procedures

A completed application for admission is required and must be received by the Office of Graduate Studies at https://www.pvamu.edu/graduatestudies/ website by the published deadlines.  Domestic and International graduate student admission deadlines can be found on the Office of Admission at https://www.pvamu.edu/admissions/application-deadlines/ website. 

It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that the required admission documents are received by the Office of Graduate Studies on or before the application deadline. An applicant whose admission credentials are received after a stated deadline date should contact the Office of Graduate Studies to request an evaluation for admission for the next enrollment period.

Even though the applicant may meet the general requirements for admission to Graduate Studies, he/she must also meet the admission requirements of specific programs in this catalog. Admission to a department/program is not guaranteed until the applicant receives official notification by the Office of Graduate Studies. The student may not enroll in any graduate courses until this official notification is received. Failure to adhere to this policy will nullify any graduate-level coursework undertaken by the student.

Requirements for the admission process are outlined below:

1. A completed online application for admission to Graduate Studies at www.applytexas.org website and payment of a $50 non-refundable application evaluation charge.
2. A bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university or, for most doctoral programs, a master’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university.
3. An official transcript from the registrar of each regionally accredited college or university previously attended is required.  For most doctoral programs, a master's degree from a regionally accredited college or university is required.
4. A bachelor's degree documenting a minimum undergraduate cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 2.75 on a 4.0 grading scale for regular degree status or 3.0 on the last sixty (60) SCH for regular status.
5. A bachelor's degree documenting a minimum 2.5 cumulative GPA on a 4.0 grading scale for conditional or non-degree seeking graduate student status.  Students below a 2.5 GPA who have acquired relevant experience that could contribute to ensuring their success in graduate study, may be considered for conditional admission upon a holistic review and recommendation by the respective department head and dean.
6. Three letters of recommendation from persons in the field of the applicant’s academic major or area of concentration.
7. A 1000-word statement of purpose describing academic goals and professional interests (or as required by department). 

Click here (http://www.pvamu.edu/graduatestudies/programs/) for Admissions standards for specific graduate programs.

Graduate Certificates

Graduate certificates are offered within the academic departments and may have additional admission requirements. Please visit Academic Programs and Degree Plans for additional information on certificate program requirements at https://catalog.pvamu.edu/academicprogramsanddegreeplans/ website.

Second Master's Degree

Persons holding a previously earned master’s degree from Prairie View A&M University may pursue an additional master’s degree at Prairie View A&M University only with the specific approval of the Dean of Graduate Studies. All requests for a second (2nd) master’s degree from Prairie View A&M University must be approved by the Graduate Dean before a student can be admitted to a program. Such approval will be given only when the following conditions are judged to have been met:

1. A complete admissions application packet for the second (2nd) master’s degree and application evaluation charge submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies at https://www.pvamu.edu/graduatestudies/ website;
2. The proposed second (2nd) master’s degree must be in a different major field of study than the previous degree;
3. A degree plan is 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 twelve (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. Courses must be less than six (6) years old at the time the degree is awarded. No more than six (6) semester hours may be transferred from another institution. Graduate credit earned at another accredited institution during enrollment in the graduate program at Prairie View A&M University cannot be used to satisfy a certificate/degree requirement at that institution fulfilling the degree requirements at Prairie View A&M University. Only courses with a grade of “B” or better may be transferred. An “A” grade from another institution or earned in extension may not be used to validate a grade of “C” earned at Prairie View A&M University. An official transcript denoting the transfer course(s), year, and grade received must be on file in the Office of the Registrar before acceptance of transfer credit is official. The official Approval of Transfer Credits Form, the official transcript (or copy of the official transcript on file in the Office of the Registrar) denoting the transfer course(s), the year with grade(s) received, and a copy of the course description(s) from the transfer institution’s catalog must be received by the Office of Graduate Studies before transfer credits may be reviewed for approval.Transferred courses must meet the established time limit.

Degrees beyond the second (2nd) master’s degree are considered “stand-alone” degrees. Hours from previous degrees will not be accepted toward “stand-alone” degrees.

Types of Admission to Graduate Studies

The Office for Graduate Studies receives the application packet and engages in the initial review of the packet for completeness.  Notification is provided to the applicant of the application receipt and of the completeness or lack of completeness of the application packet.  The application packet is forwarded to the identified major program of study.

The department head and dean of the college or school offering the graduate program to which the student is seeking admission provides a recommendation regarding graduate study from the evaluation for admission to the Office for Graduate Studies.  The Office for Graduate Studies provides the official notification of admission to the student.

Students can enroll in Prairie View A&M University's graduate programs by meeting one of two (2) regular admissions standards or through special standards described below.

Full Admission for Graduate Study

The criteria required for full admission to graduate study is as follows:

• A  bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited college or university.
• Minimum 2.75 cumulative GPA or 3.0 on last sixty (60) SCH. 
• Three letters of recommendation from persons in the field of the applicant's academic major or area of concentration.
• A 1000-word statement of purpose describing academic goals and professional interests (or as required by department).
• International Applicant English Proficiency Requirements:
  • TOEFL: 550 paper; 79 internet based; IELTS: 6.0

Several 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, and/or an application essay.  All required elements in these categories must have also been met.

Conditional Admissions for Graduate Study

• A  bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited college or university.
• Minimum 2.5 cumulative GPA.
• Three letters of recommendation from persons in the field of the applicant's academic major or area of concentration.
• A 1000-word statement of purpose describing academic goals and professional interests (or as required by department).
• International Applicant English Proficiency Requirements:
  • TOEFL: 550 paper; 79 internet based; IELTS: 6.0

A student with a cumulative GPA below 2.5 who has acquired relevant experience that could contribute to ensuring their success in graduate study, may be considered for conditional admission upon a holistic review and recommendation by the respective department head and dean.

A student admitted to this category may enroll in a maximum of twelve (12) semester credit hours of graduate courses.  In order to continue, the student must have achieved a GPA of 3.0 and be recommended by the department and college for graduate study acceptance.

Graduate Work By a Senior

A University senior who is within twelve (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 (6) semester hours of graduate courses while completing undergraduate degree requirements.  Applicants must meet the GPA requirements for Full Admission to Graduate Studies.  The combined load of the graduate and the undergraduate courses must not exceed eighteen (18) semester hours.  Graduate courses used to meet undergraduate requirements may not be used to meet graduate requirements.

Post-Baccalaureate Graduate Acceptance (Non-Degree Seeking)

Students who hold bachelor's degrees with a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5 and who wish to take graduate courses or seek graduate-level certification without qualifying for a degree may be admitted as Non-Degree Seeking students.  Students must meet all course prerequisites in order to be admitted to advanced courses.  Elevation to degree status must be recommended by the appropriate school or college dean within the completion of the first (1st) twelve (12) semester credit hours if the student attained and maintained a 2.75 GPA and is approved by the Dean for Graduate Studies.

Admission to an Accelerated Bachelor's-to-Doctorate Program

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 bachelor's and/or master's degrees.  These programs are designed to also help reduce 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.

Doctoral students in the Clinical Adolescent Psychology doctoral program will receive a master's after meeting the program requirements.  Students start seeing clients during the second (2nd) year and the clinic will be the place for receiving 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.

Transient Graduate Acceptance

A student who has a bachelor's degree with a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5 and wants to take graduate courses without qualifying for a degree or seek graduate-level certification can be admitted as a Transient (Non-Degree Seeking) student.  Transient status is extended for ONE (1) TERM ONLY and requires a letter of good standing and an official transcript from the current institution.  Special permission must be given by the Dean for Graduate Studies if a second term of Transient status is sought.  After two (2) terms in Transient status, the student must submit a complete admissions application packet for consideration as a degree-seeking student.

Concurrent Study for Two (2) Different Degrees

A student pursuing 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 (3) to six (6) semester hours of completing the first (1st) graduate degree requirements may seek approval to enroll in up to six (6) semester hours of graduate courses applicable to the second (2nd) degree.  Courses completed in this category must be applicable to the second (2nd) degree ONLY.  Total enrollment for the term may not exceed nine (9) semester credit hours.

The first (1st) degree must be completed in its entirety before additional work may be taken for the purpose of meeting requirements for the second (2nd) degree.  The format and requirements for a request to pursue two (2) different graduate degrees concurrently may be obtained from the Office of Graduate Studies.

Second Master's Degree

Students that wish to pursue a second (2nd) master's degree must meet all Full Admission criteria as defined by the degree program, and obtain permission from the Dean for Graduate Studies to be able to pursue a second master's degree in a different field of study.

Graduate Study Acceptance from Non-Accredited/Non-Equivalent Institutions

A student who is a graduate of a non-accredited institution whose degree is not considered equivalent to a baccalaureate degree or a master's degree at Prairie View A&M University may not be admitted directly to master's or doctoral status. Instead, he/she may be considered for admission as an undergraduate or post-baccalaureate student.  Upon completion of the baccalaureate degree, the student may then apply and be considered for admission to the desired degree program.

Doctoral Graduate Study Acceptance

A completed application for admission is required and must be received by the Office for Graduate Studies by the identified deadline for the program for which admission is sought.  Assessment of doctoral applicants involves a multi-step process.  It is the applicant's responsibility to ensure that the required admission documents are received by the Office for Graduate Studies on or before the application deadline.

Colleges and departments often determine additional qualifications for admission to doctoral programs.  The admitting department should be contacted for details regarding admission types.

Even though an applicant may meet the general requirements for admission to Graduate Studies, he/she must also meet the admission requirements of specific programs as specified in this catalog.  Admission to a department/program is not guaranteed until the applicant receives official notification from the Office for Graduate Studies.  The student may not enroll in any graduate courses until official notification is received.  Failure to adhere to this policy will nullify any graduate level coursework undertaken by the student.