ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS

CURRENTLY STANDING CRITERIA FOR ADMISSION TO

THE OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY & HEALTH GRADUATE PROGRAM

The graduate program in occupational safety and health is designed to prepare students to become skilled

and demonstrate knowledge in an occupational safety and health concentration of environmental health

and safety, industrial hygiene, or safety management.  

REQUIREMENTS FOR ADMISSION

Applicants must meet the Murray State University requirements (see Chapter 2).  Additional requirements

for unconditional and conditional admission are as follows.

UNCONDITIONAL ADMISSION STATUS

Unconditional admission is granted only to students who graduate from Murray State University with a

Bachelor Degree in Occupational Safety and Health and with an overall GPA of 3.00 or higher.

All other students regardless of GPA, field of study, and GRE results are admitted to the program with

CONDITIONAL ADMISSION STATUS.  To move into UNCONDITIONAL status, the student must

meet the university requirement of obtaining a 3.00 in the first nine hours of graduate work and additional

criteria set forth by the Department of Occupational Safety and Health.

CONDITIONAL ADMISSION STATUS

The following CONDITIONAL status will be based on undergraduate grade point average, regardless

of undergraduate baccalaureate degree field or major.

2.99 - 2.50: CONDITIONAL

2.49 - 2.25: CONDITIONAL AFTER A THOROUGH TRANSCRIPT EVALUATION

2.24 - 2.00: CONDITIONAL AFTER EVALUATION AND PROBATIONARY ADMISSION

                   The student must maintain a GPA of 3.30 for the first nine graduate credit hours.

Students admitted from a different undergraduate field/discipline must complete the following course

work in addition to the above GPA requirements.  Undergraduate course work is required in biology,

chemistry, mathematics, and physics.  The following courses are the minimum accepted requirements

for pursuing a Master’s degree in OSH.

- BIO 101, Biological Concepts

- CHE 105, Introductory Chemistry I

- CHE 210/215, Brief Organic Chemistry and Lab

- MAT 230, Technical Math II

- PHY 125/126, Brief Introductory Physics and Lab

Students must also complete 21 prerequisite credit hours in Occupational Safety and Health and pass

these courses with a grade of "C" or higher.

- GRE is NOT a requirement and it is not a criterion for admission or graduation.

- TOEFL requirement is not part of our admission requirements.  It is required by MSU admission for

international students.  Once the student has proven competency in English, the student is recommended for

the graduate program.  Based on such recommendation, we grant admission.

- All students are required to take the written and oral comprehensive exams.  Students doing research

(Thesis option) are exempt from comprehensive exams.  Comprehensive exams date and format are

determined exclusively by the department of OSH.

For detailed information about the Department of OSH, the graduate and undergraduate programs,
and description of courses, please refer to the Occupational Safety & Health Bulletin.